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Kay Francis

February 2, 2020 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

Prepared by Daniel B Miller

Kay Francis (January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio and the highest-paid American film actress. Some of her film-related material and personal papers are available to scholars and researchers in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives.

Early life

Francis was born Katherine Edwina Gibbs in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1905. Her parents, Joseph Sprague Gibbs and his actress wife Katharine Clinton Francis, had been married in 1903; however, by the time their daughter was four, Joseph had left the family. Francis inherited her unusual height from her father, who stood 6 feet 4 inches, she was to become Hollywood’s tallest leading lady (5 ft 9 in) in the 1930s.

Young Kay Francis

While she never discouraged the assumption that her mother was the pioneering American businesswoman who established the “Katharine Gibbs” chain of vocational schools, Francis was actually raised in the hardscrabble theatrical circuit of the period. In reality, her mother had been born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and eventually became a moderately successful actress and singer under the stage name Katharine Clinton.

Kay Francis’ mother Catherine Clinton

Young Kay was often out on the road with her mother, and attended Catholic schools when it was affordable, becoming a student at the Institute of the Holy Angels at age five.

After also attending Miss Fuller’s School for Young Ladies in Ossining, New York (1919) and the Cathedral School (1920), she enrolled at the Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City. At age 17, Kay became engaged to a well-to-do Pittsfield, Massachusetts man, James Dwight Francis.

James Dwight Francis

Their December 1922 marriage at New York’s Saint Thomas Church ended in divorce. Kay and her husband lived in Pittsfield in a house next to and now owned by St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, 1304 North St. 01201.

Stage career

In the spring of 1925, Francis went to Paris to get a divorce. While there, she was courted by a former Harvard athlete and member of the Boston Bar Association, Bill Gaston. Kay and Bill saw each other only on occasion; he was in Boston and Kay had decided to follow her mother’s footsteps and go on the stage in New York.

She made her Broadway debut as the Player Queen in a modern-dress version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in November 1925. Francis claimed she got the part by “lying a lot, to the right people”. One of the “right” people was producer Stuart Walker, who hired Kay to join his Portmanteau Theatre Company, and she soon found herself commuting between Dayton, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati, playing wisecracking secretaries, saucy French floozies, walk-ons, bit parts, and heavies.

By February 1927, Francis returned to Broadway in the play Crime. Sylvia Sidney, although a teenager at the time, had the lead in Crime but would later say that Kay stole the show.

After Kay’s divorce from Gaston, she became engaged to a society playboy, Alan Ryan Jr. She promised Alan’s family that she would not return to the stage – a promise that lasted only a few months before she was back on Broadway as an aviator in a Rachel Crothers play, Venus.

Kay Francis in Mandalay (1934)

Francis was to appear in only one other Broadway production, a play called Elmer the Great in 1928. Written by Ring Lardner and produced by George M. Cohan, the play starred Walter Huston. He was so impressed by Francis that he encouraged her to take a screen test for the Paramount Pictures film Gentlemen of the Press(1929). Francis made this film and the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts (1929) at Paramount’s Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, New York.

Elmer the Great – Theatre Booklet (1928)

Gentlemen of the Press (1929)

Article on Kay Francis by Leonard Hall

Kay Francis in Gentlemen of the Press (1929)

Kay Francis in The Cocoanuts (1929)

Kay Francis and the Cast in The Cocoanuts (1929)

Kay Francis in The Cocoanuts (1929)

Film career

William Powell and Kay Francis in Street of Chance (1930)

By that time, major film studios, which had formerly been based in New York, were already well-established in California, and many Broadway actors had been enticed to travel west to Hollywood to make sound films, including Ann Harding, Aline MacMahon, Helen Twelvetrees, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, and Leslie Howard. Francis, signed to a contract with Paramount Pictures, also made the move and created an immediate impression. She frequently costarred with William Powell and appeared in as many as six to eight movies a year, making a total of 21 films between 1929 and 1931.

Francis’s career flourished in spite of a slight but distinctive speech impediment (she pronounced the letters “r” and “l” as “w”) that gave rise to the nickname “Wavishing Kay Fwancis.”

Kay Francis in Mandalay (1934)

Francis’ career at Paramount changed gears when Warner Bros. promised her star status at a better salary. She appeared in George Cukor‘s Girls About Town (1931) and Twenty-Four Hours (1931). After Francis’ career skyrocketed at Warner Bros., she would return to Paramount for Ernst Lubitsch‘s Trouble in Paradise (1932).

Girls About Town (1931) Poster

Girls About Town (1931) Lobby Card

Kay Francis in Girls About Town (1931)

Joel McCrea and Kay Francis in Girls About Town (1931)

Premiere of Girls About Town (1931)

Joel McCrea and Kay Francis in Girls About Town (1931)

24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931) Poster

24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931) Lobby Card

24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931) Poster

24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931) Lobby Cards

24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931) Poster

Kay Francis in 24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931)

Clive Brook and Kay Francis in 24 Hours AKA The Hours Between (1931)

Trouble in Paradise (1932) Poster

Herbert Marshall and Kay Francis in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Herbert Marshall, Kay Francis and Ernst Lubitsch on the set of Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Miriam Hopkins, Herbert Marshall and Kay Francis in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

In 1932, Warner Bros. persuaded both Francis and Powell to join the ranks of Warners stars, along with Ruth Chatterton. In exchange, Francis was given roles that allowed her a more sympathetic screen persona than had hitherto been the case—in her first three featured roles she had played a villainess. For example, in The False Madonna (1932), she played a jaded society woman nursing a terminally ill child who learns to appreciate the importance of hearth and home. On December 16, 1931, Francis and her co-stars opened the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California with a gala preview screening of The False Madonna.

Ruth Chatterton

Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931) Poster

William Boyd and Kay Francis in Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931)

Conway Tearle and Kay Francis in Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931)

William Boyd, Kay Francis and Conway Tearle in Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931)

Kay Francis in Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931)

Kay Francis and Conway Tearle in Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931)

Kay Francis in Cheated AKA The False Madonna AKA The False Idol (1931) Magazine Article

Mainstream successes

From 1932 through 1936, Francis was the queen of the Warners lot and increasingly her films were developed as star vehicles. By the mid-thirties, Francis was one of the highest-paid people in the United States. From the years 1930 to 1937, Francis appeared on the covers of 38 film magazines, the most for any adult performer and second only to Shirley Temple who appeared on 138 covers during that period.

She had married writer-director John Meehan in New York, but soon after her arrival in Hollywood, she consummated an affair with actor and producer Kenneth MacKenna, whom she married in January 1931. When MacKenna’s Hollywood career foundered, he found himself spending more time in New York, and they divorced in 1934.

John Meehan

Kay Francis and Kenneth MacKenna

She frequently played long-suffering heroines, in films such as I Found Stella Parish, Secrets of an Actress, and Comet Over Broadway, displaying to good advantage lavish wardrobes that, in some cases, were more memorable than the characters she played—a fact often emphasized by contemporary film reviewers.

Francis’ clotheshorse reputation often led Warners’ producers to concentrate resources on lavish sets and costumes, designed to appeal to Depression-era female audiences and capitalize on her reputation as the epitome of chic, rather than on scripts.

