Sylvia Sidney on Being a Studio Player and Working with William Wyler and Fritz Lang

From a 1995 archived interview, Sidney reflects on her career and her attempts to be an independent actress during the Hollywood Studio era. Learn more about Sylvia at TCM.com or www.summer.tcm.com
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[@Big_Duckie_Snow]

"Old age sucks..." and so did that interviewer. Thank god for Sylvia.

[@Darrigrande]

She was a great actress!

[@anne7441]

She's feisty and fun! Thanks for the great interview.

[@jubalcalif9100]

I have a notion to second that emotion !! :-)

[@bbrown333]

She was so very interesting and entertaining!

[@piustwelfth]

She was an excellent actress with a very photogenic face and huge beautiful eyes. Her eyes could transmit anything to the audience. I loved her in Sabotage and nearly all her Paramount films.

[@jasonraschen1109]

Sylvia is great! Thanks TCM for posting this.

[@jubalcalif9100]

I totally agree !!

[@catlover34fl]

Sylvia Sidney was gorgeous especially in those wonderful and entertaining films of the early 1930s. City Lights, Pickup, Confessions of a Co-Ed, Street Scene and many others. Many years ago at the Corning Glass Works, Corning, New York, she was in a play and my mother noticed her having lunch in the cafeteria. Nervous as hell, I boldly approached her table and asked for her autograph. She graciously gave it to me. I'll never forget how friendly she was and her beautiful smile. She had very sad but beautiful eyes, and what a face, in those 1931, 1932 and 1933 films. She's very underrated and mostly forgotten with today's generation. Sad.

[@catlover34fl]

Correction: Not City Lights, City Streets from 1931 with Gary Cooper. Sorry, I mixed that one up.

[@margeshilling7983]

I loved her in everything. Such an underrated actress.

[@acdragonrider]

Saw her in Sabotage last year and Dead End just the other day. She really brings a lot of emotion into her roles

[@margeshilling7983]

@@acdragonrider Yes! I've read she was difficult to work with so that could have limited her film output. I loved "Dead End". Bogart and Claire Trevor were great in it, also.

[@Spiderman7Bob7]

Sylvia Sidney was one of the greatest movie stars of the 30's & 40's....I'm afraid she's forgotten now like so many of her co-stars of her era.

[@scotnick59]

Yes: she always "delivered"

[@stuartlee6622]

I haven't forgotten her!

[@lescook9021]

I wish interviewers knew how to listen and ask follow up questions, rather than just reading prepared questions, one after the other. Missed opportunities with a wonderful actress.

[@barrylangford3276]

I agree totally! I think this could have been so much better with an interviewer with a personality and sense of humour. Sylvia was pretty frosty as she got older but would have responded better to someone who didn't just read a sheet of questions.

[@kjcooks31]

Yeah, I didn't like this interviewer as well. I wonder how they decide who would interview these stars. They should have picked someone who seemed really interested in classic movies. I started to discover Sylvia Sidney movies and am enjoying them.

[@EJP286CRSKW]

Not only that, the interviewer reads the questions like she's never seen them before, or a grade school recitation. Truly terrible. Some of the questions are idiotic, as you can tell by Sylvia's reactions.

[@stuartperry1047]

@@EJP286CRSKW Sylvia didn't suffer fools well. At all. She must have been in a generous mood- because she indulged this interviewer a bit more than some others I've seen. Maybe she felt sorry for her. At any rate, she was a wonderful resource of classic film- making expertise. She was also Borscht Belt funny as hell! The interview is good- because Ms. Sydney saves it. One of my favorite actresses from the Golden Era.

[@slc2466]

@@stuartperry1047 "Danish" should have gotten a laugh out of the interviewer- Sylvia clearly wanted to have some fun!

[@lynnturman8157]

Love it! Thanks TCM. She was part of the Group Theater. One of our great actors.

[@Noura-bv9pv]

She's so wonderful

[@kathleenharris3403]

Sylvia has such a doll face and sweet way about her in earlier movies. I cannot believe those hideous directors or producerd said she was ugly. I love her in everything 💗

[@alwaysblake148]

A great actress, a great beauty, and a terrific lady.

[@jubalcalif9100]

Could not agree more !!

[@LucretziaB]

Great actress & beautiful in her youth. Thanks for posting!

[@greg33770]

Love her in her early films !

[@rowley555]

wonderful actress, she was so beautiful and chic....she wore red lipstick very well

[@jeffjeff4477]

She was a bombshell. Amazing woman in youth and with age

[@Pdjohnners]

I loved when Miss Sidney said to the interviewer "you can laugh". In context, I've just watched the June Allyson interview and she was very amusing and absolutely nothing from the interviewer. When Miss Sidney laughs her whole face lights up. And those cheekbones! Wowzer.

[@SuperEmmitt1]

She was great. Honest and funny.

[@StormEKnight4]

My fave actress.

