Norma Shearer, the First Lady of MGM
Sunday, September 13, 2020 at 1:00AM 
It's odd that so few people talk about Norma Shearer nowadays. This Academy Award-winning actress was once one of the greatest stars of moviedom, First Lady of MGM, Queen of the Lot. Her arch elegance typified the glamour of Old Hollywood, while her evolving acting style often reflected and predicted the trends of the industry. She was a phenomenon, a sensation, a diva, but her modern recognition pales in comparison to many of her contemporaries like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and others.
Since we're celebrating 1938 and that was the year when she got the last of her five or six Oscar nominations (depending on how you count her double from 1930), it's a good time to look back at the life and films of Norma Shearer…
Born Edith Norma Shearer to a Canadian businessman in 1902, the future star of MGM had a comfortable childhood, ensconced in the privilege of wealth, and the love of a supportive family. According to her autobiography, Shearer's early days were like a happy dream and it was the influence of her actor uncle as well as the inspiration of vaudeville that made her want to pursue a career in show business. When her father's company collapsed in the aftermath of World War I, the teenaged Shearer had her life upended. After her parents split up, she and her mother going to New York and it was there that, thanks to her beloved uncle, Norma Shearer got her start on acting.
Doing some modeling work on the side, the young actress auditioned extensively and, at the start of the 1920s, she got gigs at places like the Norma Talmadge Studios and D.W. Griffiths productions. (Unfortunately, most of Shearer's output from this time is considered "lost" so it's difficult to know what her acting was like.) She caught the eye of Samuel Marx, a film writer who contacted up-and-coming producer Irving Thalberg telling him about a new talent he'd seen on screen.
A Hollywood wunderkind, Thalberg had been running Universal Pictures for three years when he left the studios and went to work for Louis B. Mayer. At his new place of employment, the young maverick would wield more power than before and, under his recommendation, Norma Shearer was hired. Initially, things were rough and the Canadian performer failed to impress. Her fate changed around the same time that Mayer's studios were merged with Metro Pictures and the Samuel Goldwyn Company, creating MGM.
In the first year of the new Hollywood studio, Shearer appeared in more than ten movies and some of them proved to be great successes. Quickly, she became a popular commodity, and with Mayer's business savvy and Thalberg's creative genius, they made sure to capitalize on her fame. By 1925, she was a leading lady not afraid to carry her star vehicles or to challenge herself with complicated texts. In The Lady of the Night, for instance, Shearer played a double role, breathing life into a prim debutante and a hardened girl from the streets in the span of the same narrative.
More impressive still was Shearer's penchant for quasi-naturalism. She avoiding mugging expressions to deliver subtle feats of reactive acting. Not that she didn't love big gestures, which she'd take with her into the talkies. Before that, though, the starlet's career would undergo another somersault when she got engaged to Irving Thalberg in 1927. By the time of their wedding, she was already famous and he had become one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors. According to many accounts, they loved each other dearly, though it's undeniable that the actress benefited from her new position in the studio hierarchy. She was, after all, the boss' wife.
Thalberg invested time, money, and great attention in making Norma Shearer an even bigger star than she already was. During the transition to talkies, Shearer was greatly admired by moviegoers but her star persona was that of a quasi-saint, so taking on more sexually frank parts was a bit of a challenge. This, of course, appears ridiculous from our perspective, considering that many of Shearer's greatest roles came during the Pre-Code years when she cultivated an image of female liberation dressed in slinky silks. To nab the titular role in The Divorcee, Shearer orchestrated a photoshoot by George Hurrell, showing Thalberg that she could project an image of sensual assertiveness. He agreed, she got the part and won the Oscar for it.
In 1932, the workaholic moviemaker had a heart attack and his condition only worsened from then on. The couple worked arduously in the years between that first incident and Thalberg's death from pneumonia, but the task of taking care of her husband did start a period of decline in Shearer's career. She did fewer and fewer movies as time went on, decreasing the media attention that had once stirred a crazed fan to mail her parts of their skin. Sadly, the last project Shearer and Thalberg completed together was also one of their worst.
