Kay Francis

[chinaseas]

Would love to see Kay the Star of the Month. With none of her films available on DVD , the only way to see her is on TCM. Kay made great pre-code films with William Powell and George Brent and many others. We finally have to two biographys about her and another coming out soon about her stage and film career. Lets hope she willbe honored soon.

[mickeeteeze]

I'll sign up for that!

[MissGoddess]

Checking ahead to September, I see that my three favorite Kay Francis films are airing at the following time:

 

Jewel Robbery:

Sep 04, 09:15PM

 

One-Way Passage:

Sep 04, 10:30PM

Sep 22, 11:15PM

 

Trouble in Paradise:

Sep 11, 08:00PM

 

And FYI, here is her September Showings in toto:

 

Raffles

Sep 04, 08:00PM

 

Jewel Robbery

Sep 04, 09:15PM

 

One Way Passage

Sep 04, 10:30PM

 

Divorce

Sep 04, 11:45PM

 

Man Wanted

Sep 04, 01:00AM

 

Women Are Like That

Sep 04, 02:15AM

 

Comet Over Broadway

Sep 04, 03:45AM

 

I Loved A Woman

Sep 04, 05:00AM

 

Living On Velvet

Sep 05, 06:45AM

 

Trouble In Paradise

Sep 11, 08:00PM

 

Cynara

Sep 11, 09:30PM

 

Notorious Affair, A

Sep 11, 11:00PM

 

Feminine Touch, The

Sep 11, 12:15AM

 

Street of Women

Sep 11, 02:00AM

 

Give Me Your Heart

Sep 11, 03:00AM

 

Stolen Holiday

Sep 11, 04:30AM

 

Mary Stevens, M.D.

Sep 12, 06:00AM

 

Passion Flower

Sep 12, 07:15AM

 

Another Dawn

Sep 12, 08:45AM

 

Goose And The Gander, The

Sep 12, 10:00AM

 

House On 56th Street, The

Sep 12, 11:15AM

 

Transgression

Sep 18, 08:00PM

 

Women In The Wind

Sep 18, 10:30PM

 

King Of The Underworld

Sep 18, 11:45PM

 

It's A Date

Sep 19, 01:00AM

 

Play Girl

Sep 19, 02:45AM

 

My Bill

Sep 19, 05:45AM

 

In Name Only

Sep 19, 07:00AM

 

The Keyhole

Sep 19, 08:45AM

 

I Found Stella Parrish

Sep 19, 10:00AM

 

 

Mandalay (1934)

Sep 25, 8:00 PM

 

Doctor Monica (1934)

Sep 25, 9:15 PM

 

Confession (1937)

Sep 25, 10:15 PM

 

First Lady (1937)

Sep 25, 12:00 AM

 

Always In My Heart (1942)

Sep 25, 1:30 AM

 

Stranded (1935)

Sep 25, 3:15 AM

 

Storm At Daybreak (1933)

Sep 25, 4:30 AM

 

Guilty Hands (1931)

Sep 26, 6:00 AM

 

Allotment Wives (1945)

Sep 26, 7:15 AM

 

White Angel, The (1936)

Sep 26, 8:45 AM

 

 

Keep in mind TCM's schedule begins around 5 or 6 in the morning, not midnight.

[MissGoddess]

Don't forget to tune in this Thursday for some of Kay's best and most romantic movies. In fact,

Jewel Robbery and One Way Passage are two of my favorite films of the entire

decade. The former film could almost have been directed by Lubitsch, it's so effervescent and

cheeky and the latter is a bittersweet romance that deserves to be more familiar to audiences.

 

Have a Paradise Cocktail and enjoy!

