1929-30 – Gloria Swanson
The Trespasser
Here we are a second time with Gloria Swanson. The first time she was nominated for the Best Actress category was two years earlier at the first Awards ceremony for the movie Sadie Thompson. There, she played a strong, independent woman, struggling through her trials on her own. All the men wanted her. And I must say, she played it quite well.
Here, she played Marion Donnell, a strong, independent woman, struggling through her trials on her own. All the men wanted her. Again, she played it well, but I’m beginning to see a pattern. And although Swanson starred in many films during the silent era, I think she did a fine job transitioning into the talkies. In fact, this was her first All Talking picture, and I’m guessing that part of her success was due to the fact that she was playing a somewhat familiar character.
Unfortunately, she still had some of those overly-dramatic mannerisms and facial expressions that she had to have in her silent films. But if this was an offense, she didn’t transgress too often, which was all for the better. They even had her singing in several scenes, but her voice suffered from the poor sound quality of the times. Her soprano notes sounded just a bit shrill. Even her speaking voice had a slight tendency to lean towards a higher pitch.
Marion Donnell was a woman who eloped with a man, but left him during the honeymoon because his wealthy father shamed her commoner status. Her new husband is under the thumb of the crotchety old man, and she walks out on him for not standing up for her. Skip ahead to a few years later, and we learn that she has had a child, and chooses to raise him as a single parent. Swanson did a good enough job. It’s just that I’ve seen her play a similar part before. Her most dramatic scene is when she gives her son to his wealthy father so that the boy will have a better life than she can provide for him. As she watches him go, she breaks down in tears. Swanson played it well, but I don’t know. The role just didn’t seem to merit the nomination, especially when compared with the other actresses nominated in the category. There was something just a little lackluster in the part.