To understand why Norma Shearer fails as Juliet in 1936's lavish flop Romeo and Juliet, one must understand her characteristic limitations as an actress.
Earlier, there was mention to Shearer's exaggerated gestures and that's a good thing to keep in mind, for, at her worst, the First Lady of MGM held on to repeated poses as a crutch. Hand acting was big with Shearer as were wild mood swings illustrated by sudden laughter or the onset of an imperious archness that made her voice sound marred by insincerity. I'd argue that all this can work well and often did in Shearer's greatest roles. However, as Juliet, the actress never convinces, delivering a stilted performance that trades off her character's romantic naivety for weird formality. Instead of playing Juliet, Shearer recites her.
The failure of that movie was of no help for the dying Thalberg and, after its release, it wouldn't be long before he parted. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Shearer was heartbroken, her grief becoming almost as famous as her movies once were. Ill, aggrieved, and furious at Mayer for wanting to cleanse the studio of Thalberg's name, Shearer made it her mission to complete the projects her husband had started but never finished. One of them would prove to be her comeback role as France's most famous beheaded regent, Marie Antoinette. The picture was to be a mega-production, ostentatious beyond belief and only tenuously connected to real history.
To be frank, as a movie, 1938's Marie Antoinette may leave a bit to be desired, but, as a showcase for Norma Shearer's talents, it's unsurpassable.
Just as in Romeo and Juliet, Shearer is tasked, in the film's first hour, to play a child and a teenager. However, instead of relying on poses and affectations, the actress seems to have discovered the key to on-screen rejuvenation. Moreover, she has a looseness that illustrates youthful innocence without overstating it. Later on, when the film becomes an illicit romance, she glows while parading Gilbert Adrian's best Rococo fashions. Weirdly enough for this empress of glamour, it's when the Revolution hits that Shearer truly shows her worth as a screen legend.
With minimal makeup and a body that crumbles under the character's sorrow, Shearer breaks down in front of our eyes. Her imperious voice flattens, her expression loses its sparkly elasticity and even her gestures die out. It's shockingly realistic, a stab of emotional authenticity that tears the movie apart, contrasting so achingly with the mindless joy of the young princess that it almost hurts to watch. In the final scenes of this performance, the actress almost seems to be predicting how screen acting would be changing in the coming decades.
She lost that year's Best Actress Oscar to Bette Davis in Jezebel, but she gets my vote. Regardless of her fate with AMPAS, Shearer's tour de force brought on a second Golden Age of her career which culminated the next year when she starred in George Cukor's The Women. The advent of the 1940s and the war years brought with it an equal share of successes and failures which disenchanted the actress with the work of moviemaking.
In 1942, Shearer decided to unofficially retire from acting. She still played the part of a socialite but even that was something the Oscar-winner gradually drew away from. On June 12, 1983, Norma Shearer died of pneumonia, the same illness that had claimed the life of her first husband.
A lot of Norma Shearer's movies are hard to come by, but you can rent some of her biggest hits from the 1930s. The Divorcee, Marie Antoinette, and The Women, for example, are all available on Amazon Prime, Google Play, Youtube, and others.
Reader Comments (26)
I don't think it's that surprising that Shearer's star has faded. Though she was a movie queen in her time, she didn't really star in any films that are regarded as classics today, with the exception of The Women. And even though Shearer is the protagonist of that movie, most people watch it for early Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell (not to mention Paulette Godard and Joan Fontaine). Shearer's presence is almost incidental. I wonder to what extent Meryl will suffer the same fate eighty years after her last film. Remember the Onion's article "Name One Masterpiece Of Cinema That I've Starred In" from 2009?
Also, Claudio, have you ever read The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald? The hero of that novel, Monroe Stahr (Scott wasn't always subtle), was based on Thalberg, with whom Fitzgerald was deeply impressed when he moved to Hollywood toward the end of his life. Though Scott hadn't finished the novel when he died, it's some of Fitzgerald's best writing and worth a look.
