Gloria Swanson and Michael Farmer in 1933 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.

This sumptuous illustrated biography, weighing in at more than four pounds, begins: “Gloria Swanson was a great motion picture star. Her pictures for Paramount in the 1920s made millions, and her ...