I Found Stella Parish (1935) Poster

Kay Francis in I Found Stella Parish (1935)

Kay Francis and Sybil Jason in I Found Stella Parish (1935)

Kay Francis in I Found Stella Parish (1935)

Secrets of an Actress (1938) Poster

Secrets of an Actress (1938) Poster and Lobby Cards

Ian Hunter and Kay Francis in Secrets of an Actress (1938)

George Brent and Kay Francis in Secrets of an Actress (1938)

Kay Francis on the set of Secrets of an Actress (1938)

Gloria Dickson and George Brent in Secrets of an Actress (1938)

Secrets of an Actress (1938) Lobby Card

Comet Over Broadway (1938) Poster

Comet Over Broadway (1938) Lobby Card

Kay Francis and Ian Hunter in Comet Over Broadway (1938)

Comet Over Broadway (1938) Poster

Kay Francis and Ian Hunter in Comet Over Broadway (1938)

Eventually, Francis herself became dissatisfied with these vehicles and began openly to feud with Warners, even threatening a lawsuit against them for inferior treatment. This in turn led to her demotion to programmers such as Women in the Wind (1939) and, in the same year, to the termination of her contract.

Women in the Wind (1939) Poster

Eve Arden and Kay Francis in Women in the Wind (1939)

Kay Francis and Eve Arden in Women in the Wind (1939)

Women in the Wind (1939) Lobby Card

Kay Francis in a promo photograph for Women in the Wind (1939)

“Box Office Poison” and revival

The Independent Theatre Owners Association paid for an advertisement in The Hollywood Reporter in May 1938 that included Francis, along with Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Fred Astaire, Mae West, Katharine Hepburn and others, on a list of stars dubbed “box office poison“.

After her release from Warners, Francis was unable to secure another studio contract. Carole Lombard, one of the most popular stars of the late 1930s and early 1940s (and who had previously been a supporting player in Francis’ 1931 film, Ladies’ Man) tried to bolster Francis’ career by insisting Francis be cast in In Name Only (1939).

In Name Only (1939) Poster

In Name Only (1939) Lobby Card

Carole Lombard, Cary Grant and Kay Francis in In Name Only (1939)

Cary Grant and Kay Francis in In Name Only (1939)

In Name Only (1939) Poster

Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis in In Name Only (1939)

In Name Only (1939) Lobby Card

In Name Only (1939) Poster

In this film, Francis had a supporting role to Lombard and Cary Grant, but recognized that the film offered her an opportunity to engage in some serious acting. After this, she moved to character and supporting parts, playing catty professional women – holding her own against Rosalind Russell in The Feminine Touch, for example – and mothers opposite rising young stars such as Deanna Durbin. Francis did have a lead role in the Bogart gangster film King of the Underworld, released in 1939.

The Feminine Touch (1941) Poster

Van Heflin, Rosalind Russell and Don Ameche in The Feminine Touch (1941)

Kay Francis and Van Heflin in The Feminine Touch (1941)

Don Ameche and Rosalind Russell in The Feminine Touch (1941)

The Feminine Touch (1941) Poster

King of the Underworld (1939) Poster

Humphrey Bogart and Kay Francis in King of the Underworld (1939)

King of the Underworld (1939) Lobby Card

King of the Underworld (1939) Lobby Card

Kay Francis and Humphrey Bogart in King of the Underworld (1939)

King of the Underworld (1939) Lobby Card

World War II era

With the start of World War II, Francis did volunteer work, including extensive war-zone touring, which was first chronicled in a book attributed to fellow volunteer Carole Landis, Four Jills in a Jeep, which became a popular 1944 film of the same name, with a cavalcade of stars and Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair joining Landis and Francis to fill out the complement of Jills.

Four Jills in a Jeep (1944) Poster

Four Jills in a Jeep (1944) Lobby Card

Mitzi Mayfair, Carole Landis and Martha Raye in Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)

Kay Francis promoting Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)

Kay Francis on the set of Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)

John Harvey and Carole Landis in Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)

Despite the success of Four Jills, the end of the war found Francis virtually unemployable in Hollywood. She signed a three-film contract with Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures that gave her production credit as well as star billing.

The results – the films Divorce, Wife Wanted, and Allotment Wives – had limited releases in 1945 and 1946.

Divorce (1945) Poster

Divorce (1945) Lobby Card

Bruce Talbot and Kay Francis in Divorce (1945) Lobby Card

Wife Wanted AKA Shadow of Blackmail (1946) Poster

Wife Wanted AKA Shadow of Blackmail (1946) Lobby Card

Wife Wanted AKA Shadow of Blackmail (1946) Poster

Allotment Wives AKA Woman in the Case (1945) Poster

Kay Francis in Allotment Wives AKA Woman in the Case (1945)

Kay Francis and Otto Kruger in Allotment Wives AKA Woman in the Case (1945)

Teala Loring and Kay Francis in Allotment Wives AKA Woman in the Case (1945) Poster

Francis spent the remainder of the 1940s on the stage, appearing with some success in State of the Union and touring in various productions of plays old and new, including one, Windy Hill, backed by former Warners colleague Ruth Chatterton. Declining health, aggravated by an accident in 1948 in which she was badly burned by a radiator, hastened her retirement from show business.

State of the Union (1947) Programme

Personal life

“”My life? Well, I get up at a quarter to six in the morning if I’m going to wear an evening dress on camera. That sentence sounds a little ga-ga, doesn’t it? But never mind, that’s my life…As long as they pay me my salary, they can give me a broom and I’ll sweep the stage. I don’t give a damn. I want the money…When I die, I want to be cremated so that no sign of my existence is left on this earth. I can’t wait to be forgotten.” – From Kay Francis’s private diaries, c. 1938.

Francis married five times. Her diaries, preserved in an academic collection at Wesleyan University, paint a picture of a woman whose personal life was often in disarray. She regularly socialized with homosexual men, one of whom, Anderson Lawler, was reportedly paid $10,000 by Warner Bros. to accompany her to Europe in 1934.

Kay Francis in Mandalay (1934)

In 1966, Francis was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy, but the cancer had spread and proved fatal. Having no living immediate family members, Francis left more than $1,000,000 to The Seeing Eye, which trains guide dogs for the blind. She died in 1968, aged 63, and her body was immediately cremated; her ashes were scattered.

Partial filmography

Features

The Cocoanuts (1929)
Gentlemen of the Press (1929)
Dangerous Curves (1929)
Behind the Make-Up (1930)
Street of Chance (1930)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
A Notorious Affair (1930)
For the Defense (1930)
Raffles (1930)
Let’s Go Native (1930)
The Virtuous Sin (1930)
Passion Flower (1930)
Ladies’ Man (1931)
Transgression (1931)
Guilty Hands (1931)
24 Hours (1931)
Girls About Town (1931)
The False Madonna (1931)
Man Wanted (1932)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
One Way Passage (1932)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Street of Women (1932)
Cynara (1932)
The Keyhole (1933)
Storm at Daybreak (1933)
Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933)
I Loved a Woman (1933)
The House on 56th Street (1933)
Mandalay (1934)
Wonder Bar (1934)
Dr. Monica (1934)
British Agent (1934)
Living on Velvet (1935)
Stranded (1935)
The Goose and the Gander (1935)
I Found Stella Parish (1935)
The White Angel (1936)
Give Me Your Heart (1936)
Stolen Holiday (1937)
Another Dawn (1937)
Confession (1937)
First Lady (1937)
Women Are Like That (1938)
My Bill (1938)
Secrets of an Actress (1938)
Comet Over Broadway (1938)
King of the Underworld (1939)
Women in the Wind (1939)
In Name Only (1939)
It’s a Date (1940)
When the Daltons Rode (1940)
Little Men (1940)
Play Girl (1941)
The Man Who Lost Himself (1941)
Charley’s Aunt (1941)
The Feminine Touch (1941)
Always in My Heart (1942)
Between Us Girls (1942)
Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)
Divorce (1945)
Allotment Wives (1945)
Wife Wanted (1946)

