Sure, Gloria Swanson was fifty in 1950, and William Holden was supposedly 32 (by his count). But she looked much younger than her years, and he looked fifty himself! Maybe he lied about his age as so many actors do, maybe he just looked older because he loved his booze.
I love this film and have seen it many times, but dayam. The dialogue about the characters' respective ages takes some willing suspension of disbelief.
He does look older but she still looks older so it works for me.
shareWilliam Holden did get older quicker. His smoking probably didn't help. He was in his late fifties when he made "Network," but looked closer to 70 then.
shareHe was heavily in the sauce as well.
He made a fine deal on "River Kwai." Took no salary, but, received a $100,000 each year as long as he lived.
Alcohol had a lot to do with it I'm sure. He does look pretty worn by 1970.
Still one of my favorite actors in 2 of my favorite films. Wild bunch and this one.
William Holden did look older than 32, but Gloria Swanson looked horrid. She could've played 60.
shareMen looked older then, because they were also more masculine, dressed to appear more mature (it was considered higher status), etc...
It's only very recently that the idea of men looking like boys has become desirable and aspirational... Guys in the past, even as recently as the 80s, didn't have the current ideal of being skinny and looking like hairless, soft-skinned 14 year old boys, dressed in childrens clothing well into their 40s (T-Shirts, sneakers, etc...)... They wanted to be somewhat muscular, at least, and dressed older...
Take Tom Sellick's look in Magnum PI as an example and compare it to today, where he would be considered too masculine, old looking and his facial hair non-ironic and not 'lumber-sexual' enough.
In the time period that the movie is set, Holden's look works... Especially as a stressed out writer, who was probably prone to a drink or two to ease his worry...
Just because he wears suits doen't make him daddy... Everyone dressed that way and aspired to look that mature (albeit in a more refined way)...
Back in Holden's day, men drank from lunch until passing out and smoked three packs a day and ate carbonized animal fats at every meal and died of heart attacks in their fifties like REAL men!
Seriously, I've always suspected him of lying about his age, he looked so much older than he claimed to be. Or maybe he just had naturally deep forehead wrinkles, the kind that modern actors botox away.
Life fast, die young!
Yeah, he probably lied about his age as well 😉
Eh, he did look older than his 32 years--I noticed this as well--but he didn't look Gloria Swanson's age. I probably would've pegged him at about 40, while as soon as I saw her I thought 50 years old.
For that matter, I also thought Nancy Olson looked older than 22. I would've thought she was closer to 28 or so.
I don't think Joe looked older. Norma always was looking with her head up to hide the wrinkles on her neck and face. Joe looked younger than Norma, but it's true his drinking and smoking were bad for him.
shareJoe did not look older that is silly. He did look closer to her age than 20 years. She looks 42 and he looks 40.
shareIt seems to me that most all actors and actresses seemed to age quicker in those days.
We can blame cosmetic surgery a little but the truth is people just did look older at a younger age. They aged quicker.
Even lay people ...such as my grandparents that didn't drink or smoke...and in their 30's they looked like current 50 or 60 year olds..
William Holden was 31 when this was filmed. According to the AFI catalog, production was from "18 Apr--11 Jun 1949; addl scenes and retakes: 18 Apr, 18 Jun, 21 Jun-23 Jun, 7 Jul 1949 and 5 Jan 1950".
Holden was born on 4/27/1918 and Swanson was born on 3/27/1899.
Don't suggest that someone has lied about his age unless you have facts to prove it.
I'll suggest any thing I like, and FYI I don't take orders from random anonymous schmuck like you.
Especially random anonymous shucks who thinks actors never lie about their ages! Hahahaha! Not saying Holden absolutely did, because I don't know much about him,. I'm just saying he claimed to.be 31, looked 45, and worked in a profession where lying about one's age was common and advantageous.