Just a small correction She won her Oscar for The Divorcee, The Gay Divorcee is Astaire-Rogers.
Cláudio Alves, the first gentleman of TFE.
I think her performance in Marie Antoinette is one for the ages, and she should have won a second Oscar in a cakewalk.
She was a phenomenon, a sensation, a diva, but her modern recognition pales in comparison to many of her contemporaries like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and others.
I can think of a few reasons:
1. She retired early and stayed retired.
2. Madonna didn’t mention her in “Vogue”.
3. No one ever made a biopic about her.
Looking at that wedding image of Irving Thalberg, I feel like an ideal biopic opportunity was lost when John Cazale died. Not sure who might play that role today, but a film about MGM’s first couple and the people around them could be really good. (According to IMDb, Norma’s sister married Howard Hawks, which expands that inner circle further.)
This is a lazy casting suggestion, but the GIF of Norma Shearer posted here earlier this year was giving me Rachel Brosnahan vibes. (If you have some fatigue after her period work in TV’s Manhattan and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I understand.)
I wonder if Norma is less fondly remembered than her peers is because most of the films for which she is well known are either quite poorly put together or true ensemble pieces where she isn't the highlight?
Thank you for this beautiful piece Cláudio. As you know I'm a big Norma fan so this is welcome. I especially love the astute observation about the way her facial expressions move into the naturalistic quickly her body lags behind. She's such a fascinating case study of those who made the successful transition from silents to talkies.
Brevity -- i actually like the Rachel Brosnahan suggestion. I wouldn't have thought of it but i can totally see it.
A major movie star at a time when you had to be a total goddess to be a one.
I run hot and cold on Shearer. At times she's remarkable - the last third of Marie Antoinette is her finest work on film and the best chance to see her fully giving herself over to a character. But at other times she's inconsistent, with moments of artificiality marring otherwise good work. She was never able to leave behind all of her silent film tricks and techniques.
The view of her successful film career being the result of her marriage to the boss has probably kept the industry from celebrating her in the same way as her contemporaries. No doubt it was an advantage for getting the best projects at the time, but it was Shearer who had to deliver the results. But as has been noted, few of those films have had enduring appeal.
My favourite film of hers is A Free Soul from 1931. Not a great film by any means, but Shearer and a young, menacing Clark Gable have terrific chemistry together and Lionel Barrymore gets to ham it up in a melodramatic courtroom speech that won him an Oscar.
Have you read the book Complicated Women? It's about actresses and their roles in the pre-Code years. The author gives Norma her due by arguing she was one of the few actresses playing contemporary women in charge of their sensuality. Yes, she could be arch or mannered. But she also had a fire that came out that was beautiful to watch. I do love her, even in her misfires. Check out escape from 1940 where she is an ex-pat in Germany with a German lover helping American Robert Taylor find his mother. Robert Taylor drives me nuts but Norma is wonderful. I also love her in The Barrets of Wimpole. As for Romeo and Juliet, it's tough to watch but I would argue she is better than Leslie Howard, especially in the latter half of the film. She is miscast badly but at least is trying to do s I meshing, and there are a few good moments with her.
Yeah, Norma Shearer's post-code performances were always very mannered. She was way too old to play Juliet and Marie Antoinette, with both pictures feeling like vanity projects, and her attempts to show range by selecting failed rom-coms instead of Mrs. Miniver and Now Voyager led to her retirement at 40. But one of her biggest contributions to film came post-retirement, when she took a vacation at the Sugar Bowl ski resort where Helen and Frederick Morrison worked. Shearer noticed a photograph of their daughter Jeannette in the lobby, showed it to an MGM talent agent, and got her a screen test. Jeanette Morrison took the screen name Janet Leigh and the rest is history.