Short subjects

Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 3 (1936)
Show Business at War (1943)

References

Notes

Jump up^ Obituary Variety, August 28, 1968, page 63.
Jump up^ Osborne, Robert. Introduction to King of the Underworld, Turner Classic Movies(18 September 2008)
Jump up^ “The Wesleyan Cinema Archives”. Wesleyhan.edu. Retrieved 8 September2010.
Jump up^ The 1910 census lists 1905 as her birth year.
Jump up^ enumerated on May 28, 1910 (Ancestry.com)
Jump up^ Kay Francis at the Internet Broadway Database
Jump up^ Hamlet at the Internet Broadway Database
Jump up^ Crime at the Internet Broadway Database
Jump up^ Venus at the Internet Broadway Database
Jump up^ Elmer the Great at the Internet Broadway Database
Jump up^ Slide, Anthony (2010). Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-60473-413-3.
Jump up^ “Box-office Busts”. Life. p. 13. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “The Kay Francis Papers”. Wesleyan Cinema Archives. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
Jump up^ Mann, William J. (2001). Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. New York: Viking. pp. 83–84. ISBN 0670030171.

Bibliography

Callahan, Dan, Kay Francis: Secrets of an Actress, Bright Lights Film Journal, May 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2006
Kear, Lynn; Rossman, John (2006). Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-2366-8.
‘Kay Francis: A Passionate Life & Career’ by Lyn Kear & John Rossman. (Limited view at Google Books)
O’Brien, Scott (2006). Kay Francis: I Can’t Wait to Be Forgotten. BearManor Media. ISBN 1-59393-036-4.
1910 United States Federal Census, Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey, Election District 1

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Trouble in Paradise (1932)

July 24, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Trouble in Paradise (1931)

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charles Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton, C Aubrey Smith, Robert Greig, Luis Alberini

83 min

Trouble in Paradise is a 1932 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, and Herbert Marshall and featuring Charles Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton.

Based on the 1931 play The Honest Finder (A Becsületes Megtaláló) by Hungarian playwright László Aladár,^[2] the film is about a gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket who join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner.

In 1991, Trouble in Paradise was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.^[3]

Plot

In Venice, Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall), a master thief masquerading as a baron, meets Lily (Miriam Hopkins), a beautiful thief and pickpocket also pretending to be of the nobility, and the two fall in love and decide to team up.

They leave Venice for Paris, and go to work for the famous perfume manufacturer Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), with the intention of stealing a great sum of money from her safe, which Monescu, as her secretary, arranges to be diverted there. In the course of things, Colet begins to flirt with Monescu, and he begins to have feelings for her.

Unfortunately, the plan develops a hitch when François Filiba (Edward Everett Horton), one of Colet’s suitors, sees Monescu at a garden party. He is unable to remember where he knows him from, but when another of Colet’s suitors, The Major (Charles Ruggles), tells Filiba that he once mistook Monescu for a doctor, Filiba suddenly remembers that he knows Monescu from Venice, where the thief robbed him, pretending to be a doctor. Monescu and Lily plan an immediate getaway that night, after they take all the money in the safe.

Colet prepares to leave for a dinner party given by the Major, but cannot decide whether to go or to stay and have sex with Monescu. Eventually she goes, but not before Lily catches on that Monescu has fallen for her rival, and wants to back out of the plan – so she robs the safe herself after confronting her partner.

At the Major’s, Filiba tells Colet about Monescu, but she refuses to believe it’s true. She returns home and suggestively probes Monescu, who admits that the safe has been cleaned out, but claims that he himself took the cash. He also tells her that the manager of her business, Adolph J. Giron (C. Aubrey Smith), who has been suspicious of Monescu all along, has stolen millions of dollars from the firm over the years.

Lily then confronts Colet and Monescu, reporting that it was she who stole the money from the safe. An argument ensues, in which, eventually, Colet allows the two thieves to leave together. As a parting shot, Monescu steals a necklace from Colet that Lily had her eye on, and, in turn, Lily steals it from him, displaying it to him as the taxi takes them away, hugging each other.

Cast

Herbert Marshall as Gaston Monescu / Gaston Lavalle
Miriam Hopkins as Lily Vautier
Kay Francis as Madame Mariette Colet
Edward Everett Horton as François Filiba
Charlie Ruggles as The Major
C. Aubrey Smith as Adolph J. Giron
Robert Greig as Jacques, Mariette’s butler
Leonid Kinskey as the irate Communist

Production

Working titles for Trouble in Paradise included “The Honest Finder,” “Thieves and Lovers,” and “The Golden Widow”; the latter was publicly announced to be the intended release title.^[4] As with all the Lubitsch-Raphaelson collaborations, Lubitsch contributed to the writing and Raphaelson contributed ideas to the directing.^[5]

Lubitsch did not receive screen credit for his writing, and Grover Jones, who was credited with the adaptation, did not contribute significantly:^[5] although he was in the room, his credit was based on a contractual obligation, and he did little more than tell stories.^[5]^[6]

Further, although supposedly based on László Aladár’s 1931 play The Honest Finder, Lubitsch suggested that Raphaelson not read the play, and instead the main character, Herbert Marshall’s master thief, was based on the exploits of a real person, George Manolescu, a Romanian con man whose memoir was published in 1905, and became the basis for two silent films.^[5]

Made before effective enforcement of the Production Code, the film is an example of pre-code cinema containing adult themes and sexual innuendo that was not permitted under the Code. In 1935, when the Production Code was being enforced, the film was not approved for reissue^[4] and was not seen again until 1968.^[7]Paramount was again rejected in 1943, when the studio wanted to make a musical version of the film.^[4]

The Art Deco sets for Trouble in Paradise were designed by the head of Paramount’s art department, Hans Dreier, and the gowns were designed by Travis Banton.^[5]

Reception

Trouble in Paradise was the film that first had people talking about “the Lubitsch touch,” and it was, in fact, one of the director’s favorites.^[5] Critic Dwight Macdonaldsaid of the film that it was “as close to perfection as anything I have ever seen in the movies.”^[5]

The New York Times named the film as one of the ten best films of 1932. In 1998, Roger Ebert added it to his Great Movies collection.^[8] Wes Anderson and Ralph Fiennes both said the movie was an inspiration for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes reports 91% approval based on 23 critics.^[9]

Awards and honors

Trouble in Paradise was named by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 1932.^[3]^[10]

References

^ Jump up to:^a ^b “Trouble in Paradise” at Kay Francis Films. Accessed 16 March 2014
Jump up^ “Screenplay info” on TCM.com. Accessed=August 24, 2012
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “Awards”. Allmovie.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c “Notes”. TCM.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Nixon, Rob. “Trouble in Paradise (article)”. TCM.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
Jump up^ Raphaelson, Samson. Three Screen Comedies Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983. ISBN 0-299-08780-8
Jump up^ Osborne, Robert. Outro to the Turner Classic Movies showing of Trouble in Paradise (March 31, 2011)
Jump up^ Ebert, Roger. “Trouble in Paradise”. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
Jump up^ “Trouble in Paradise (1932)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
Jump up^ “Awards”. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 24, 2012.

