Gloria Swanson, in Sadie Thompson

approximately 51 minutes and 23 seconds***
57% of the film

The film

Sadie Thompson arrives in Pago-Pago on her way to a new life, but extremist missionary Davidson lashes out against her lifestyle.

You can read my short review of the film just by clicking HERE.

The film sure doesn’t lack tension, and there’s a very satisfying stage-like intensity in the second half, but it misses the opportunity with an ending that, regardless of the fact that’s it’s recreated through stills, doesn’t live up to the hype it previously promises. Lionel Barrymore would’ve made for a great nominee.

Gloria Swanson as Sadie Thompson

It’s my first encounter with a Gloria Swanson performance outside her iconic role in Sunset Blvd., 22 years later. And we have a very different character and performance: it’s both underwhelming because being a silent performance it takes away a bit from the fun, and also impressive because here she really gets the spotlight, as the driving force of the film [quick note: Sunset was really about Holden’s character, even though Gloria is the scene stealer]. I liked what I saw, but even the performance is not without its flaws.

Gloria plays Sadie Thompson, an easy-going, outspoken, party girl who stops on the island of Pago Pago, on her way to a new job. She has a conflict with an overzealous Christian missionary, who is also an influential man, which will bring out a dark secret from Sadie’s past and cause her a nervous breakdown when faced with imminent imprisonment. It sounds a bit complicated, though the role is not as tragic as it seems: it has its lighter side in the first half.

The role is quite consistent and offers plenty of possibilities for the actress to show range. Gloria looks gorgeous all throughout the film and the camera clearly loves her. She uses it at its best, especially when showing the seductive, fun side of Sadie, in her first scenes. She knows about men, she knows how to amuse them, how to entertain, yet keeping the fine line between what’s acceptable and what’s vulgar. I didn’t always find myself on her side in the first scenes, but I could recognize this girl and how her down-to-Earth attitude was not badly intended.

Gloria has no problem in proving the street-smarts of the character, while carefully underlining the vulnerable, human side, especially in her first conflict with Davidson. She feels cornered, doesn’t realize what she did wrong, and her reactions are natural, well-played and bring likeability to the character as the story progresses. Her reactions of worry and anger are very believable and have a great contribution to the tense atmosphere, so important for the 2nd part of the film.

But as I said, it’s not all perfect. Her breakdown scene was overplayed, I thought, and might be the only weak moment in her acting. One could blame it on the directing maybe, I just thought she was a bit overtheatrical in that scene, trying to take it far enough to justify the change in her character. It’s not terribly wrong, but maybe she could’ve found some other way.

As you might know, the last 8 minutes of the film are missing, and Sadie Thompson has been recreated using stills and the original screenplay for dialogue. That’s a pitty, because at one point there’s a scene with Sadie, and the card says: Behold me in all my glorified glory – I’m radiant – I’m beautiful! And it’s sad we cannot see how she acts this line, which seems so deliciously difficult to deliver or act around.

It’s an enjoyable performance, actually more than that: a good one. She hardly loses focus, gives a believable, confident performance, she’s gorgeous to look at and makes the character more accessible than someone else might’ve managed. Even if it’s a success, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going with more than… Oh, wait: very last minute update: I was going for a 3, but let’s make that an almost . She does sell the film. :)




***I usually don’t count photos of the actors on screen as screentime. But considering the missing footage here, I did take in account the stills from the last minutes, meaning: I also included as screentime when she appeared in a production still in the restored scenes. And that gave me the total of approximately 51 minutes, 23 seconds. Without the restored ending, the screentime is 48 minutes, 57 seconds.

Gloria Swanson, in Sunset Blvd.

approximately 41 minutes and 40 seconds
39.6% of the film

The film

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

You can read my short review of the film just by clicking HERE.

What an impressive film, really. It’s done so well and with such a great directorial technique that it feels fresh and fascinating even today. Some might find it too cuckoo, but I think of it to be a delicious look inside Hollywood and a fascinating portrait of an aging crazy diva.

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond

There are some iconic characters that would represent the world for any movie fan and Oscar fan in particular. There’s Scarlett, there’s Blanche and there’s definitely Norma Desmond. Unlike the previous two characters showing up in Oscar’s archive, Miss Desmond has the distinction of being an original character. It’s very possible that this legendary name wouldn’t have entered American culture with the same undying force had it not been for Gloria Swanson. She made it possible, also with the help of some terrific material.

Gloria Swanson plays Norma Desmond, a rich ex-silent-movie star, living an isolated life in a fantasy world. Her delusion borders insanity, as she strongly imagines her return to the screen in the leading role of Salome. She finds love interest in a screenplay writer with an agenda of his own and becomes his sponsor as she slowly continues to sink into madness. It’s a juicy role, yet difficult to play.

Do notice the limited screentime, which kind of surprised me. Truth is the film is more about the struggling writer, but she makes such a strong impression that you would hardly associate Sunset Blvd. with anyone other than Gloria Swanson/Norma Desmond. I will just limit myself in presenting what I liked where I think there were some issues or difficulties for me to fully digest the performance.

I think Gloria’s best acted scenes are, hands down, the ones in which she acts most normal; eccentric, but not crazy. Her first scene, with the chimp burial and the Gilberts! the Valentinos!, is the best. She is fascinating to look at, but normal enough for me to understand the character and the human side of it.

Same with her scene visiting Paramount studios or her falling in love with this younger man. Even in her scenes of jealousy I could sense the sickness of this woman, how she was trying to fight it, but ultimately had to surrender. In all the scenes showing vulnerability, she stops being a caricature and becomes a relatable human being. I loved that about her and those scenes filled with weakness, arrogance were the most fun scenes for me.

But the screenplay demanded more from her and here’s where the crazy came in. At first, I didn’t react that entirely great to it: it seemed the-mother-of-all-theatrical and overacting. It looked like overcooked schizophrenia that makes a good film, but not a great performance. However, revisiting scenes over and over, I understand how truly unselfish Gloria is when playing Norma. She is sacrificing some credibility to get that extra-bump of memorable and history-making that the film demands.

Gloria is being pushed into overplaying it for the sake of the show and I have to get used to the idea that Gloria delivered exactly what the film required. Did I fully love her sacrifice? No. But she was carefully, memorably, precisely acting the script.

It’s a performance people will still be talking about 100 years from now. It shows modern audiences the 1950s perception of a 1920s movie star. Gloria Swanson is very good, but due to reasons mentioned here, I couldn’t fully love the performance. Strangely, it’s most recognized for the weird crazy scenes, but I loved the human, vulnerable moments. It was hard for me to choose between 4 and 5, but I’m going with , as I’m trying not to get influenced by the fact that people always expect you to worship this performance.