Gladys Swarthout
In the Movies







Not Yet!  Coming Soon!



Gladys Swarthout had roles in five movies.

Given the rather mediocre reviews these movies are given in these works, it is little wonder we haven't heard more about them!  Her husband, Frank Chapman, was engaged for all the movies as the Musical Director, a bit odd when you note that the last picture wasn't even a musical!

And while her movie career was short lived, when combined with her music recordings, Gladys has been enshrined on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Yes, Gladys has her very own star, located at 6290 Hollywood Blvd.!

I have accumulated so many pictures and information about the movies, that I have had to create a separate page for each movie!

Lots of pictures, so be patient with the loading!

Rose of the Rancho
1935

 
Ambush
1939

The starting point - October 1, 1935 - An article reports that Bing Crosby and opera singer Gladys Swarthout have recorded two duets, 'Thunder Over Paradise"' and "'Home on the Range" at Paramount as a test for a possible film. It was intended to star Bing in a film version of Herman Bahr's operetta "The Yellow Nightingale" but Bing is said to have indicated that his voice was not appropriate for the role.  Gladys signed a five movie contract with Paramount pictures.

Gladys also had a small cameo in a film entitled A Dream Comes True (1935) where she appears as herself along with dozens of other stars. The dream of the title is director Max Reinhardt's production of Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). This short shows how Reinhardt's vision was translated to the screen. A huge sound stage was transformed into a forest by importing trees and constructing waterfalls. We get to see many of the stars on the set between takes. Footage from the film's Hollywood premiere is also included.

A publicity picture released in 1937 included this caption - "A lovely portrait of Gladys Swarthout, Paramount actress, who is appearing with John Boles in a new musical production titled, "YELLOW NIGHTINGALE." Miss Swarthout and John Boles appeared together in "Rose of the Rancho" and it was their delightful singing in this film that caused them to be teamed again."

This page was created by Mark Swarthout.
The last update to the page was on April 23, 2005
Send me some mail!