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Paramount on Parade (1930)

June 23, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Paramount on Parade (1930)

Directors: Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H Knopf, Rowland V Lee, Ernst Lubitsch, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, A Edward Sutherland, Frank Tuttle

Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Richard Arlen, Jean Arthur, William Austin, George Bancroft, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Mary Brian, Clive Brook, Nancy Carroll, Kay Francis, Richard Skeets Gallagher, Gary Cooper, Ruth Chatterton, Mitzi Green, Fredric March and many others

102 min

Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American Pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.

Featured stars included Jean Arthur, Richard Arlen, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Buddy Rogers, Jack Oakie, Helen Kane, Maurice Chevalier, Nancy Carroll, George Bancroft, Kay Francis, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Gary Cooper, Fay Wray, Lillian Roth and other Paramount stars. The screenplay was written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky, with cinematography by Victor Milner and Harry Fischbeck.

Production

Paramount on Parade, released on April 22, 1930, was Paramount’s answer to all-star revues like Hollywood Revue of 1929 from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, The Show of Shows from Warner Brothers, and King of Jazz from Universal Studios.^[1]^[2] The film had 20 individual segments—several of them in two-color Technicolor — directed by 11 directors, and almost every star on the Paramount roster except Claudette Colbert and the Marx Brothers. (Colbert became a star in May 1930 with the release of The Big Pond, also with Chevalier and also released in a French-language version.)

International versions

Paramount also produced a French-language version Paramount en Parade directed by Charles de Rochefort and a Romanian-language version Parada Paramount (Chevalier and Martini also starred in the French version, and Romanian actress Pola Illéry starred in the Romanian version. There was also a Dutch version, Paramount op Parade with Theo Frenkel. The Scandinavian version starred Ernst Rolf and his wife, Tutta Rolf.

Preservation status

Paramount on Parade featured in a 1930 advertisement for Technicolor

The film, including some of its Technicolor sequences, has been restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The original title sequence and chorus girl number immediately following it, however, are still lost. The sound for two of the Technicolor sequences (“Gallows Song” and “Dream Girl”) are also missing.

According to Robert Gitt, film archivist now retired from UCLA, in a lecture at Pacific Film Archive at UC Berkeley, the film was also released with sound-on-disc for those theaters not equipped for sound-on-film. The archive had a report of the soundtrack for this film still existing on disc until the 1994 Northridge earthquake destroyed a set of discs that a collector was planning to donate.

In August 2010, CapitolFest in Rome, New York showed a 102-minute version restored by UCLA Film and Television Archive. Some sequences are still missing the sound, for some sequences only the soundtrack exists.

List of sequences

“Title Sequence” during Credits with Kay Francis and George Bancroft (lost footage; only sound survives)^[3]
“Showgirls on Parade” with Mitzi Mayfair (lost Technicolor footage; only sound survives)^[3]
“We’re the Masters of Ceremony” Jack Oakie, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, and Leon Errol introduce themselves as MC‘s of the film

“Love Time” Buddy Rogers and Lillian Roth
“Murder Will Out” William Powell, Clive Brook, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, and Oakie
“Origin of the Apache” Maurice Chevalier and Evelyn Brent do a parody of an Apache dance
“Song of the Gondolier” Nino Martini sings “Come Back to Sorrento” (Technicolor; survives complete)
“In a Hospital” Leon Errol, and David Newell
“In a Girl’s Gym” Jack Oakie and Zelma O’Neal

“The Toreador” Kay Francis and Harry Green (as Isadore the Toreador) parody Carmen (Technicolor; survives complete)
“The Montmartre Girl” Ruth Chatterton, Stu Erwin, and Fredric March
“Park in Paris” Maurice Chevalier
“Mitzi Herself” Mitzi Green
“The Schoolroom” Helen Kane, Mitzi Green. Kane sings “What Did Cleopatra Say?” to her class

“The Gallows Song” Skeets Gallagher and Dennis King (Technicolor footage survives; sound missing, current prints use King’s commercial vocal recording of the song.)^[3]
“Dance Mad” Nancy Carroll and Abe Lyman‘s Band
“Dream Girl” Richard Arlen, Jean Arthur, Mary Brian, James Hall, Gary Cooper, and Fay Wray sing “Let Us Drink To The Girl Of My Dreams” (Technicolor footage survives; sound missing)^[3]
“The Redhead” Clara Bow, and 42 Navy men sing “True to the Navy”
“Impulses” George Bancroft, Kay Francis, and Cecil Cunningham
“Rainbow Revels” finale Chevalier and girls’ chorus (including Iris Adrian and Virginia Bruce) sing “Sweeping the Clouds Away” (in Technicolor; survives only in black-and-white)^[3]

Foreign-language versions

A large number of foreign-language versions were shot including:

Galas de la Paramount (Spanish) premiered in Buenos Aires 28 August 1930 and in Los Angeles 7 September 1930; with Ramón Pereda, Barry Norton, Rosita Moreno
Paramount en parade (French) with Maurice Chevalier, Nino Martini, Saint-Granier, Marguerite Moreno, Louis-Jacques Boucot, Fanny Clair, and Charles de Rochefort (Rochefort also directed)

Parada Paramount (Romanian) with Pola Illéry; directed by Rochefort
Paramount op Parade (Dutch) with Theo Frenkel Jr., Mien Duymaer van Twist, and Louis Davids; directed by Job Weening

At Paramount’s Hollywood studio, Ernst Rolf and his Norwegian wife, Tutta Rolf, filmed introductions and sequences for the Scandinavian version. Japanese comedian Suisei Matsui introduced the film in Japan. Mira Zimińska and Mariusz Maszynski appeared in the Polish version, and Dina Gralla and Eugen Rex appeared in the German version. Paramount filmed most of the above versions, along with Czech, Hungarian, Serbian, and Italian versions, at their Joinville Studios in Paris.

References[edit]

Jump up^ “Paramount on Parade”. IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
Jump up^ “Paramount on Parade (1930) – Overview”. TCM.com. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lynn Kear; James King (2009-07-31). Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood’s Lady Crook. Books.google.com.pe. p. 188. Retrieved 2016-02-06.

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Marriage Playground, The (1929)

June 23, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

The Marriage Playground (1929)

Director: Lothar Mendes

Cast: Mary Brian, Fredric March, Lilyan Tashman, Huntley Gordon, Kay Francis, William Austin, Seena Owen, Phillipe De Lacy, Anita Louise, Mitzi Green, Clive Brook (narrator)

70 min

The Marriage Playground is a 1929 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Lothar Mendes and written by Doris Anderson, J. Walter Ruben and Edith Wharton. The film stars Mary Brian, Fredric March, Lilyan Tashman, Huntley Gordon, Kay Francis, William Austin, and Seena Owen.

The film was released on December 21, 1929, by Paramount Pictures.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Joyce and Cliffe Wheater, a much-divorced American couple, leave their seven children to fend for themselves as they tour the smart resorts of Europe. Judith, the eldest, takes care of the group. Martin Boyne, an American tourist, meets Judith and the children at the Lido and remembers that he knew their father in America; attracted to Judith, he is quick to sympathize with the problems of the children.

Although he is the way to Switzerland to meet Rose Sellers, his fiancée, Martin delays the trip to help the children through a crisis that threatens to separate them. When he leaves, Judith despairs, feeling that he regards her as only a child, and she decides to take the children to Switzerland; there Martin realizes he loves her, and when Wheater, repenting of his neglect, telephones him to bring the children back, Martin declares that he is marrying Judith and will himself care for the children.

