Father Takes a Wife (1941).

Father Takes a Wife (1941). Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Swanson, John Howard and Desi Arnaz .

Shipping magnate Frederick Senior Osborne, enters his sons office one day and announces that he is turning the business over to him and plans to marry actress, Leslie Collier. later that night when he and his wife Enid meet Leslie, they talk about Senior and Leslie's age difference. After dinner, the Osbornes attend Leslie's farewell stage performance, where Senior becomes jealous over the attentions of Leslie's leading man. During their honeymoon cruise to Mexico, they discover a stowaway, singer, Carlos Bardez. Feeling sorry for the impoverished Carlos, Senior offers to help him. Once the three arrive home, Leslie appoints herself Carlos' impresario, which the Senior is not to happy about. On the night of Carlos' debut, Leslie comes home very late, angry Senior decides to move in with Junior and Enid. Trying to help, Junior invites Carlos to move in with him and Enid. Things don't go as planned when Leslie moves out of the house and refuses to speak to Senior.

Meanwhile, at Juniors house, same thing happens when Enid takes over the role of Carlos' impresario and Junior leaves in a jealous rage, on the night of Carlos' concert. Father and son then plan to rid themselves of Carlos once and for all, by sending him on a sixty-five city concert tour. Soon after, at their doctor's office, Enid and Leslie meet and both learn that they are pregnant. What will happen next?

Swanson looks gorgeous her beautiful clothes and I thought she gave a wonderful performance. Menjou is very believable playing the jealous spouse.  Arnaz gives a fun performance. This film did remind me a little of one of my favorite films,SUNSET BLVD. Trivia buffs may want to watch for unbilled performances by Loretta Young's ex-husband Grant Withers (as Judge Waters) and Ginger Rogers' future husband Jack Briggs (as Menjou's chauffeur).

FATHER TAKES A WIFE, deserves at least one viewing for the chance to see Gloria Swanson, in a sound motion picture.

Gloria Swanson

Florence Rice (February 14, 1907 – February 23, 1974), became an actress during the early 1930s and after several Broadway roles, eventually made her way to Hollywood. Rice was cast at first as the reliable girlfriend. During the 1930s, MGM gradually provided her with more substantial roles.

Rice never became a major figure in films, but performed in a number of screen pairings with Robert Young. Her best known  performances are in the films: Double Wedding (1937), Sweethearts (1938) and At The Circus (1939).

Indiscreet (1933).

Indiscreet (1933). Cast: Gloria Swanson, Ben Lyon, Barbara Kent and Monroe Owsley. A comedy film directed by Leo McCarey. The screenplay by Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, based on their story Obey That Impulse, originally was written as a musical, but only two songs - "If You Haven't Got Love" and "Come to Me".

On New Year's Eve, fashion designer Geraldine Trent decides to break up with her boyfriend Jim Woodward, having grown tired of his infidelities. Soon afterward, Geraldine meets and falls in love with novelist Anthony Blake. Blake knows that she has had a man in her past, but he is does not seem to concerned. Things become complicated when her sister Joan returns from a trip and introduces Woodward, as the new man in her life.

To see a young Swanson, in this film is to be pleasantly surprised of her beauty and her talents as an actress. You may want watch "Indiscreet" just to see a young Gloria Swanson at the height of her career.

Barbara Kent (born December 16, 1906) is a former Canadian actress who was popular in silent movies. She is at one of the very few surviving adult-aged players from Hollywood's silent film period.

She began her Hollywood career in 1925 in a small role for Universal Studios. Kent made a strong impression as the heroine who comes up against Greta Garbo's femme fatale in, Flesh and the Devil (1926).

She attracted attention in the film, No Man's Law(1927), by swimming nude (she wore a flesh colored bathing suit in scenes that were considered very daring at the time). She made a smooth transition into talking pictures opposite Harold Lloyd, in the comedy, Welcome Danger (1929). She is also well known for her role in the film, Oliver Twist(1933).

Her marriage to the agent and producer Harry E. Edington stalled her career, for one-year. During that time Edington groomed Kent for what he planned to be a high-profile career. By the time she returned to films, her popularity had faded. She made her final film in 1935.

Silent Film Star: Gloria Swanson.

“Teddy at the Throttle” (1917)

“Teddy at the Throttle” (1917) is a silent comedy short starring Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery and Bobby Vernon. Directed by Clarence G. Badger, this film was made at Mack Sennett’s Keystone Film Company.

