Gloria Swanson should have won the Oscar but I guess that The Academy Voters thought that her portrayal was too over the top. Sunset Blvd was an instant Classic. Gloria Swanson was Super Great.
Actually, the real reason she lost that year was simply that the competition that year was so incredible it split the voting. That was the same year Bette Davis gave her iconic performance as Margo Channing in All About Eve, Judy Holliday gave her star-making performance in Born Yesterday, and Anne Baxter was also nominated for All About Eve, as well. Even Bette Davis believed that many of the same people who loved Sunset Blvd, also, loved All About Eve (since they share similar themes) and having to choose between the 3 actresses from those movies kinda allowed Judy Holliday to slip on through. I think any other year Gloria Swanson would've definitely won the Oscar for Best Actress.
Gloria Swanson was indeed magnificent in Sunset Boulevard. If you know more about the silent era, you will notice and understand more of the many subtle connotations and quotations in the film. You will also realise that she was so much more than just the star of that particular film noir of the 50's. She was one of the greatest stars during the entire silent period. She deserves more credit for that.
She was such a lady. One of the few instances I wish I was a little older to have experienced her in her lifetime. I watch "Sunset Boulevard" quite often, and I am stilll mesmerized each time I view it. R.I.P., Ms. Swanson. You left an indelible mark within the ranks of Hollywood.
Gloria Swanson was a very intelligent and talented woman. She had something very unique and looked and behaved like an aristocrat, but no ego at all! So respectful and charming this lady. In Sunset Boulevard she was so brilliant!...
I just watched Sunset Boulevard for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I can HONESTLY SAY IF THERE WAS A YEAR FOR THE OSCARS TO GRANT MORE THAN 1 BEST ACTRESS AWARD 1950 WOULD BE IT BETTE, JUDY & GLORIA DID A SMASH UP JOB IN THEIR PERFORMANCES!!!!!!
God, I used to love this segment of the show. They had REAL celebrities, today it would feature the "star of new A&E hit reality show blah blah blah". These guests were truly STARS. And it was all classy in a way that has all but evaporated from entertainment today. Sigh. I guess I HAVE turned into an old fart...:)
+njplr I think celeb industry is now being used to dumb down society. Why else do most news pages now have Daily Mail style sidebars we can't avoid on every news story, to get easily influenced gullible people to care about what over hyped talentless half wits are doing. They turn ex-manufactured band members who can't sing solo, or reality show contestants into style icons, because it involves no more skill than wearing clothes, except they're less stylish than everybody else I've ever seen, as have orange skin, obvious fake chest they like showing off, scouse brows, plastered on make-up. Or half a news page had Kardashian naked, and then they said she broke the internet, when nobody wanted to see her naked anyway. Can't even walk into a newsagents without being confronted by rows of magazines full of thick orange people, with their dumb made up stories. Before their promoters make up a new career for attention, like business person for putting their name on a perfume somebody else made, or fashion designer for drawing a picture of a dress, and then getting somebody to make it who has worked in and studied the industry. Or the Beckhams selling their ugly kids into the celeb industry so their talentless mother can use them to keep selling dumb stories to magazines. Then the gullible brainwashed army of people say they must be great if rich, from there being so many gullible brainwashed people to care about types who are worse than most people.
@EL GRECO 777 Many women weren't allowed to have opinions on politics, their place was in the home or bedroom. So why wouldn't she be more progressive, if it weren't for progressivism she would've never been able to become a successful business woman and powerhouse in the film industry. She was also openly feminist and a vegan who didn't eat sugar and did yoga, she was ahead of her time. But don't get your panties to and a twist over a dead woman's political affiliation (which is as superfluous as it is personal), she only voted Republican.
@@acyutanandadas1326 And we had the eyes of the whole world but that wasn't enough, they wanted words. So they opened their mouths and out came talk talk talk. Well they've made a noose of words.
You watch one episode and get hooked - Been watching for the last 90 minutes. Gloria looked amazing, very elegent, up front lady of her time. Arlene Francis is very good at this game, love watching - Thanks for posting!