Cast

Mary Brian as Judith Wheater
Fredric March as Martin Boyne
Lilyan Tashman as Joyce Wheater
Huntley Gordon as Cliff Wheater
Kay Francis as Lady Wrench
William Austin as Lord Wrench
Seena Owen as Rose Sellers
Philippe De Lacy as Terry Wheater
Anita Louise as Blanca Wheater
Mitzi Green as Zinnie Wheater
Billy Seay as Bun Wheater
Ruby Parsley as Beatrice Wheater
Donald Smith as Chip Wheater
Jocelyn Lee as Sybil
Maude Turner Gordon as Aunt Julia Langley
Armand Kaliz as Prince Matriano
Joan Standing as Miss Scopey
Gordon De Main as Mr. Delafield

References

Jump up^ “Movie Review – Lucky in Love – THE SCREEN; Fun and Romance”. nytimes.com. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
Jump up^ “The Marriage Playground”. afi.com. Retrieved February 15, 2015.

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Behind the Make Up (1930)

June 20, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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Behind the Make Up (1930)

Director: Robert Milton, Dorothy Arzner, Henry Hathaway

Cast: Hal Skelly, William Powell, Fay Wray, Kay Francis, Paul Lukas, E H Calvert, Torben Meyer, Bob Perry, Walter Huston

70 min

Behind the Make-Up (1930) is an American Pre-Code drama film starring Hal Skelly, William Powell, Kay Francis, and Fay Wray, and based on the short story “The Feeder” by Mildred Cram.

This was the first of seven in which Powell and Francis co-starred, the others being Street of Chance (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), For the Defense (1930), Ladies’ Man (1931), Jewel Robbery (1932), and One Way Passage (1932).

Plot Summary

Gardoni, a down-on-his-luck vaudeville performer, is taken in by a fellow performer, a clown who has a bicycle riding act. Gardoni shows his appreciation by stealing the clown’s act and his girlfriend, whom he marries.

Cast

Hal Skelly as Hap Brown
William Powell as Gardoni
Fay Wray as Marie Gardoni
Kay Francis as Kitty Parker
E. H. Calvert as Dawson
Paul Lukas as Boris
Jean De Briac as Sculptor
Torben Meyer as Waiter

Critical reception

Mordaunt Hall, film critic of the New York Times, praised the performances of Powell (“excellent”), Wray (“pleasing”), Skelly (“goes about his part with earnestness and intelligence”), and Francis (“does nicely”), but noted “the story is rather limp and disappointing.”^[1]

References

^ Jump up to:^a ^b Mordaunt Hall (January 18, 1930). “Behind the Makeup (1930)”. New York Times.

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Cocoanuts, The (1929)

June 20, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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The Cocoanuts (1929)

Director: Robert Florey, Joseph Santley

Cast: Zeppo Marx, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Mary Eaton, Kay Francis, Oscar Shaw, Margaret Dumont, Cyril Ring, Barton MacLane

96 min

The Cocoanuts (1929) is the Marx Brothers‘ first feature-length film. Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the musical comedy stars the four Marx Brothers, Oscar Shaw, Mary Eaton, and Margaret Dumont.

It was the first sound film to credit more than one director (Robert Florey and Joseph Santley), and was adapted to the screen by Morrie Ryskind from the George S. Kaufman Broadway musical play. Five of the film’s tunes were composed by Irving Berlin, including “When My Dreams Come True”, sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton.

Plot

The Cocoanuts is set in the Hotel de Cocoanut, a resort hotel, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Mr. Hammer (Groucho Marx) runs the place, assisted by Jamison (Zeppo Marx), who would rather sleep at the front desk than actually help him run it. Chico and Harpo arrive with empty luggage, which they apparently plan to fill by robbing and conning the guests.

Mrs. Potter (Margaret Dumont, in the first of seven film appearances with the Marxes) is one of the few paying customers. Her daughter Polly (Mary Eaton) is in love with struggling young architect Bob Adams (Oscar Shaw).

He works to support himself as a clerk at the hotel, but has plans for the development of the entire area as Cocoanut Manor. Mrs. Potter wants her daughter to marry Harvey Yates (Cyril Ring), whom she believes to be of higher social standing than the clerk. This suitor is actually a con man out to steal the dowager’s diamond necklace with the help of his conniving partner Penelope (Kay Francis).

The plot is almost beside the point, and the story and setting are little more than an excuse for the brothers to run amok. The film is notable for its musical “production numbers”, including techniques which were soon to become standard, such as overhead shots of dancing girls imitating the patterns of a kaleidoscope.

The musical numbers were recorded live on the soundstage as they were shot, rather than pre-recorded, using an off-camera orchestra. The main titles are superimposed over a negative image of the “Monkey-Doodle-Do” number photographed from an angle that does not appear in the body of the film.

One of the more famous gags in the film has Groucho giving directions to Chico, who keeps misunderstanding “viaduct” as “why-a-duck“. In another sequence Groucho is the auctioneer for some land of possibly questionable value (“You can have any kind of a home you want to; you can even get stucco!

Oh, how you can get stuck-oh!”) He has hired Chico to inflate the sale prices by making phony bids. To Groucho’s frustration, Chico keeps outbidding everyone, even himself. During the auction, Mrs. Potter announces that her necklace has been stolen and offers a thousand dollar reward, whereupon Chico offers two thousand. Still another sequence has Groucho, Mrs. Potter and Harvey Yates (the necklace thief) make formal speeches. Harpo repeatedly walks off, with a grimace on his face, to the punch bowl. (His staggering implies that the fruit punch has been spiked with alcohol.) Another highlight is when the cast, already dressed in traditional Spanish garb for a theme party, erupts into an operatic treatment about a lost shirt to music from Carmen (specifically, Habanera and the song of the Toreador). An earlier scene shows Harpo and Chico abusing a cash register while whistling the Anvil Chorus from Il trovatore, a piece also referenced in several other Marx Brothers films.

Cast

Groucho Marx as Mr. Hammer
Harpo Marx as Harpo
Chico Marx as Chico
Zeppo Marx as Jamison
Mary Eaton as Polly Potter
Oscar Shaw as Robert ‘Bob’ Adams
Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Potter
Kay Francis as Penelope
Cyril Ring as Harvey Yates
Basil Ruysdael as Detective Hennessey

The Cocoanuts (1929) — Zeppo Marx, Groucho Marx, Chico Marx & Harpo Marx Film: The Cocoanuts (USA 1929) Character(s): Jamison, Hammer, Chico, Harpo Director: Robert Florey & Joseph Santley 03 May 1929 AFF20867 AF Archive Picture Library/PARAMOUNT PICTURES **Warning** This Photograph is for editorial use only and is the copyright of PARAMOUNT PICTURES and/or the Photographer assigned by the Film or Production Company & can only be reproduced by publications in conjunction with the promotion of the above Film. A Mandatory Credit To PARAMOUNT PICTURES is required. The Photographer should also be credited when known. No commercial use can be granted without written authority from the Film Company.

Production

Referring to directors Robert Florey and Joseph Santley, Groucho Marx remarked, “One of them didn’t understand English and the other didn’t understand comedy.”^[2]

As was common in the early days of sound film, to eliminate the sound of the camera motors the cameras and the cameramen were enclosed in large soundproof booths with glass fronts to allow filming, hence the largely static camera work. For many years, Marxian legend had it that Florey, who had never seen the Marxes’ work before, was put in the soundproof booth because he could not contain his laughter at the brothers’ spontaneous antics.^[3]

Every piece of paper in the movie is soaking wet, to keep crackling paper sounds from overloading the primitive recording equipment of the time. In fact, this did not occur to director Florey until 27 takes had been made (of the “Viaduct” scene) and disposed of because of the noise made by the paper. Florey finally got the idea to soak the paper in water; the 28th take of the “Viaduct” scene used soaked paper, and this take was quiet and used in the film.^[4]

The “ink” that Harpo drank from the hotel lobby inkwell was actually Coca-Cola, and the “telephone mouthpiece” that he nibbled was made of chocolate, both inventions of Robert Florey.