[@j.w.2391]

So glad Ms Sidney consented to this interview.. Loved her Irony and crusty candor....but the exchange ended up being stilted and an almost painful opportunity lost. The interviewer clearly did not Know her subject, unfamiliar with Sidney's theatrical roots and entre into Hollywood at the dawn of Talkies. The interview did not understand Sidney's "Put-upon Working Class Girl of the Slums" persona that was first developed on Broadway. The interviewer likewise didnt understand the PARADOX of the Hollywood studio system that on one hand carefully groomed its actors, molding their images for stardom but ruthlessly exploited them with Stereotyping, Over-work, coercing them into ill - suited roles and/or poor productions. Exploitation, Exhaustion, Stagnation were constant complaints from Sylvia's peers / contemporaries Clara Bow, Joan Bennett and the great Bette Davis. The interviewer could have formulated better questions about directors Fritz Lang and William Wyler, how they were different in style but similar in being unrelenting PERFECTIONISTS who exhausted their players' energy, making them feel "inadequate" about their abilities. The studio system's CONTROL is what frustrated Sidney, compelling her buy out her contract with Paramount, go Free-lance with Walter Wanger, but they conflicted over the supporting part in Algiers, 1938. Sidney wanted Freedom to return to Broadway and it artistic creativity whenever she felt. Her 2nd husband was Luther Adler, a member of the great Yiddish theatre family. Because the interviewer didnt know her subject, she was unaware of Sidney's Off-Screen reputation as a "well-dressed fashion plate". She launched the career of fashion designer Michael Woulfe (Blood on the Sun), and was romantically involved with him.

[@CaseyChristopher]

"I didn't say I "felt" I was paid by the tier. I said I was PAID by the tier". You can not water this woman down. Such sharp attention and clarity.

[@hudsony777]

Tear

[@barneygartner7994]

Wonderful

[@stephenvincent4989]

One tough broad - love it 😍

[@hudsony777]

But articulate and with great taste and style with that toughness. Never vulgar.

[@katherenewedic8076]

So glad someone set this interviewer straight for not listening.

[@VILA1963]

What a Lady! God bless her

[@douglasrhodes4829]

Love the classics films of the 30's and 40's. I first saw her in a Bogey film, then the Hitchcock great "Sabotage", and now look for her among TCM's On Demand offerings. I doubt there are many who have remained as active and productive as she has. She was beautiful as a young star, but also a very fine actress.

[@jordandors]

I love her outfit

[@monterrellford6980]

She was gorgeous

[@SteveStalzle]

THESE ARCHIVAL INTERVIEWS ARE GREAT!! More long-form interviews, like this, please, these are priceless.

[@stuartlee6622]

Forever Fabulous

[@izzatfauzimustafa6535]

Her final film role was Mars Attacks, and the character she played was an underrated badass one. God bless her soul.

[@FilmFloozy]

Terrific!

[@jubalcalif9100]

THANK YOU for posting ! Great actress and classy lady ! :-)

[@TimothyJonSarris]

Saw the same interviewer with Ann Miller and it was an entirely different experience. Much more enjoyable in fact and that's because Miller was gracious and eager to talk about her experiences in film and onstage.

[@jamesfox2579]

She's soooooo Sassy!❤️😁😁😁

[@elainelosee7974]

Hello, Sylvia was amazing and she looks wonderfully beautiful. I always Enjoyed her films. I love her smile, Her voice. Than you For sharing ❤ her Story. 👍 👌 lady, smart dresser.

[@privatedeborah1004]

The old Sylvia Sidney is a total opposite type than her younger self. She turned into a Bette Davis character. When she was young, everything was so sweet and soft about her, her voice was tender and soft spoken. Fascinating how one can change with age.

[@drewknight7126]

A woman who doesn’t suffer fools!

[@invidioustv8890]

Loved listening to her intellect! The interviewer did a very poor job though, and it upsets me that the potential this conversation had with such a Hollywood icon was tarnished by some rather stupid questions and clear lack of research. Sylvia's no nonsense "tell it how it is" personality at that age was no doubt unsatisfied with the interviewer herself.

[@elainekavros7965]

Well said! The interviewer unfortunately was limited...the interviewer sounded like she had a set of number of pre-typed questions and did not have the ability to expand and respond to her answers with appropriate questions in the moment.

[@vistaestrada]

She was excellent in a featured role in 1955's "Violent Saturday".

[@opal817]

ahh she is wonderful. just totally unflappable.

[@jubalcalif9100]

Indubitably !!

[@Darrigrande]

She was a great actress! One of my favorites! RIP!

[@louanne801]

She was 85 during this, that is true, but that doesn’t mean that she is deaf. Stop shouting at her!

[@johnfd0210]

That was horrific. I thought TCM was top notch, can't believe they conducted and interview this way (the same woman is shouting at poor Ann Miller on her interview!).

[@louanne801]

@@johnfd0210 Sidney was so gracious!

[@RowantheHearingAssistDog]

The interview person isn't mic'd. Sylvia could be a bit deaf -- the squinted eyes, the turned head (I'm hearing impaired). She's probably lip reading.

[@jamesmcinnis208]

I wonder why they made the interviewer stand out in the hallway.

