Gloria Swanson in ZAZA now on DVD and blu ray

Gloria Swanson is one of the truly legendary stars of the silent screen whose work transitioned to sound films effectively. She worked from the teens to the seventies, and lived into the early eighties. She started out as a small time player for the Essanay studios in Chicago at three bucks per day in 1916, and was making 85 dollars per week for Mack Sennett in “Teddy at the Throttle” a couple years later. By the time she starred in Allan Dwan’s elaborate feature length production of “Zaza,” Gloria commanded a weekly salary of $6500. Her appearances in films like Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Affairs of Anabel” and opposite Rudolph Valentino in “Beyond the Rocks.” increased her stardom and salary.

Now restored and making its debut on DVD and blu ray from Kino Lorber’s classics division, “Zaza” is a new revelation for silent movie aficionados. Handsomely mounted, brimming with period melodrama, “Zaza” was one of the biggest hits of its time. Allan Dwan was responsible for an extensive filmography over a 50 year career (he lived to be 96 years old). Considered a master director of western films, and noted for action movies featuring Douglas Fairbanks (including the classic “Robin Hood”), Dwan’s work in romantic melodrama is too often overlooked. “Zaza” is a strong example.

The movie's backstory holds some interest. Gloria Swanson was dissatisfied with the films she had been making, while Allan Dwan was a maverick filmmaker under contract with Paramount, whose success allowed him more creative freedom than studio head Adolph Zukor usually allowed. Dwan felt a screen version of the 1899 French play by Pierre Berton and Charles Simon, about a French stage performer who falls in love with a man not realizing he is married with a child was perfect for Ms. Swanson. The actress agreed and the movie was made.

While the play was filmed once before (in 1915 with Pauline Fredrick) and after (George Cukor’s 1939 version featuring Claudette Colbert), it is this version that stands out. Swanson and Dwan worked beautifully in this, their first of what would be eight films together. Period critics proclaimed it Swanson’s finest performance to date, the Chicago Tribune indicating, “the role is a rapid reverse of the languid and blasé parts to which she is often assigned.”

Swanson swaggers through the role breezily, offering a performance that is dramatic, humorous, and highlighted with action scenes (including a couple of “catfights” with other women that might have seemed shocking to some of the more prudish audiences in the roaring twenties). She later recalled the film as one of the most enjoyable experiences she’d enjoyed in movies.

Another significant contribution to movie history, “Zaza” is highly recommended for fans of the director, the star, or the silent era in general. It is a must for inclusion at libraries and research centers. The movie is available here.