Gloria Swanson might have been a pioneer ... During a fitting for the 1931 film Tonight or Never, Swanson met Michael Farmer, a young, rich, unemployed man who was rumored to be a gigolo.

Shearer sums up Swanson’s problem by quoting a film historian, James Robert Parish: “the legendary screen goddess” became “Gloria the human actress.” Titles of her talkies include “Indiscreet” and ...