The story begins with Gloria Dawn, played by Gloria Swanson, living with her faithful dog, Teddy, in a mansion also occupied by her boyfriend, Bobbie Knight, played by Bobby Vernon. They have separate bedrooms. Also living in the home is Bobbie’s guardian, Henry Black, played by Wallace Beery, who oversees Bobbie’s inheritance. A letter arrives from Bobbie’s rich relative stating that Bobbie will get all the money and not need a guardian as soon as he marries. Henry invites his sister, played by May Emory, to vamp Bobbie into marrying her to insure he stays in the money. Everything seems to be going to Henry’s plan as Bobbie ends up proposing to his sister. However, a second letter arrives that states that Bobbie only gets the money if he marries Gloria. If he marries anyone else, Gloria gets it all herself. At this point, Henry starts to flirt with Gloria. When Gloria finds the second letter and discovers what Henry is up to she tries to talk to Bobbie. A huge storm hits, and Gloria ends up chasing Bobbie and his girlfriend through the rain while she is pursued by Henry, who wants to stop her from telling his secret.

“Teddy at the Throttle” (1917) is an amusing Mack Sennett slapstick comedy. Only 18 minutes in duration, it is fast paced and totally silly. I liked how Gloria Swanson whistles for her dog when she is pursued by Wallace Beery, who was actually her husband at the time this film was made. Gloria would graduate from the two-reeler to the feature film less than two years later after Cecil B. DeMille brought her to Paramount and starred her in a series of bedroom dramas. Wallace Beery would finally achieve stardom in the early 1930’s. “Teddy at the Throttle” (1917) is a fine example of early slapstick comedy that features two future stars at the beginning of their careers.

Born in Chicago on March 27, 1897, Gloria Swanson was not a one-dimensional actress. Even in “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) when she impersonates Chaplin, as she had done in “Manhandled” (1924), there is evidence of a comedic brilliance. Early in a career that began in 1914 with the Chicago-based Essanay Company, she had been considered as a leading lady to Chaplin, but just as she rejected the notion of being typecast opposite him, so, later, she turned down Mack Sennett’s suggestion that he turn her into a second Mabel Normand. Cecil B. DeMille, who appears in “Sunset Boulevard” made Gloria a star in a series of six films, “Don’t Change Your Husband” (1919), “For Better, For Worse” (1919), “Male and Female” (1919), “Why Change Your Wife?” (1920), “Something to Think About” (1920), and “The Affairs of Anatol” (1921). DeMille sensibly cast her opposite some of the biggest leading men of the day, including Thomas Meighan and Wallace Reid. In the 1920’s, Paramount continued the star-making process, allowing Gloria free reign in the production in France of “Madame Sans-Gene” (1925). For an example of Gloria’s dramatic power, one need look no further than “Zaza” (1923), directed by Allan Dwan, with whom Swanson formed the perfect combination. With “The Love of Sunya” (1927), Gloria formed her own production company with financial assistance from Joseph P. Kennedy, who later became her lover. Kennedy helped promote her second independent production, “Sadie Thompson” (1928) and allowed her to hire Erich Von Stroheim to direct her in “Queen Kelly” (1928). Gloria made a good transition to sound with “The Trespasser” (1929), but her career was basically over by the 1930’s and, in large part, revived thanks to “Sunset Boulevard” (1950). Always a capable businesswoman, Gloria found an outlet for her energy and intelligence in many ventures. There were her fashion designs and her health food lectures. Gloria was famous for having become a health nut very early, a nutritionist before it was fashionable. She lived on a diet of seaweed, bread, herb tea, and organically grown vegetables cooked in her own pressure cooker, which she hauled everywhere with her. Despite all the foolishness of her personal life with its luxury, publicity, rumors, and marriages and divorces, Gloria raised two daughters and a son and never made any attempt to hide them or deny her motherhood. She never became one of those aging movie stars for whom there is no life and no laughter. Somewhere deep inside her there still seemed to live that little clown from her Keystone years. Gloria Swanson died on April 4, 1983. She was 86 years old.

Great Dramas - Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Excellent film from Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot) about a struggling young screenwriter (Holden) who runs into former silent film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) who is dreaming of a comeback. She hires him to patch up her script so Cecil B. DeMille can direct her. The lady is a little around the bend, but the writer needs money so he takes the job. This is a marvelous film with great performances. And it holds up today beautifully. William Holden is great as Joe, the writer. It's one of his best parts ever. But it's Gloria Swanson who owns this picture. She is simply amazing. And the dialogue in this film is some of the best you will ever hear in a movie. Great stuff.

 Movie Quote:
Joe Gillis: There's nothing tragic about being fifty. Not unless you're trying to be twenty-five.