Have you seen any of her silent movies? I recommend Stage Struck (1925) and Don't Change Your Husband/Why Change Your Wife (1919/1920- they have pretty much the same plot)
It was the year for Judy Holiday in "Born Yesterday" Bette Davis in "All About Eve" Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Blvd" Seeing those three films, I thought they were each perfect and brilliant, I guess it came down to comedy versus tragedy---the ones liked the drama split the vote between Davis and Swanson, and Holiday got the rest. It makes sense, but it shows how competition between performers doesn't really even out. It should have been a three-way-tie or something.
Acting Oscars almost always go to the movie that specifically needs the award boost for box office. Even back then. - Yes, of course, it’s got to be “up there” in group (Academy)-approved consensus, re quality - but it’s primarily a political/$$ biz matter. Ijs ! Yes, once in a great while, I would say an actor might actually get one for sentimental value… if it’s a highly important current issue or if it’s an award for the actor’s entire body of work ….
Yes. Sunset Boulevard was released in 1950. Since they mention the King of England, who died in Feb. 1952, that places this clip as somewhere between early 1950 and February 1952.
As a silent film queen, she's one of the few actresses who could use her own voice and still stump the panel as " Sunset Boulevard " hadn't actually been in released yet....right?
Gloria's hat is the most darling article of whimsy ever!! It looks as though Dr Seuss could have designed it. Oh, wouldn't my cat be thrilled if I had one just like it strapped to my head?!
Just saw her in an Alfred Hitchcock episode named "The locked door" which showed her serious dramatic acting chops continuing well into the 60s and not simply via some camphorror movie, not that there's anything wrong with baby Jane or Charlotte
I sure did! Second hand knowledge. My mom was a secretary and household planner for a very famous singer in the 60's. My grandmother was in charge of his kitchen. He was having a dinner party and Gloria Swanson was one of his guest...I'll never forget how irritated my mom was about having to plan a menu JUST for her.
And her husband wrote the book "Sugar Blues." A friend of mine knew her well and said she never wavered from her dedication to vegetarianism, staying away from sugar and drinking only specific purified waters. My friend said she had the most beautiful skin.
In the movie Sunset Boulevard Gloria Swanson played a faded silent film star named Norma Desmond. You should check out Gloria Swanson's photos on the internet when she was in silent movies.
OMG...echoing almost the exact thoughts of the last post, this is a true example of a RARE find: WML the way it looked in its primitive beginnings- from the first, soon-to-change original panel (including Mr. Untermeyer) to the simplistic set pieces and pen-and-paper easel- the chalkboard wasn't even here yet!! Thank you so much for a surviving episode..
""there was a time when we had the eyes of the whole wide world, but that wasn't good enough for them, so they hired writers and out came talk talk talk"" Norma Desmond
Gloria Swanson, was the last of the great Movie Stars! She played her part in "Sunset Blvd." as Norma Desmond! William Holden, played his part as a kept man! Excellent movie!⭐🎬⭐
Gloria and Bette were my favourites actresses of the period, not just because of their phenomenal acting talent but because they were super smart independent woman....they were out of their time and an example to all women on how to live life in an uncompromising way, not self absorbed in that sense , indeed both were very altruisitc, but they had a sound sense of themselves . Women of today, especially the new age feminiza could learn a great deal from studying how to be accomplished and respected whilst at the same time maintaining and embracing their feminine qualities.
When making 'Sunset Boulevard", one problem the producers had was that Swanson looked too good - she was a real pioneer in the health food movement and it paid off for her.
The reference to "a certain well-known singer making a trip to Spain" was Frank Sinatra. At the time, he was married to and infatuated with Ava Gardner who was having an affair with a Spanish bullfighter. It was front-page news worldwide.
This episode aired during the show's first season in 1950. It was supposed to be a replacement series, and it only aired every two weeks during its first season. Harold Untermeyer was on the show's first several episodes, until he was let go because of his past membership in the Communist Party in the 1930s. He was replaced by Hal Block, who only lasted a season or two before being forced out because the sponsor thought that his style of humor was too "low-brow", despite his popularity with the fans of the show. Block was replaced by Steve Allen, who stayed on until 1954, when he left to host "The Tonight Show" on NBC. Steve Allen was replaced by radio comedian/author Fred Allen, who was on the panel for two years before he died of a heart attack in 1956. After Fred Allen's death, the seat on the panel was filled with guest panelists for the remainder of the show's 17-year run on prime-time TV.