[@Rahqee]

This was during the pandemic and they were distanced

[@scotnick59]

Both Sylvia and Joan Bennett adored working with Fritz Lang; many did NOT feel the same

[@RubenDario-hr4iq]

A superb actress.

[@Arathor82]

I should look at her filmography, I only remember her from Beetlejuice.

[@shawnhayden6674]

A great working legend.

[@deerhoda7574]

Hard to hear the questions

[@marysue7165]

I love Sylvia! My favorite film of hers is Street Scene 1931

[@TimBlackburn-y7j]

Fricken love her.

[@danielstanwyck2812]

she's dynamite!

[@jubalcalif9100]

You got that right !! :-)

[@Changojoni]

this interviewer is a bit lame. I don't think she did any REAL research.

[@scotnick59]

She's ridiculously lame

[@carolynkingsley4421]

I didn't keep up with this actress, but she was part of the old guard. I did read somewhere that she'd had a flaming affair with the producer Bud Schulberg. It was the one that had broken up his marriage. Ah well, it's the old Hollywood story.

[@bbrown333]

She was a FIRECRACKER! Hilarious! Wow! Thank you for sharing this.

[@preciousprecious6358]

smart and tuff lady. Great actress.

[@sandradaniels7662]

This could have been such a better interview, had they gotten a better interviewer.

[@ckdanekfan3397]

Rip Juno. You were the best.

[@adinaray7653]

She s romanian girl!! Wow!!! Stuning woman

[@paulshubsachs4977]

Still an uplifting smile! I wonder how much she learned about acting from when she was married to Luther Adler, who mentored James Cagney, no less.

[@marjrosen1295]

Love her

[@CutsceneArtist]

15:38 "LOATHED him!"

[@peterbooth793]

She may not have been famous but she was definitely memorable. Rest in peace.

[@andrea585ny]

Not so famous now but definitely famous back in the day

[@danielstanwyck2812]

the interviewer: i hope she is out of the business. what a wast of great talents; the interviewer is for the birds.

[@loup4343]

I was laughing at this. Sylvia was a hoot.

[@susanb2015]

An American Tragedy. That's what I need to see again.

[@akrenwinkle]

Oddly, she's never on anybody's list of beautiful actresses. At least, I never saw her on one. She was stunning, with those apple cheeks and ice blue-grey eyes.

[@pgronemeier]

I LOVE how she STILL smoked! None of this fake BS!

[@Hollowshape]

"Well, a lot of it has to do with the loot!"

[@jackmontrose7903]

Is this the same miserable interviewer who tried to terrorize Billie Dove? See that You Tube video only if you have a strong stomach. Sylvia Sidney did not suffer fools.

It's obvious Sidney is rather irritated by the interviewer's inane banal line of questioning. She knows next to nothing about the subject's career, personality, or the era / studio system within which she operated. I'm surprised Sidney didn't just walk out. Her Needle point and pugs were more satisfying.

[@j1st633]

Tough old cookie.

[@autodidact537]

She still has the saddest eyes in the world.

[@derrickkimmons8785]

She stood no BullShit

[@501rivet]

..previous reply called Ms. Sidney "feisty". Agreed, her "dry" responses, and seemingly uncaring/emotionless take on details of her career leave me disappointed Ms. Sidney is NOT like the characters she "lovingly" plays on screen, but rather, a "business before pleasure" personality.

[@501rivet]

@@Themanwhocameback2 ..too late on "judging" Ms. Sidney's personality, ive already "stopped" in my previous response on her character in this interview. Moi ? Naive ? "You" dont know me. The "BS" you experience in life, how it affects you, and how you present that life exposure to others through life, IS how your judged/rated/evaluated/interpreted as a whole person. "Realness" isnt appreciated in this case because it comes off as arrogant and self serving...and unprofessional.

[@501rivet]

@@Themanwhocameback2 I will let other viewers judge. Your already lost. My work is done here....

[@gwenniegirl50]

Godawful interviewer!

[@ReneRamirez-d9h]

RIP dear Sylvia Sidney 1910-1999) ⭐🎬📽️🎥📺📻🎙️ She would be 114 years old this year. She was such an Extraordinary women, multi talented, iconic and simply legendary. Her career spanned 7 decades. She is the epitome Hollywood Golden Era elegance. She is truly a Goat 🐐❤

[@cafeAmericano]

She's like the real life Debett Goldry from SNL.

[@RSmith6948]

My thought exactly!

[@marine_michelle4538]

Roles were for the stage, parts were for the studio?

[@hudsony777]

She evidently felt the interviewer was being overly correct. A "role" would be in a great, classic stage play. A part was in a movie.

[@marine_michelle4538]

Ahhh, okay. Understood. @@hudsony777

[@hudsony777]

@@marine_michelle4538 Or at least in the context of this interview.

[@marine_michelle4538]

AT 14:36 She says she talks about beetlejuice.

[@lescook9021]

I wish interviewers knew how to listen and ask follow up questions, rather than just reading prepared questions, one after the other. Missed opportunities with a wonderful actress.