Filming took place at Paramount’s Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. Their second film, Animal Crackers, was also shot there. After that, production of all Marx films moved to Hollywood.

Songs

“Florida by the Sea” (instrumental with brief vocal by chorus during opening montage)
“When My Dreams Come True” (theme song, Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw variously, several reprises)
“The Bell-Hops” (instrumental, dance number)
“Monkey Doodle Doo” (vocal by Mary Eaton and dance number)
“Ballet Music” (instrumental, dance number)
“Tale of the Shirt” (vocal by Basil Ruysdael, words set to music from Carmen by Georges Bizet)
“Tango Melody” (vocal included in the stage production, used in the film as background music only)
“Gypsy Love Song” (by Victor Herbert, piano solo by Chico Marx)

The Cocoanuts is one of the few Irving Berlin vehicles that did not yield any particularly memorable songs. Several songs from the stage play were omitted from the film: “Lucky Boy”, sung by the chorus to congratulate Bob on his engagement to Polly and “A Little Bungalow”, a love duet sung by Bob and Polly that was replaced with “When My Dreams Come True” in the film.

Irving Berlin wrote two songs entitled “Monkey Doodle Doo”. The first was published in 1913, the second introduced in the 1925 stage production and featured in the film. They are very different songs.

Although legend claims Berlin wrote the song “Always” for The Cocoanuts, he never meant for the song to be included, writing it, instead, as a gift for his fiancee.^[5]

Reception

When the Marx Brothers were shown the final cut of the film, they were so horrified they tried to buy the negative back and prevent its release.^[6] Paramount wisely resisted — the movie turned out to be a big box office hit, with a $1,800,000 gross making it one of the most successful early talking films.^[1]

It received mostly positive reviews from critics, with the Marx Brothers themselves earning most of the praise while other aspects of the film drew a more mixed reaction. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times reported that the film “aroused considerable merriment” among the viewing audience, and that a sequence using an overhead shot was “so engaging that it elicited plaudits from many in the jammed theatre.”

However, he found the audio quality during some of the singing to be “none too good”, adding, “a deep-voiced bass’s tones almost fade into a whisper in a close-up. Mary Eaton is charming, but one obtains little impression of her real ability as a singer.”^[7]

Variety called it “a comedy hit for the regular picture houses. That’s all it has – comedy – but that’s enough.” It reported the sound had “a bit of muffling now and then” and that the dancers weren’t always filmed well: “When the full 48 were at work only 40 could be seen and those behind the first line could be seen but dimly.”^[8]

“It is as a funny picture and not as a musical comedy, not for its songs, pretty girls, or spectacular scenes, that The Cocoanuts succeeds”, wrote John Mosher in The New Yorker. “Neither Mary Eaton, nor Oscar Shaw, who contribute the “love interest”, is effective, nor are the chorus scenes in the least superior to others of the same sort in various musical-comedy-movies now running in town. To the Marxes belongs the success of the show, and their peculiar talents seem, surprisingly enough, even more manifest on the screen than on the stage.”^[9]

Film Daily called it “a good amount of fun, although some of it proves tiresome. This is another case of a musical comedy transferred almost bodily to the screen and motion picture treatment forgotten. The result is a good many inconsistencies which perhaps may be overlooked provided the audience accepts the offering for what it is.”^[10]

Awards and honors

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Laughs – Nominated

References

^ Jump up to:^a ^b “Big Sound Grosses”. Variety. New York. June 21, 1932. p. 62.
Jump up^ Bowen, Peter (August 3, 2010). “The Cocoanuts Released”. Focus Features. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
Jump up^ Paul Zimmerman, The Marx Brothers At The Movies. Putnam, 1968.
Jump up^ Paul D. Zimmerman and Burt Goldblatt The Marx Brothers at the Movies,^{[page needed]}
Jump up^ Bader, Robert S. (2016). Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. p. 309. ISBN 9780810134164.
Jump up^ Nixon, Rob. “The Cocoanuts”. TCM.com. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
Jump up^ Hall, Mordaunt (May 25, 1929). “Movie Review – The Cocoanuts”. The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
Jump up^ “The Cocoanuts”. Variety. New York: 14. May 29, 1929.
Jump up^ Mosher, John (June 1, 1929). “The Current Cinema”. The New Yorker. p. 74.
Jump up^ “The Cocoanuts”. Film Daily. New York: Wid’s Films and Film Folk, Inc. June 2, 1929. p. 9.

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Gentlemen of the Press (1929)

June 20, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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Gentlemen of the Press (1929)

Director: Millard Webb

Cast: Walter Huston, Kay Francis, Charles Ruggles, Betty Lawford, Norman Foster, Duncan Penwarden, Lawrence Leslie, Harry Lee, Brian Donlevy, Victor Killian

80 min

Gentlemen of the Press is a 1929 all-talking film starring Walter Huston in his first feature film role and Kay Francis in her first film role. The film still survives. This film’s copyright has expired and it is now in the public domain. It survives in a copy sold to MCA for television distribution.^[1]

The film is based on Ward Morehouse’s 1928 Broadway play Gentlemen of the Press.^[2]

Cast

Walter Huston – Wickland Snell
Charles Ruggles – Charlie Haven
Kay Francis – Myra May
Betty Lawford – Dorothy Snell Hanley
Norman Foster – Ted Hanley
Duncan Penwarden – Mr. Higgenbottom
Lawrence Leslie – Red
Harry Lee – Copy Editor

uncredited

Brian Donlevy – Kelly, A Reporter
Victor Killan – McPhee, A Reporter
Chares Wagenheim – Copy Boy

References

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Virtuous Sin, The (1930)

June 20, 2017 Film Dialogue 1 Comment

Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

The Virtuous Sin (1930)

Director: George Cukor, Louis J Gasnier

Cast: Walter Huston, Kay Francis, Kenneth MacKenna, Jobyna Howland, Paul Cavanagh, Eric Kalkhurst, Oscar Apfel, Gordon McLeod, Victor Potel

80 min

The Virtuous Sin is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor and Louis J. Gasnier. The screenplay by Martin Brown and Louise Long is based on the play The General by Lajos Zilahy.

Plot

Marya is the wife of medical student Victor Sablin, who finds it impossible to deal with military life when he is inducted into the Russian army during World War I. With her husband is sentenced to death by firing squad due to his insubordination, Marya offers herself to General Gregori Platoff in order to save him. When the two unexpectedly fall in love, Victor — not caring that his life has been spared — threatens to kill his rival. His determination to eliminate the general falters when Marya confesses she is not in love with her husband — and never was.