 

Stars Kay Francis and William Powell film a scene in One Way Passage

[Film_Fatale]

Tonight's schedule is absolutely awesome, there's so many great movies being shown that I had never had a chance to watch or record. Way to go, TCM! B-)

[CelluloidKid]

*I'm really looking forward to _Comet over Broadway_. I have always wanted to see this film!*

 

*Kay Francis plays a stage star whose rampant ambition leads to murder in Busby Berkeley's Comet Over Broadway (1938).* *Just sounds so much fun! This comes on at 12:45am (PT) Arizona Time!*

 

*I'm also looking forward to_: One Way Passage_ (1932) which comes on a 7:30pm (PT) Arizona Time to. I read that _One Way Passage_ was her fourth film at Warner's & that it was a huge box office success. It's now considered one of the great weepers of the thirties.*

 

*I have tomorrow off from work, so tonight I spending the eve W./Kay! I'm not that familiar her work, so this will give me a chance to expand my movie knowlegdge.*

 

 

*I just bought the book: Kay Francis: _I Can't Wait to be Forgotten - Her Life on Film and Stage_ by Scott O'Brien. Very interesting read.*

 

*I loved her quote: I'm NOT an actress. I'm a personality." - Kay Francis*

 

*I did some research on Kay before Tonight's films, & this is what I found:*

 

*Kay was nicknamed Hetty Green, a reflection of her tight-fistedness.*

 

*The bulk of her $1 million estate was left to The Seeing Eye foundation to train guide dogs for the blind. Her bequest was based on the simple reason that she considered loss of sight the worst of all possible fates to befall anyone. Her bequest accounts for 75% of the organization's annual*

 

*costs.*

 

 

*In 1936 she was the first actress to be named the best-dressed woman in America by New York's Fashion Academy.*

 

 

*It was Clara Bow who suggested Kay shorten her name from Katharine so it would fit snugly on the marquee.*

[MissGoddess]

I'm so thrilled to be finally getting RAFFLES. I haven't been watching it too closely but I am

recording it and will probably get to it this weekend. I'm recording ALL the movies tonight and

into the morning.

[CelluloidKid]

 

 

*Robert Lord won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.*

[MissGoddess]

Robert Lord won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

 

He fully deserved it. It's exquisite!

[CelluloidKid]

_One Way Passage_ (1932) looks good. It's 1 of many Kay films I'm looking forward to watching!

 

Interesting side note: _One Way Passage_ (1932) was remade in 1940 as _'Til We Meet Again_, featuring Merle Oberon and George Brent.

[MissGoddess]

I've only seen 'Til We Meet Again in parts. What little I saw pales in comparison to this

beautiful, exquisite gem.

 

Oh, how I adore, adore, _adore_ JEWEL ROBBERY. I know it's heresy but I have to say

it: I like it much better than Lubie's divine Trouble in Paradise! Ouch! That hurt.

[Film_Fatale]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

> I'm so thrilled to be finally getting RAFFLES. I haven't been watching it too closely but I am

> recording it and will probably get to it this weekend. I'm recording ALL the movies tonight and

> into the morning.

 

 

Way back in the age of Laserdisc, the Samuel Goldwyn Co. actually released a double feature set with the two versions of *Raffles* - and I'm surprised they haven't bothered to do the same on DVD. Maybe the laserdisc set didn't sell so well.

 

At any rate, I was just going over my recording of *Divorce* and heard RO explain how Kay Francis ended up making movies at Monogram. Kind of a sad story, but I'm glad they're able to show the Monogram movies as well.

[MissGoddess]

I actually decided against recording Divorce, it looked mediocre and I needed room on my

disc for other films, including one Jean Arthur flick they aired this morning, Manhattan Adventure,

which I've never seen.

 

Jewel Robbery, Raffles and One Way Passage are by far the best from last night.

[Film_Fatale]

Well if you had to be selective, I'm glad you feel you caught the very best! I was interested in the Jean Arthur movies this morning, too, although I'm almost certain that at least 2 of them (if not all 3) were shown not that long ago when Jean was SOTM.

