Screenland (Nov 1949-Oct 1950)

Eleanor Parker, of "Three Secrets," with her youngest daughter, Sharon, her two-year old daughter, Susan, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lester D. Parker. directly on her. . . . Oddly enough, when she first went to Hollywood, it was to study voice and become a professional singer. Instead of which, she found herself in KeystoneSennett flickers, became an accomplished comedienne with — remember? — Bobby Vernon. Her films bore such impressive and arty titles as "The Pullman Bride," "The Nick Of Time Baby," "Teddy At The Throttle." She followed them with such serious, dramatic jobs (for Triangle) as "Station Content," "Her Decision," "Every Woman's Husband" and others. Popular legends to the contrary, Gloria was never a Sennett Bathing Beauty — though she did play the lead in one movie with that fey crew. It was a right nice custard pie opus with the enormous Mack Swain and included one (1) beach scene. And she posed for seaside bathing art. . . . The DeMille era followed — then Paramount. "I was Paramount's 'program' girl," Gloria says. "None of the movies I made ever approached epic stature." But the fans ate them up; they were sellouts— of which Hollywood could use a few. This was the period when she won horrendous fame as Gloria The Clothes Horse — a reputation which she has maintained, but in her own, good-taste waypreferring and looking tres chic in black or dark colors. "I was in 'A Goose For The Gander,' a Broadway play in the mid-Forties," Gloria says, "and, because of it, Hollywood insists on giving New York sole credit for whatever acting ability I have." Hollywood is forgetting, of course, that Gloria starred in "Madame Sans Gene," in France, in 1924 — being the first American star to make a movie in La Belle. Also disregarding the fact that she had organized her own producing company — releasing through United Artists — when .she was only 25 or .so. Her company, among others, turned out "Sadie Thompson," first screen version of "Rain," with Lionel Barrymore as the Reverend Davidson. The talkies were no obstacle. Gloria 62 sang and talked in "The Trespasser," an early such (1929) — made others, including "Perfect Understanding," first talkie made by a U. S. actress in London. "I was born with a low voice," she says, re a prime sound-movie angle, "but vocal study, as a soprano, upped it. My daughter Michelle has a deepish voice." She was asked about her diamond-sharp imitation of Charles Chaplin's "little man" in "Sunset Boulevard." "I'd never tried it before," she said. "It was a routine I worked up during a lunch hour and it was a lot of fun doing it." What she dismisses as a lot of fun is a devastating sample of expert mimicry. She admits, however, that comedy involves the most difficult acting of all — even if drama rates the loud critical bravos. Timing in comedy, she says, is terribly important. "Good comics," she points out, "are essentially dancers." An interesting observation. To get back to glamour — it's more than just clothes, furs or $30,000 emeralds. It's also the way you talk, act, sit and walk. "The way you walk," says the woman with a perfect carriage, "is most important. I was brought up on an Army post ( she's the daughter of Captain Joseph Swavson), where slouching was a major sin — in our household as well as on the parade ground. When we were stationed in Puerto Rico, I used to admire the natives carrying things on their heads, imitated them with schoolbooks balanced above. Nowadays it's fashionable to slouch in your chair. I have to speak to," she paused and grinned, "my own Michelle. "Your attitude," Gloria went on, "has a great deal to do with your looks — specifically your height. I'm convinced that you can 'think tall.' "Mary Pickford once told someone that I was four inches taller than she. Next time Mary stopped by our lot ( at United Artists), I settled the matter. In our stocking feet, back to back, I was only half-an-inch taller than she. "Again, attitude — plus the high heels I wore for my sophisticated roles. Mary always wore low heels as America's Sweet heart and as the shy little girls she played. I was 5 ft. % in. tall, then — grew an inch-and-a-half after I was 28 — after I'd been a silent star for some time! How? Massage treatments may have had something to do with it." Which makes her 5 ft ^2 in. now. She wears a size 4 shoe — wore a size 2% in the mid-Twenties. Recently slipped on a pair of her old shoes — which the Paramount wardrobe department had dug up — and wore them comfortably all one aft!ernoon. What is it about G. S. that adds up to neon glamour? Small feet? Blue eyes? Dark brown hair? Lovely white teeth? Good skin? The answer would include all of those, but would be plus a combination of style, color, personality, charm — and a few dozen other plusses that amount to Swanson. "I had to take a screen test for 'Sunset Boulevard,' " she said, with a twinkle in her eye. "Of course, they didn't know how I'd look on a screen or if I could act." Glamour plus a sense of humor — she took the screen test (her first), was ecstatic that she made good and could, at long last, crash the movies — gosh! "They're tough on young people, though," she said. "Tests scare them silly — it's diflScult to act under such conditions. That mad Wilder — when he found that I photographed like a woman of 35, he did his best to make me look like an old hag, even ordered artificial gray for my hair. "I didn't understand why, since there's plenty of it there anyway. I'm not sweet sixteen, don't pretend to be. His explanation was that my gray hair didn't show up sufficiently, so. . . . "Anyway, Wilder and Brackett did a wonderful job with the movie. I'm the type of actress who goes to see her films, also the daily rushes. With the inevitable result that I always leave, muttering, 'I wish I'd . . . .' "My mother describes my film Norma as a characterization, but not me. And she isn't, though Norma would have loved a similar return to the screen. Everyone was as nice as pie and it was grand working with that fine actor, C. B. DeMille. "As for Bill Holden, he's perfection — young, able and intelfigent. Bill was a wonderful choice for Joseph Gillis." In this story of Hollywood life, today, Gloria plays a famous screen star of a quarter century ago, now living in luxurious seclusion while scheming to return to the screen in a four-alarm blaze of glory. As NormM, she falls in love with Bill Holden, cast as a young screen writer. Eric von Stroheim plays her former director who is now her butler, zealously seeing to it that she is never aware that she is passe. Since Norma is inclined to suicide, the house is minus door knobs. Bill is a mild gigolo who rebels when Nancy Olson, a studio story reader, appears. Norma tries to break this up — with drastic results to be seen at your local movie palace and which will be the more dramatic for their surprise value. New studio workers were captivated by Gloria's friendly charm, amiability and understanding cooperation ( the old timers weren't surprised). Proof of her popular