Cast

Walter Huston as Gen. Gregori Platoff
Kay Francis as Marya Sablin
Kenneth MacKenna as Victor Sablin

Critical reception

Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times called the film “a clever comedy with a splendid performance by Walter Huston” and added, “There is a constant fund of interest in this picture’s action. It is one of those rare offerings in which youth takes a back seat.^[1]

George Cukor’s reflection in 1972

In the book On Cukor, director George Cukor confided to biographer Gavin Lambert: “It wasn’t much good. I’d be in great shock if they [film restorationists & historians] rescued this one. I remember that I enjoyed working with Kay Francis and Walter Huston, though.”^[2]

Preservation status

A complete print of this film is held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. However, the UCLA archive’s website says the print is too shrunken for projection.^[3]

References

Jump up^ “Review”, The New York Times.
Jump up^ Parish, James Robert; Mank, Gregory W.; Stanke, Don E. (1978), The Hollywood Beauties, New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House Publishers, p. 73, ISBN 0-87000-412-3
Jump up^ UCLA Film and Television Archive website

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Let’s Go Native (1930)

June 20, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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Let’s Go Native (1930)

Director: Leo McCarey

Cast: Jack Oakie, Jeanette MacDonald, Kay Francis, Richard Skeets Gallagher, James Hall, William Austin, David Newell, Charles Sellon, Eugene Pallette, Virginia Bruce, John Elliott, Douglas Haig

77 min

Let’s Go Native is a 1930 American Pre-Code black-and-white musical comedy film, directed by Leo McCarey and released by Paramount Pictures.

Jerry comments on being the only man on an island populated by women, “It was one of the Virgin Islands, but it drifted.” The tagline was: “Paramount’s wild, merry, mad hilarious farce!”

Cast

Jack Oakie – Voltaire McGinnis
Jeanette MacDonald – Joan Wood
Richard “Skeets” Gallagher – Jerry, King of the Island
James Hall – Wally Wendell
William Austin – Basil Pistol
Kay Francis – Constance Cook
David Newell – Chief Officer Williams
Charles Sellon – Wallace Wendell Sr.
Eugene Pallette – Deputy Sheriff ‘Careful’ Cuthbert
Iris Adrian – Chorus Girl
Virginia Bruce – Chorus Girl

Soundtrack

“It Seems To Be Spring”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

“Let’s Go Native”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

“My Mad Moment”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

“I’ve Gotta Yen For You”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

Sung by Jack Oakie

“Joe Jazz”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

Sung by Jack Oakie

“Pampa Rose”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

“Don’t I Do?”

Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Music by Richard A. Whiting

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Street Of Chance (1930)

June 19, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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Street Of Chance (1930)

Director: John Cromwell

Cast: Kay Francis, William Powell, Jean Arthur, Regis Toomey, Stanley Fields, Brooks Benedict, Maurice Black, Irving Bacon, John Risso, Joan Standing

75 min

Street of Chance is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by John Cromwell and starring William Powell, Jean Arthur, Kay Francis and Regis Toomey. Howard Estabrook was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Achievement.

Plot

John Marsden, a famed and powerful New York gambler who refuses to throw a game, is devoted to his wife, Alma, and his impressionistic younger brother, “Babe,” to whom he sends a wedding gift of $10,000, which Babe may keep on the condition that he does not indulge in gambling. Alma, dismayed by John’s ruthless tactics and his obsession with gambling, threatens to leave him unless he takes his winnings and leaves the city with her. He agrees.

However, that evening Babe, who has become a cardsharp, comes to town with his new wife, Judith. He goes to see his brother, whom he believes is a stockbroker, unaware of John’s true profession and the reality that he is trying to quit and rebuild his marriage. Babe insists on playing and tries to win a fortune with his savings in an organized gambling session. He wins remarkably. The professional gambler sees that his card-playing sibling is preparing to make the same mistakes he did.

John therefore decides to risk his life and gamble one more time, and to break the gambler’s code and cheat by throwing the game, in order to disillusion Babe, thereby teaching him an unforgettable lesson. However, John is caught cheating by Dorgan and becomes a marked man. John is later mortally wounded, in spite of his wife’s attempts to save him.

Cast

William Powell as John D. Marsden
Jean Arthur as Judith Marsden
Kay Francis as Alma Marsden
Regis Toomey as “Babe” Marsden
Stanley Fields as Dorgan
Brooks Benedict as Al Mastick
Betty Francisco as Mrs. Mastick
John Risso as Tony
Joan Standing as Miss Abrams
Maurice Black as Nick
Irving Bacon as Harry

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For The Defense (1930)

June 19, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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For The Defense (1930)

Director: John Cromwell

Cast: Kay Francis, William Powell, Scott Kolk, William B Davidson, Thomas E Jackson, Harry Walker, James Finlayson, Charles West, Bertram Marburgh, Billy Bevan, John Cromwell, Sidney D’Albrook

65 min

For the Defense is a 1930 Pre-Code crime drama film starring William Powell as a lawyer whose ethics are challenged when the woman he loves hits and kills a pedestrian while out driving with another suitor.

For the Defense 8

Plot

In New York City, William Foster (William Powell) is a criminal defense attorney so successful that prosecutors regard him as a menace. He holds himself to high ethical standards but is willing to mislead without actually lying.

Foster defends a man who planned a murder using explosives. District Attorney Stone (William B. Davidson) displays a vial and says chemical tests have shown that the liquid in it is sensitive nitroglycerin. Foster sniffs the liquid, questions him to verify the chain of custody, and then smashes the vial dramatically on the floor. When order is restored, he explains to the judge that he knew it was safe because nitro has a distinctive smell, and Stone says he had removed the actual nitro for safety after the chemical test. But Foster points out that only the liquid now in the bottle was entered into evidence, and wins his case.

Foster is in love with actress Irene Manners (Kay Francis), and she loves him, but she wants to be married and he does not. When another suitor, Jack Defoe (Scott Kolk), proposes to her, she says she needs to tell Foster about him before she can accept; but she finds she cannot do so. She stays out late enough at night with Defoe to leave only one implication of what they were doing, and while driving him home, she does agree to marry him. He suddenly hugs her and she loses control of the car, killing a bystander.

To protect Irene’s reputation, Defoe urges her to leave the scene, lying that the victim is not badly hurt. Presumed to have been driving while drunk, he is charged with manslaughter. They both still conceal her involvement, but she begs Foster to defend him. He asks why she cares enough about Defoe to insist; she says she and Defoe are just friends, but she had already promised him on Foster’s behalf, assuming Foster would be willing. Foster agrees, but finds that Defoe cannot tell a credible story at trial.

Then Foster finds out that Irene was at the accident scene and therefore must be much more than “just friends” with Defoe. Foster is crushed, but she still begs him to get Defoe acquitted, while Defoe fears Foster will throw the case and Irene will be charged and convicted as well. Foster eventually puts his love for Irene first and, for the first time in his life, bribes a juror to vote not guilty, hanging the jury.

Foster is quickly found out and arrested, and defends himself at trial. As he will not see Irene, she goes to Stone, admits what really happened at the accident, and says Foster was only trying to protect her. If Stone does not agree to recommend mercy, Irene says, she will tell her story in court. Stone says he will think about it.

Although his defense is going well, Foster then offers to plead guilty (and thus be disbarred, no doubt making life easier for prosecutors in future) if only Stone will agree not to retry Defoe; but Stone says he does not make deals. Back in court, Irene sends Foster a note pleading to let her testify and tell the truth. To protect her, Foster immediately changes his plea to guilty. Stone then tells Foster that neither Defoe nor Irene will be prosecuted.

As Foster arrives at Sing Sing to serve his sentence, Irene is there and says she will be waiting for him when he comes out. He says that if she does, then he will marry her.