Louis Untermeyer -- later US Poet Laureate, but he was plunged into depression after his firing from WML? He didn't leave his apartment for over a year. IIRC, he was replaced by Bennett Cerf. Block was an original member, and yes, he was replaced by Steve Allen.
Which means that, back then, they could make gods and goddesses out of jokes like Gloria Swanson. Not hating, simply stating things as they are... and as they really were, not as the image of them that you shape in your own head.
Louis Untermeyer was not only a poet and widely known editor during his time, but he was also blacklisted by the show's sponsor, a deodorant manufacturer, during the red scare.
Gloria Swanson should have won the Oscar but I guess that The Academy Voters thought that her portrayal was too over the top. Sunset Blvd was an instant Classic. Gloria Swanson was Super Great.
They were apparently pissed that Hollywood's treatment of older women was exposed so realistically.
Trouble is, she was perfect in that part.
@@hcombs0104 She was only perfect for one reason, and one reason only; because she was a great actress.
@@photo161 As much as I love Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday, my choice that year would have been Gloria Swanson.
Actually, the real reason she lost that year was simply that the competition that year was so incredible it split the voting. That was the same year Bette Davis gave her iconic performance as Margo Channing in All About Eve, Judy Holliday gave her star-making performance in Born Yesterday, and Anne Baxter was also nominated for All About Eve, as well. Even Bette Davis believed that many of the same people who loved Sunset Blvd, also, loved All About Eve (since they share similar themes) and having to choose between the 3 actresses from those movies kinda allowed Judy Holliday to slip on through. I think any other year Gloria Swanson would've definitely won the Oscar for Best Actress.
Gloria Swanson was a movie star in every sense of the word. Glamour, sophistication and talent.
And she was so funny
Gloria Swanson was indeed magnificent in Sunset Boulevard. If you know more about the silent era, you will notice and understand more of the many subtle connotations and quotations in the film. You will also realise that she was so much more than just the star of that particular film noir of the 50's. She was one of the greatest stars during the entire silent period. She deserves more credit for that.
Von Stroheim was also considered a great director in real life too.
She deserved a lot more respect than she was given. She was GLORIA SWANSON!
Gloria Swanson was so darn good in Sunset Blvd
She had real soul. I'm searching out all her best flicks.
Because of great writing and direction!
I know: I'm ready for my closeup up. DeMille
No one could have played that part as Gloria Swanson did
She was ready for her 'Close Up'
"I am BIG, it's the picture that got small." Outstanding performance by Ms. Gloria and William Holden in Sunset Boulevard.
Pictures... plural
Ain't that the truth.
"I AM big, it's the pictures that got small!"..
She was such a lady. One of the few instances I wish I was a little older to have experienced her in her lifetime. I watch "Sunset Boulevard" quite often, and I am stilll mesmerized each time I view it. R.I.P., Ms. Swanson. You left an indelible mark within the ranks of Hollywood.
Gloria Swanson was a very intelligent and talented woman. She had something very unique and looked and behaved like an aristocrat, but no ego at all! So respectful and charming this lady. In Sunset Boulevard she was so brilliant!...
I just watched Sunset Boulevard for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I can HONESTLY SAY IF THERE WAS A YEAR FOR THE OSCARS TO GRANT MORE THAN 1 BEST ACTRESS AWARD 1950 WOULD BE IT BETTE, JUDY & GLORIA DID A SMASH UP JOB IN THEIR PERFORMANCES!!!!!!
Wasn't she incredibly unusual in a fascinating way?
Such a gracious lady! So classy and graceful!
And a great sense of humor - Beverly Hillbillies - "Passion's Plaything"
Screen Legend !!!!!! One of a kind .....
I met Gloria Swanson in1970 @ the Ritz-Carlton, Boston, I spoke w/her/small talk. A very polite, & petite lady, about 5'2" & a nice smile!