I read somewhere that after Irving Thalberg died, he left Shearer with a lot of MGM stock, with which she was able to wield a lot of influence. This didn't sit well with the other powers that be at the studio, so they tried to sabotage Marie Antoinette by handing the assignment to W. S. "one-take Woody" Van Dyke. But I think the joke was on them. Van Dyke's speed and efficiency are just what a big-budget historical costume drama needed. He keeps the pace brisk, and is a large part of why Marie Antoinette doesn't sink under its own huge budget into a static wallow - just imagine what it could have been if it had been handed to one of MGM's "prestige" directors like Robert Z. Leonard or Sidney Franklin.
Norma Shearer is excellent, but to say she "clearly" deserved to win over Wendy Hiller, Bette Davis and Margaret Sullavan is pure hyperbole. Let's not get carried away.
As someone who came to appreciate Shearer in her pre-code work I approached Marie A. with trepidation, fearing another R&J. I was totally floored but how good she was. It's a surprising detailed bit of character work and also an odd meta-commentary on her career at that point in time. To my surprise she would be my winner in 1938, yes above Davis.
I have to admit, I knew very little about her until very recently when I finally watched The Women for the first time and reading about her in Stephen Tapert's "Best Actress" book. While it's true that Crawford, Russell, Fontaine, and even Goddard (who I also don't know much about) get more "moments" in the film, I was struck by what Shearer brought to her role. There was something striking in her physicality and even her voice, it was just very different from what I was expecting. She played the character with more strength than I anticipated. I'm really interested in seeing The Divorcee.
Amory Blaine -- Thanks for the literary recommendation. I've only ever read passages from The Last Tycoon, but maybe I should just read the whole thing.
ken s. -- Thanks for the correction and sorry for the mistake. This piece was full of stupid typos and I don't know why, maybe my head wasn't in the right mindset when I did it. You can thank Nathaniel's editing for the fact that this write-up is readable at all.
Someone -- I'd have voted for her, but it's a very strong lineup all things considered.
NATHANIEL R -- I'm glad you liked it. I was afraid of not doing justice to Norma.
GTA James -- I also love her in A FREE SOUL, her chemistry with Gable is astounding. I've also read a lot of people disparaging Shearer's stardom as a byproduct of her marriage but that ignores the fact she was already quite famous and successful before she wedded Thalberg.
Bgk -- I won't argue about Howard's Romeo. I think I only ever truly loved his screen presence in IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER.
Nathaniel -- Didn't know about her role in Janet Leigh's career. Thanks for the info.
Think Evan Rachel Wood would make a perfect Norma
Of her surviving silents that I've seen she was quite adapt at the silent technique. The problem for me with her early sound films is that it took her a good long time to shed those playing to the balcony hand gestures. My least favorite but one she seemed to love-balling up her fists to the sides of her head and popping her eyes. That might be part of the problem with her being as well-known as others, an arcane method.
BTW there is an unretouched photo of that one from Lady of the a Night that shows her stand-in in the scene with her in her screen debut (at least her back's screen bow!)-the future Joan Crawford unbilled but still Lucille LeSueur.
A Free Soul and The Divorcee have their moments but many of her early films are stagy bores, Strange Interlude even with Gable is torturous and Their Own Desire arch and unbearable.
It's a pity she chose to retire when she did, as she approached the end of her career she relaxed somewhat and many of her worst mannerisms if they didn't disappear completely they became more subdued.
She is utterly wrong in Romeo & Juliet but everything that followed showed her looser than ever before. Her peak is Marie Antoinette, her tendency towards grandness fit the queenly role but she does really tuck into the character after her fall from grace. I agree those final scenes are some of the strongest she ever had.
She's very good in Escape and gets into the spirit of Idiot's Delight. Even though her two final films We Were Dancing and Her Cardboard Lover flopped hard she gives sprightly performances in both.