[CelluloidKid]

 

*Kay Francis, 1934 _Modern Screen_.*

[MissGoddess]

*Ladies Man* - Kay with Powell and his then wife, Carole Lombard

[MissGoddess]

*One Way Passage*

 

[MissGoddess]

[Film_Fatale]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

> *One Way Passage*

>

>

 

Kay Francis is now my 2nd favourite William Powell screen partner, after Myrna Loy, of course. :x

[MissGoddess]

He's so different with all three of these gals: Myrna, Kay and Carole. I love him with all three,

it's hard for me to pick one.

[Film_Fatale]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

> He's so different with all three of these gals: Myrna, Kay and Carole. I love him with all three,

> it's hard for me to pick one.

 

I know what you mean. It's like choosing between vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream is for me, sometimes you feel like one, sometimes you want another. But, yes, it is interesting to watch the chemistry that developed with each pairing.

[MissGoddess]

Well said! Each lady brought out something different in him.

[molo14]

Sign me up for the Kay Francis bandwagon. I've really come to appreciate her from watching the films TCM has shown over the years. I might even read one of her biographies since she seems like an interesting person.

 

I just watched *Jewel Robbery* and loved it. *One Way Passage* has always been a favorite of mine and was one of the first of my old TCM tapes that I dubbed to DVD. I'm a night owl anyway and since I was off on Friday I actually pulled an all nighter and recorded all of Kay's movies. I've never seen *Raffles* or any of the other films that were shown for that matter except for OWP. I'll be working my way through them.

 

One flim I wished they show is *The White Angel.* I've always wanted to see that one, and I think TCM may have shown it years ago, but it seems to have fallen through the cracks since then. There are some interesting films coming up this month. I will try to get them all but I really want to see *Street of Women* and *Trouble in Paradise.*

 

*In Name Only* is a good film that kind of illustrates her declining status in Hollywood having to play the vindictive wife of Cary Grant with Carole Lombard in the sympathetic role. If anyone can recommend some good rare ones that I haven't mentioned I'll be sure to catch those.

[MissGoddess]

Hi Molo! If you just scroll down a bit you'll see I posted the entire Kay Francis schedule for this

month and *The White Angel* is scheduled (for the 26th, I believe).

 

I heartily recommend MANDALAY, perhaps my next favorite after all these others we've been

discussing. Mary Stevens, M.D. isn't bad, either and *Cynara* is another excellent film

with Ronald Colman, however Kay's role is not as dynamic. But don't miss it, it is an

_extremely_ rare film.

 

Very true about IN NAME ONLY representing Kay's "phasing out". This was the first

movie I ever saw her in and had that negative image of her in my head. What a delight

when I first saw, I think it was Trouble in Paradise and then Jewel Robbery and One-Way

Passage. I couldn't believe what exquisite, delicate baubles she appeared in, movies

I consider the quintessence of 1930s stylistic excellence. People say the 1940s was

the heydey of the visual but I still am not convinced. The camera may not have been

quite as fluid as it would later be, but I'll be darned if it isn't just as creatively manipulated

and photography, in the hands of capable directors, just as stimulating. And boy, do

these movies move. They are breathtakingly brisk but still satisfy, if not always deeply,

then pleasantly, like a glass of good champagne contrasted to a steak dinner. One may

be more essential and sustaining, but the former makes the evening oh, so pleasanter.

 

[molo14]

Hi MissGoddess,

 

Thanks for the info about *The White Angel!* Yea! I totally missed that. I put her name in the search function and scrolled through her upcoming movies and I just noticed it stops listing them at 9/25. I guess it can only put so many movies in it's queue. I've never noticed that before.

 

I'll be sure to catch *Mandalay* and *Cynara* I have seen *Mary Stevens MD*.

 

Your comments on the style of her films rings very true. exquisite, delicate baubles What a lovely way to put it. I agree about the 30's style. It's that sleek visual, and often the art deco sets that I love. The thirties was the height of Hollywood glamour to me and Kay certainly loved her wardrobe. The brisk pace of these films will certainly hold your attention. It seems particularly a Warners trait to keep the tempo going. I just love these types of films and they are certainly a great place to escape to for 75 minites or so.