God, I used to love this segment of the show. They had REAL celebrities, today it would feature the "star of new A&E hit reality show blah blah blah". These guests were truly STARS. And it was all classy in a way that has all but evaporated from entertainment today. Sigh. I guess I HAVE turned into an old fart...:)
+njplr I think celeb industry is now being used to dumb down society. Why else do most news pages now have Daily Mail style sidebars we can't avoid on every news story, to get easily influenced gullible people to care about what over hyped talentless half wits are doing. They turn ex-manufactured band members who can't sing solo, or reality show contestants into style icons, because it involves no more skill than wearing clothes, except they're less stylish than everybody else I've ever seen, as have orange skin, obvious fake chest they like showing off, scouse brows, plastered on make-up. Or half a news page had Kardashian naked, and then they said she broke the internet, when nobody wanted to see her naked anyway.
Can't even walk into a newsagents without being confronted by rows of magazines full of thick orange people, with their dumb made up stories. Before their promoters make up a new career for attention, like business person for putting their name on a perfume somebody else made, or fashion designer for drawing a picture of a dress, and then getting somebody to make it who has worked in and studied the industry. Or the Beckhams selling their ugly kids into the celeb industry so their talentless mother can use them to keep selling dumb stories to magazines. Then the gullible brainwashed army of people say they must be great if rich, from there being so many gullible brainwashed people to care about types who are worse than most people.
njplr Oh I dare say you're right. It's shameful. I feel they're kept around distract us from real news and things we should be keeping in touch with
Totally agree...Hollywood's golden age had the great & *TRUE STARS!*
@@SuzLa1 dont hold back
@@willyboy6126 Who decided that actors are the stars? Aren't they just people pretending to be others?
What a classy and modest lady.
That's how a legend ought to be.
This woman is iconic! What a talent!
In 1972, when Nixon was trying to deport John Lennon (for his political beliefs), Ms. Swanson defended John in public. Quite a fine lady and citizen.
@EL GRECO 777 Many women weren't allowed to have opinions on politics, their place was in the home or bedroom. So why wouldn't she be more progressive, if it weren't for progressivism she would've never been able to become a successful business woman and powerhouse in the film industry. She was also openly feminist and a vegan who didn't eat sugar and did yoga, she was ahead of her time. But don't get your panties to and a twist over a dead woman's political affiliation (which is as superfluous as it is personal), she only voted Republican.
Gave me chills --- theatre and the film industry are but a pale leftover from the glory days.
Now that's what you call a "Class Act".
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
"Alright Mr DeMille I'm ready for my closeup"
"We had faces"
@@acyutanandadas1326 And we had the eyes of the whole world but that wasn't enough, they wanted words. So they opened their mouths and out came talk talk talk. Well they've made a noose of words.
Gloria Swanson was great in Sunset Blvd.
I have never heard of this show and found it one day when I got lost on UA-cam. I love it!
It was Very popular...! Every star in the world cameo d on it..judt ABOUT...then regular everyday people on it too...it was so neat
Gloria Swanson is FANTASTIC. Bet she was easy to work with. :) I recall her interview show on WOR in New York.
The ultimate star
What an interesting person Gloria Swanson seems to be! I never knew much about her apart from her fame, she's just delightful! (Well, past tense)
You watch one episode and get hooked - Been watching for the last 90 minutes. Gloria looked amazing, very elegent, up front lady of her time. Arlene Francis is very good at this game, love watching - Thanks for posting!
When actors had class.
I never get tired of watching her in Sunset Blvd !Fantastic !
Have you seen any of her silent movies? I recommend Stage Struck (1925) and Don't Change Your Husband/Why Change Your Wife (1919/1920- they have pretty much the same plot)
i'm 14 and i really love this show.
@annamal pete I wonder if he still watches?
You have to wonder how much those "sign in" boards would be worth.
The truly stunning Gloria Swanson. What a joy it is to watch WML.
Gloria Swanson will always be remembered for her performance in "Sunset Boulevard".
Love her!!!
"I am big. It's the pictures that got small"
" Get out! Or, shall I call my servant?"
"We had faces!"
This is when Hollywood had class and Ms. Swanson defined that 100%.
Shows how old this episode is, when was this last time you heard someone say the King & Queen of England.
True this would be before 1953 when Queen Elizabeth was coronated.
She didn’t try to disguise her voice AT ALL. How could they not know who she was right away?
James Sandy Well ... they didn’t need voice; they had her face.
She was primarily a silent film star. Her voice wouldn’t have been that familiar.