She seems to have lost her script sense though, or maybe she relied on Thalberg's judgement and didn't have a sense of the times because both of those last two vehicles feel like they are ten years passed their proper time. They want to be Private Lives or The Last of Mrs. Cheyney type souffles but instead turned out to be dated farces. Maybe she was just bored and ready to move on. Still it's a shame she turned Bette Davis's offer to costar in Old Acquaintance, she would have been perfect as Millie and could have left on a high note.
I read a story several years ago that offers a glimpse into her determination. She was talking to a writer (I forget who but he was well-known) at a party and he asked her how she became a star. Without a pause and with no irony she replied "I decided to be one."
While I prefer Sofia Coppola's version of Marie Antoinette, I do like the film version with Moira Shearer as she is great in that film and is the main reason to see that film version.
If you watch Turner Classic Movies she is on all the time-her pre code movies are more interesting- "The Women" is excellent for all the ladies involved and of course the magic of Cukor and that witty script
I just can't with her. Readers who love or hate Laura Linney will understand what I mean when I say that Norma Shearer was the Linney of her day in terms of looks, charisma, aura and skill. Not for everybody, but adored by many.
I quite like Norma Shearer, A Free Soul being a highlight. Great piece Cláudio, love your interactions in the comments, personally your style and open mindedness make me feel safe and happy in this place, so thank you for being an example to us all regardless of level of power. (Eg, owner, contributor, commenter)
Earlier, there was mention to Shearer's exaggerated gestures and that's a good thing to keep in mind, for, at her worst, the First Lady of MGM held on to repeated poses as a crutch. Hand acting was big with Shearer as were wild mood swings illustrated by sudden laughter or the onset of an imperious archness that made her voice sound marred by insincerity.
On point.
@Claudio: As an aside, glad you mentioned It's Love I'm After. Fun film. As for Norma, don't forget The Student Prince with Ramon Navarro and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. A lovely silent screen romance.
LOVE her Juliet. And the void, she was even better in The Red Shoes. A friendly teasing. I’ve made the inverse (?) mistake. Love.
She was simply amazing. She is the heart of “The Women”. Acting along with those other actresses she still stands above. If you replace her with Irene Dunn or Hepburn it still wouldn’t be the same. She embodies the best of silent and sound acting and does it with her whole body. Some of her best scenes in her sound films are the silent ones. Her voice was wonderful and she could be posh without sounding affected like Davis, Crawford, and Hepburn. She had the most expressive face of all the actresses of her time and achieved that without the huge eyes of a Garbo, Crawford, Davis or Swanson. She had a way of posing her head so that you could see both eyes and that glorious profile. Though she was pretty she overcame many physical disadvantages to present herself as a beauty and an object of desire. The zenith of which would be when she managed to be more dazzlingly beautiful than Tyrone Power on screen in “MA”.
I disagree that taking care of her husband caused a career decline. She took over a year off which was unheard of but that positioned her as more of a prestige artist and she burst back with “Riptide” and “The Barretts Of Wimpole Street” which was a massive hit. She then took a year off to have a baby and prepare for Juliet. She is my favorite Juliet and that ball scene and potion scene show her at her best. “Marie Antoinette” was considered a comeback because after Thalburg’s death and a year off the screen there was some doubt if she would return to films. It wasn’t a journalist that asked her how she became a star, it was costar Robert Morley who asked her and she replied “because I wanted to”. I think Patricia Clarkson looks a lot like Norma and would be a wonderful. My one regret is that she turned down Mrs. Miniver because she also missed the opportunity to be directed by the great William Wyler who is the reason I think that Bette nab the Oscar for Jezebel. In an alternate universe I would have liked to see what Norma would have done with Scarlet. I think that the reason she is not as revered or remembered as other film icons is partially that she didn’t have those huge dramatic eyes that grab your attention from those iconic stills, she retired early independently wealthy and there was a lot of jealousy that some in the industry ie: Crawford had and used to bad mouth Norma’s career moves. People like Pauline Kale, Lillian Hellman and Orson Wells were disparaging but Hitchcock used to lament “Where are the Norma Shearers?”