Happy Birthday, Gloria Swanson

As it would have been Gloria Swanson's birthday today, I figured I would make a post with a little about her and my favorite movie of hers, Sunset Blvd. She was born on March 27th (today) in 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Adelaide and Joseph Theodore Swanson, and they separated when she was young. Her first film was in 1914, and she was cast as an extra in The Song of Soul. In 1916, she moved to California to further pursue her acting career. She starred in dozens of films and soon became a silent-film star.                    Here's Gloria Swanson in 1921.

And now a review on Sunset Boulevard...

What is there to say besides the fact that it is one of the best movies of all time? (It scores #6 on the list of my favorites on my "Movie" tab) And if you haven't seen it, then I highly advise that you do. It's the story of the over-the-hill silent-film star who has become a dellusional recluse, Norma Desmond, and her encounter with the young filmwriter named Joe Gillis. She imprisons him in her home and makes him write a screenplay designed specifically for her to make herself known in Hollywood again. She falls in love with him (although she is old enough to be his mother) and all the while he is having an affair with another woman. It's a truly gripping and amazing movie that I think anyone will be impacted by.

This movie holds one of the most famous lines of all time: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."


And the sad thing is, is that I'm sure cases such as Norma Desmond's have happened with other silent-film stars, when they just can't get past the fact that they're not famous anymore and will most likely live their lives in solitude.

...on that happy note... happy birthday to an amazing actress, Gloria Swanson.

"We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!"