She had not made a movie in years before Sunset Blvd. And that had been a couple of years.
Fascinating creature. Which, of course, was an aspect of her being an immortal star of the screen. Thanks very much.
It was the year for Judy Holiday in "Born Yesterday"
Bette Davis in "All About Eve"
Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Blvd"
Seeing those three films, I thought they were each perfect and brilliant, I guess it came down to comedy versus tragedy---the ones liked the drama split the vote between Davis and Swanson, and Holiday got the rest. It makes sense, but it shows how competition between performers doesn't really even out. It should have been a three-way-tie or something.
Acting Oscars almost always go to the movie that specifically needs the award boost for box office. Even back then. - Yes, of course, it’s got to be “up there” in group (Academy)-approved consensus, re quality - but it’s primarily a political/$$ biz matter. Ijs !
Yes, once in a great while, I would say an actor might actually get one for sentimental value… if it’s a highly important current issue or if it’s an award for the actor’s entire body of work ….
Amazed she used her own distinctive voice and no one seemed to know it...
Thank you for this!
Miss Swanson was the most glamorous of stars
One of the earliest episodes indeed: Gloria Swanson doesn't even make an attempt to disguise her voice.
Who ever thumbing down this video does not know who Gloria Swanson was.
I adore this lady so much.
Yes. Sunset Boulevard was released in 1950. Since they mention the King of England, who died in Feb. 1952, that places this clip as somewhere between early 1950 and February 1952.
I love Gloria Swanson, read her book it was wonderful.
Now here is a real STAR. Great actress.
As a silent film queen, she's one of the few actresses who could use her own voice and still stump the panel as " Sunset Boulevard " hadn't actually been in released yet....right?
fantastic actress and fantastic game
I am wont to automatically hit
the 👍button before the episodes even
begin because I
have never seen
one I didn't thoroughly enjoy.
Wow! So cool to see such an early episode - Thank you for posting!
Class, beauty, and elegance not to mention fortitude for undertaking a role that must have hit very close to home for the silent-era queen
Amazing video, thanks for sharing it!
Miss Swanson is adorable!
Gloria's hat is the most darling article of whimsy ever!! It looks as though Dr Seuss could have designed it. Oh, wouldn't my cat be thrilled if I had one just like it strapped to my head?!
I love how Dorothy flairs her arms when she says "oh of course it is!"
Just saw her in an Alfred Hitchcock episode named "The locked door" which showed her serious dramatic acting chops continuing well into the 60s and not simply via some camphorror movie, not that there's anything wrong with baby Jane or Charlotte
Wow! Love this! She looks lovely. Did you all know she was a devout vegetarian most of her life?
No but then again ho cares
The majority of stars are devout meat-eaters; they'd refuse to be vegetarians. But your point is ...
Good.
More beef for me.
I sure did! Second hand knowledge. My mom was a secretary and household planner for a very famous singer in the 60's. My grandmother was in charge of his kitchen. He was having a dinner party and Gloria Swanson was one of his guest...I'll never forget how irritated my mom was about having to plan a menu JUST for her.
And her husband wrote the book "Sugar Blues." A friend of mine knew her well and said she never wavered from her dedication to vegetarianism, staying away from sugar and drinking only specific purified waters. My friend said she had the most beautiful skin.
Really acts like a Star! Classy lady.
I JUST love her..all her movies
This makes me nostalgic for an epoch in which I didn’t partake, although I wish I had, and also seem to think that I did.
In the movie Sunset Boulevard Gloria Swanson played a faded silent film star named Norma Desmond. You should check out Gloria Swanson's photos on the internet when she was in silent movies.
The same one Carol Burnett spoofed?
I'm so glad the panel picked her out. As a silent film star they could have missed or dismissed her as so many subsequent Hollywood stars did.
OMG...echoing almost the exact thoughts of the last post, this is a true example of a RARE find: WML the way it looked in its primitive beginnings- from the first, soon-to-change original panel (including Mr. Untermeyer) to the simplistic set pieces and pen-and-paper easel- the chalkboard wasn't even here yet!! Thank you so much for a surviving episode..
I've actually seen the movie, and it is definitely a classic. Films like that are making me appreciate films like that more.
