I am a huge Gloria Swanson fan but I was a little disappointed with STAGE STRUCK. La Swanson, of course, was the premiere glamour girl of the silent screen, the stylish queen of romantic dramas but she was a good comedienne too and as an actress always wanted to expand her range. Here she goes into Mabel Normand territory with uneven results. Her looks played down dramatically, she's a waitress in a frenzied riverfront hash house who secretly pines for the dump's pancake maker Lawrence Gray. He on the other hand is obsessed with actresses, and when a riverboat docks in town is bewitched by the diva on the showboat, Getrude Astor.

There are some funny moments here, but this is rather low comedy for the elegant Swanson. Many of the gags are straight out of the playbook for earthy two-reel comedies. Kudos to her bravery for allowing her to be photographed unflattering (of course in her fantasy segments, she is as glamourous as ever) but it's not the Swanson her fans wanted and it's notable she never made another picture in this vein again. Lawrence Gray actually comes off better as the handsome small-town heart throb, alas his film career didn't really go anywhere. His character's revelation at the end does not ring true though.

I have to confess I was disappointed that the movie was not what I was hoping for, a comedy spin on Katharine Hepburn's drama "Morning Glory" with Gloria being an ambitious wanna-be actress. Here, she's mainly interested in pursuing acting only because Lawrence Gray is obsessed with such women, his room walls papered with pictures of them. The Kino print is wonderful though, with early Technicolor footage in it's opening and closing scenes. The title of my review comes from Gloria's frequently repeated comment after her various attempts at attention literally have her falling on her face.

A sad waitress falls in love with dim douchebag and must pretend to be an actress to win his affection. It's archaic, but man is it inventive. The camera's perspective does a ton of the heavy lifting, effectively creating many of the cinematic tools we've come to expect at this point (hard cuts, close ups, depth and scope). Swanson is also way ahead of her time; really lives her character, both the helplessly zany humor and the deeply sad obsessions.

Gloria Swanson stars as "Jenny," a clumsy and unsophisticated waitress in love with her flap-jack flipping co-worker "Orme." Only problem is, Orme only has eyes for actresses. When the yearly (?) showboat glides into their West Virginia town with its show and new actress, Orme is smitten. Jenny, who has secretly been working on getting a correspondence course certificate in acting, tries to imitate the showboat actress but fails miserably. But she is given her chance to prove her acting chops ... Throughout Swanson works some real pathos into this slapstick comedy. She's generally terrific throughout. The story gets a bit convoluted at times, but this is a pretty enjoyable flick that begins with a Salome performance in Technicolor! Check it out if you get the chance.