Cast

William Powell as William Foster
Kay Francis as Irene Manners
Scott Kolk as Jack Defoe
William B. Davidson as District Attorney Stone
John Elliott as McGann
Thomas E. Jackson as Daly
Harry Walker as Miller
James Finlayson as Parrott
Charles West as Joe
Bertram Marburgh as Judge Evans

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Girls About Town (1931)

June 19, 2017 Film Dialogue Leave a comment

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Girls About Town (1931)

Director: George Cukor

Cast: Kay Francis, Joel McCrea, Lilyan Tashman, Eugene Palette, Alan Dinehart, Lucile Gleason, Anderson Lawler, Lucile Browne, George Barbier, Robert McWade, Louise Beavers, Judith Wood, Adrienne Ames

80 min

Girls About Town is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea.

Plot

Wanda Howard (Kay Francis) and Marie Bailey (Lilyan Tashman) go out with two balding, middle-aged businessmen from out of town (for $500 apiece) to help Jerry Chase (Alan Dinehart) close a sale. However, the women, who share a luxurious suite in an apartment building, have their African-American maid Hattie (Louise Beavers) disguise herself as their mother, waiting at the window, to avoid having to invite the men inside.

Wanda is getting tired of how she makes a living, but she and Marie go aboard a yacht the next night to divert rich practical joker Benjamin Thomas (Eugene Pallette) and his handsome business associate Jim Baker (Joel McCrea).

Jim knows that the women are paid “entertainment”, but quickly finds himself falling for Wanda anyway, and vice versa. (When Jerry pays her for her efforts, Wanda tears up the check.) Once Jim realizes she genuinely loves him, he asks her to marry him. Although she is initially reluctant, she agrees. However, she informs Jim that there is one complication: her estranged husband Alex (Anderson Lawler). She asks him for a divorce, and he agrees.

Meanwhile, Benjamin’s wife, who is divorcing him because of his stinginess, shows up and asks Marie to stop making a fool of him. Marie realizes that Mrs Thomas (Lucille Gleason) is still in love with her husband, and comes up with a plan to cure him of his tightfisted ways. The next day, Marie steers Benjamin to the jewelry store where Mrs Thomas is waiting. Mrs Thomas, pretending not to see him, complains (in a loud voice) how cheap her husband is. Benjamin becomes so angry he buys Marie lots of expensive items for about $50,000.

That night, Alex crashes the birthday party Marie has arranged for Benjamin. He tells Jim that he wants $10,000 or he will name Jim as the co-respondent in the divorce. Alex insinuates that Wanda is part of the blackmail scheme. Believing the lie, Jim breaks up with Wanda.

Wanda visits Alex in Brooklyn and demands he give the money back. He introduces her (as “cousin Wanda”) to the ailing Mrs. Howard and their baby, the reasons he needs the money so desperately. He confesses that he got a divorce in Mexico 2 years before, and promises to pay her back once he is back on his feet financially. Touched, Wanda leaves without the check.

Wanda decides to auction off enough of her possessions to her friends to raise $10,000 and pay Jim back. She also asks Marie to return her jewelry. Wanda gives Jim the proceeds; even before that, however, he has come to his senses, and the couple reconcile. Marie gives Benjamin’s gifts to his wife and reunites that couple.

Cast

Kay Francis as Wanda Howard
Joel McCrea as Jim Baker
Lilyan Tashman as Marie Bailey
Eugene Pallette as Benjamin Thomas
Alan Dinehart as Jerry Chase
Lucille Webster Gleason as Mrs Benjamin Thomas
Anderson Lawler as Alex Howard
Lucile Browne as Edna
George Barbier as Webster
Robert McWade as Simms
Louise Beavers as Hattie

Uncredited:

Adrienne Ames as Anne
Frances Bavier as Joy
Patricia Caron as Billie
Claire Dodd as Dot
Judith Wood as Winnie

Reception

Mordaunt Hall, The New York Times film critic, gave Girls About Town a qualified favorable review, writing, “This handsomely staged and ably directed production is one that affords no little laughter, but unfortunately it is burdened in the latter stages by highly improbable serious sequences.”

References

Jump up^ Hall, Mordaunt (November 2, 1931). “The Screen; Movietone News.”. The New York Times. Retrieved July 24, 2008.

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Cinematheque Live, Home, Pre Code Films

24 Hours (1931)

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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

24 Hours (1931)

Director: Marion Gering

Cast: Clive Brook, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins, Regis Toomey, George Barbier, Adrienne Ames, Minor Watson, Charlotte Granville, Lucille La Verne, Wade Boteler

66 min

24 Hours is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film starring Clive Brook, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins and Regis Toomey. It was based on the novel Twenty-Four Hours by Louis Bromfield and the play Shattered Glass by Will D. Lengle and Lew Levenson. An alcoholic married man is accused of murdering the woman with whom he has been carrying on an affair. The title comes from the fact that the film takes place from 11 pm one night to the same time the following night.

Plot

At an evening party in New York City, the Towners mourn their failing marriage, then leave separately. The somewhat drunk Jim walks to a bar for some more liquor. Before he arrives, a man is shot to death outside the establishment; those inside hastily carry the body inside and surmise that someone named Tony is responsible. Meanwhile, Fanny is driven home by her lover, David Melbourn. On the way, she breaks up with him, telling him she realizes now that she still loves Jim. However, she plans to leave her husband, thinking she is not good enough for him.

Jim next heads to a nightclub to see his lover, star singer Rosie Duggan. He asks her if it is possible for a man to love two women, then remarks that the snow was red outside the bar. After he leaves, her ex-con husband Tony Bruzzi shows up. He wants her to take him back, but she has him thrown out, though she keeps his gun; she guesses from the red snow that Tony killed someone.

Later, she takes Jim home. He falls asleep on her chaise longue. Then Tony shows up, jealous and determined to kill Jim. She tells him that Jim is not there, but he does not believe her. When she refuses to open a locked door, they struggle and he accidentally kills her.

The next morning, Jim wakes up and finds Rosie’s body. Meanwhile, Tony hides out at Mrs. Dacklehorst’s place, but he is tracked down by Dave the Slapper and his gang; the man Tony shot was part of Dave’s mob. Tony demands Mrs. Dacklehorst deliver or mail a letter to his gang, but she betrays him instead, and he is shot dead.

Jim is charged with Rosie’s murder. When Fanny shows up at the police station, Jim tells her to divorce him so she will not get entangled in his troubles, but she refuses to do so. Fortunately, fingerprints on a liquor bottle at Rosie’s place match Tony’s, and Jim is released. The couple reconcile, and Jim promises to stop drinking.

Cast

Clive Brook as Jim Towner
Kay Francis as Fanny Towner
Miriam Hopkins as Rosie Duggan
Regis Toomey as Tony “Sicily” Bruzzi
George Barbier as Hector Champion
Adrienne Ames as Ruby Wintringham
Minor Watson as David Melbourn
Lucille La Verne as Mrs. Dacklehorst
Wade Boteler as Pat Healy, a doorman, Rosie’s brother
Bob Kortman (uncredited) as Dave the Slapper
Malcolm Waite (uncredited) as Murphy

Contents

Early life

Stage career

Film career

Mainstream successes

“Box Office Poison” and revival

King of the Underworld (1939) Lobby Card

Kay Francis and Humphrey Bogart in King of the Underworld (1939)

World War II era

Personal life

Partial filmography

Features

Short subjects

References

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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Trouble in Paradise (1931)

Contents

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Cast

Production

Reception

Awards and honors

References

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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Paramount on Parade (1930)

Contents

Production

International versions

Preservation status

List of sequences

Foreign-language versions

See also

References[edit]

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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

The Marriage Playground (1929)

Contents

Plot

Cast

References

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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Behind the Make Up (1930)

Contents

Plot Summary

Cast

Critical reception

References

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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Contents

Plot

Cast

Production

Songs