She has such a star quality. Many of the stars then had a strong presence. Like even if they weren't a star you'd notice them when they walk in a room
she is a real star
Oh that Miss Swanson.
“I have oil wells in Bakersfield, pumping, pumping, pumping”
(Not sure if was two or three pumpings.)
""there was a time when we had the eyes of the whole wide world, but that wasn't good enough for them, so they hired writers and out came talk talk talk"" Norma Desmond
An intelligent, clever, witty, fascinating woman in movies and in interviews.
Gloria Swanson, was the last of the great Movie Stars! She played her part in "Sunset Blvd." as Norma Desmond! William Holden, played his part as a kept man! Excellent movie!⭐🎬⭐
Her voice gave her away immediatly,
Rip to All these Icons..
This expression, this perfection.
Beauty and brains.
I love the sophisticated and quite correct manner in which Arlene Francis pronounces "penchant"😁😀😍
Gloria and Bette were my favourites actresses of the period, not just because of their phenomenal acting talent but because they were super smart independent woman....they were out of their time and an example to all women on how to live life in an uncompromising way, not self absorbed in that sense , indeed both were very altruisitc, but they had a sound sense of themselves . Women of today, especially the new age feminiza could learn a great deal from studying how to be accomplished and respected whilst at the same time maintaining and embracing their feminine qualities.
When making 'Sunset Boulevard", one problem the producers had was that Swanson looked too good - she was a real pioneer in the health food movement and it paid off for her.
A very classy and sophisticated lady. During the era of silent pictures there was no bigger star.
They need to get this back on america
She was an odd duck. Luv the tree on her head. When stars had style!
How did they not recognize that distinctive voice? It's Norma Desmond!
The reference to "a certain well-known singer making a trip to Spain" was Frank Sinatra. At the time, he was married to and infatuated with Ava Gardner who was having an affair with a Spanish bullfighter. It was front-page news worldwide.
Reference to theater: within a few months she co-starred in a Broadway revival of Hecht and MacArthur's "Twentieth Century"
Her hat is awesome!
This episode aired during the show's first season in 1950. It was supposed to be a replacement series, and it only aired every two weeks during its first season. Harold Untermeyer was on the show's first several episodes, until he was let go because of his past membership in the Communist Party in the 1930s. He was replaced by Hal Block, who only lasted a season or two before being forced out because the sponsor thought that his style of humor was too "low-brow", despite his popularity with the fans of the show. Block was replaced by Steve Allen, who stayed on until 1954, when he left to host "The Tonight Show" on NBC. Steve Allen was replaced by radio comedian/author Fred Allen, who was on the panel for two years before he died of a heart attack in 1956. After Fred Allen's death, the seat on the panel was filled with guest panelists for the remainder of the show's 17-year run on prime-time TV.
Louis Untermeyer -- later US Poet Laureate, but he was plunged into depression after his firing from WML? He didn't leave his apartment for over a year. IIRC, he was replaced by Bennett Cerf. Block was an original member, and yes, he was replaced by Steve Allen.
Thank you for posting this!
------Ellen
new hollywood is joke compare with all these real stars
City Hunter I would agree but add cesspool, at the very best!
You Got that right!
City island
Which means that, back then, they could make gods and goddesses out of jokes like Gloria Swanson. Not hating, simply stating things as they are... and as they really were, not as the image of them that you shape in your own head.
That’s one ignorant comment.
Gloria Swanson was so cute and such a lady. l wish l experienced her rise in the 1950's.
2Steps Productions she only made one success and that’s it
You dont need to have a degree to be informed, kind and respectful, THAT is called CLASS..take that over any degree
An early episode the panel still has problems asking questions to the mystery guest
A true Star.
Thanks for the caveat regarding the glitches. I thought my computer caught a virus
They all look so young :)
Louis Untermeyer was not only a poet and widely known editor during his time, but he was also blacklisted by the show's sponsor, a deodorant manufacturer, during the red scare.
There should have been a little more time for talking with the guest; however, that may take place when they guess the guest more quickly.
"I'm ready for my close-up Mr De Mille".......
PRICELESS!
There is a video of Gloria Swanson 's second appearance on WML in which Mr Daly mentions her first appearance to have taken place in 1950.