normandie7 Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I'm a lucky girl! Early this morning I went to Foyles bookstore here in London and quite unexpectedly came across a brand new copy of "Swanson on Swanson". I've been looking for this book for ages, but since it's out of print I couldn't find it anywhere. And this morning it was right there - a single copy staring at me from the shelf! This find has made this sunny day even more beautiful! Silly really, but I can't help it, I feel happy today! Anyone else came across some rare gems lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erzbet Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Congratulations, normandie7 - I know the feeling exactly. My find, however, wasn't a book...it was finding out the name of a melody I heard in the background of Irene Dunne's WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER film. That tune had been bugging me for 35 years plus -- I just loved it and had heard it used in GRAND HOTEL and THE GREAT CARUSO -- but I didn't have a title. However, I had heard it featured on the Lawrence Welk show -- so did a song search on Amazon.com -- and lo and behold, I found the song. I was in SECTIONS! It really made my month. Happy reading. Miss Swanson was something else - I wonder how many other "semi-retired" actresses would have ventured a role like "Norma Desmond"? She was magnificent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhryun Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I was shopping at a thrift store browsing through the books, and found a copy of Swanson on Swanson in excellent condition for 99 cents! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lux0786 Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Erzbet, what was the song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erzbet Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 The song used as background music in THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER (where Irene and Alan Marshall go to Dieppe for a little R & R) is named LOVE'S DREAM AFTER THE BALL - composed by Hungarian composer ALPHONS CZIBULKA (died 1894). Its a lilting waltz melody -- wistful - just perfect for that moment as the couple savor their precious time together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normandie7 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 OK, I've been reading the book for most of this weekend and it is very interesting and entertaining. One thing that I understand now is that people in those times often rushed into marriages without even knowing their partners well. Gloaria Swanson rushed into her first marriage with Wallace Beery, but I could understand that as she was only 17 at the time and wanted independence from her mother as well as guidance and help in her career. What I don't understand is that after finally getting a divorce from Beery, she went on to marry a man she only met a few times and knew absolutely nothing about. Needles to say, that relationship also went pearshaped. Were people really that naive back then? They never seemed to learn from their experiences. No wonder most of them had several failed marriages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erzbet Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 And the sad thing, normandie7, is that many celebrities are still making the same mistakes today. We hear so much about so and so breaking up -- but rarely do we hear about the relationships that have stood the test of time. Anyone out there know of any solid Hollywood relationships that have lasted more than 15 years? (Past or present?) Past: Frederic March and Florence Eldridge Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond Nelson Eddy and Ann Franklin Greer Garson and Buddy Fogelson Irene Dunne and her husband (whose name escapes me) Charles Boyer and wife Pat Spencer Tracy and wife Louise Bob Hope and Dolores George Burns and Gracie Allen Present: Ricardo Montalban and wife Georgianna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 I think that James Stewart and his wife Gloria, as well as Kirk Douglas and his second wife Anne, would fit in this category too. Also Sean Connery and his second wife Micheline. And of course, Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. Another: Fred MacMurray and his second wife June Haver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Claudette Colbert and 2nd husband Dr. Joel Pressman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feaito Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 BTW I also bought "Swanson on Swanson" and I plan to read it this year. Currently I'm reading John Kobal's "People Will Talk" which also features an interview with the great Swanson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vecchiolarry Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Hi, Erzbet - Irene Dunne's husband was Dr. Francis Griffin. He was a dentist and they were married in the 20's, I think.... Normandie - I haven't read this book. Does Swanson speak well of Pola Negri, if at all? Pola spoke well of her in her book.. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deborahwakid11 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Hi, Normandie7: I bought that book several years ago. I think Gloria married not just to get independence from her mother. It was also because she did not like her stepfather, who did not want her around. I guess her mother, perhaps, did not want her around as well. It's funny about her and Wallace Beery. I would have never pictured the two of them as a couple before reading her book. Talk about a honeymoon from hell! Then, as you said, she made the same mistake again. After that first marriage, you would have thought she would never want to look at a man again. Beery was sure a lout, but Gloria was remarkably kind to him in her book, considering all she went through. As for long married Hollywood couples, since the death of Ossie Davis this year, the only long-married Hollywood couple left that I can think of are Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The list everyone else compiled is good. I just wouldn't include Tracy and his wife in that group. I mean, they were married 15 years and over, but they were separated for most of their marriage. Perhaps in Gloria's case, she did not have very good examples from her parents on how to have a succesful relationship. I liked the way she worded it in her book how she chose her parents. Being from Chicago, I feel kind of a special connection to her. Take care. Deborah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normandie7 Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Regarding Pola Negri, Gloria Swanson writes about the Hollywood arrival of Pola Negri in 1922 and the way the studio handled the publicity. As Pola Negri had roughly the same image as Swanson, in order to publicize her, they invented the feud between these two ladies. It was completely phony of course. Gloria invited her to a dinner party shortly after her arrival and they agreed it was all nonsense. Negri did however use this "feud" to milk the studio and demand whatever she wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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