Gloria Swanson Interviewed by Mike Wallace

[silentscreen]

Vintage interview from The Mike Wallace show. Gloria is classy as always, but Mike seems a bit rude. Nice long length though. I haven't always liked her, but I'm beginning to like her better and appreciate her contribution to the history of motion pictures.

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/vi ... loria.html

[feaito]

Thanks for posting this interview Brenda. It's one of the best I've seen, although I also felt he was quite rude and tough towards her.

Gloria Swanson comes accross as a grand woman, down-to-earth, sincere, wise... She's become one of my favorite persons in the business. There isn't a bit of resentement, hatred, envy or whatever negativity in her opinions.

[silentscreen]

Your welcome Fernando. I always thought of Gloria as more of a "star" than an actress, which in fairness, I think she thought also. She wanted to be taken seriously as an actress. But that's a bit of an unfair assessment when you consider some of her better roles like "Sunset Blvd." and "Queen Kelly." And you're right, she does come across in a positive light in her interviews. Mike does give her a rough go, but she comes across as intelligent and someone who had a lot of other interests and kept abreast of what was going on.

[feaito]

I agree completely with your assessments Brenda.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks for posting Brenda.

I think Gloria was great, such a lady, I agree with you both about the interviewer. I can't imagine he had a rush on his hands of people queueing up to be on his programme if he spoke to interviewees like that.

Watching the cigarette adverts is quite strange. I've never known tabacco advertising in my life time and always been brought up to know the risks. A natural smoke with no filter, goodness.

[silentscreen]

Thanks for posting Brenda.

I think Gloria was great, such a lady, I agree with you both about the interviewer. I can't imagine he had a rush on his hands of people queueing up to be on his programme if he spoke to interviewees like that.

Watching the cigarette adverts is quite strange. I've never known tabacco advertising in my life time and always been brought up to know the risks. A natural smoke with no filter, goodness.

I know, it was odd. This was probably a late fifties or early sixties broadcast when they didn't know the dangers.

[ken123]

Thanks for posting Brenda.

I think Gloria was great, such a lady, I agree with you both about the interviewer. I can't imagine he had a rush on his hands of people queueing up to be on his programme if he spoke to interviewees like that.

Watching the cigarette adverts is quite strange. I've never known tabacco advertising in my life time and always been brought up to know the risks. A natural smoke with no filter, goodness.

I know, it was odd. This was probably a late fifties or early sixties broadcast when they didn't know the dangers.

In a Three Stooges episode the boys win the grand prize in a contest sponsored by the " Coffin Nail Cigarette Company ",Shemp was in that short so it must have been no later than 1955. The Surgeon General's report on the dangers of smoking was released in 1963 or "64. A local ( Chicago ) news anchor smoked all during his TV broadcasts ( 58 - early 70's ), you could see the smoke floating up from his desk.

[silentscreen]

My how times change.

[ken123]

The news anchors name was Floyd Kalber.

[charliechaplinfan]

I remember starting work twenty years ago, I work in a bank and the first cashier (he kept most of the money) had a cigarette constantly in his till. You'd open the drawer and a cloud of cigarette smoke would rise, there must have been a few thousand pounds there, yet it was acceptable policy.

Somethings do change for the better.

[Ollie]

Thanks for posting this. I keep thinking "The internet CAN give us everything!" when I see bits like this, sharing treasures that truly should be regarded as national - or global - treasures for our history.

I also think it helps Mike's legacy shrink and dive deeper because, well, he deserves it. I'd love to think he and Gloria were pulling a prank and set this up. A regular Jerry Lawler-Andy Kaufman duo. For Gloria, yes, I think she'd be fun enough to do that. Mike, however, showed this side of himself many other times. "Put the cig back in yer mouth, Mike - drive those coffin nails deeper and faster..."

(He's, like, 91 now? Wow...)

As I started listening to old radio programs, my earliest sets were from the late '20s - 1927, 1928 - and those had cig commercials in them, always claiming "Our filter is smoother, and better for you!" so even then, the manufacturers knew they had to claim some "more healthy" aspect of an unhealthy product. And cigs were often joked about as "coffin nails" in radio scripts. I have a Fibber McGee show from 1931 where some character is puffing away, coughing and Fibber says, "Those things'll kill ya - here, let me light another one for ya..."

I'm still amazed to see so many young people smoking. "It makes us look older, more mature. We look so much more cool." And they fall for that same line still, just like 12-year-olds in the 1920s.