January 13th Part II

January 13th is the anniversary of Kay Francis birth. TCM honors her with a day of films.

My favorite being shown is Jewel Robbery. Based on a play by Ladislaus Fodor it is a light romantic pre-code film with William Powell. The dialog is witty and Kay looks spectacular as always. William Powell is at his most charming and debonair. Powell and Francis have great chemistry in all 6 films they have done together. The scenes they are together are the best of the film. Powell plays a jewel thief and Kay plays an over pampered diplomats wife in Vienna. Kay is buying a diamond when Powell and his gang rob the jewelry store. Kay refuses to be put in the safe or take one f the special cigarettes that help others relax and Powell lets her stay out on her own in the shop as he makes his get away. She does not get to keep the ring her husband just purchased for her. At the police station she gives a completely wrong description of the thief, much to the dismay of her husband. When she gets home it turns out that Powell has hid some of the stolen jewelry (including the ring Kay had) in her safe. When Powell sneaks into her rooms they converse and he tries to get her to come with him. She refuses. When Powell spot her bedroom, Kay goes to the door to lock it and her dress gets caught. The police track him down at her home and she is forced to go with them. It is not the police and they end up at Powell's apartment. They have dinner, which they are just a man and just a woman, no names necessary. Kay asks to see some of the jewels that he has taken from other robberies. There is a safe within a safe. When he goes into a closet full of items, the gold and silver items shine in the black and white film. He takes out a few items to show. When he is distracted, Kay takes the items and leaves. On the way out the door, she spots the police and goes back to his apartment. Meanwhile Powell realizes the jewels are gone and he was robbed. I like the irony of the moment. Kay comes back and tells him the police are coming. Powell ties up Kay so that it looks like she was abducted (after he takes the jewels back). Powell states he will probably go Nice. He makes is way over rooftops to a car waiting in the street. Once the police and Kay's husband find her, she states she needs a break and will go to Nice to rest.

I first discovered Kay Francis when TCM celebrated the 100th anniversary of her birth several years ago. I was amazed at her style, grace and slight lisp that she had. She was really the opposite of myself and exactly what I wanted to be. She was tall, thin, graceful, charming, had men falling at her feet and she was an independent woman.

Over the past several years there have been a number of film documentaries not only on Hollywood, but on Warner Brothers the studio that Kay did most of her films. There is generally no mention of her. She was the original Queen of the lot. She kept the studio afloat for many years. The fans adored her. When she started making more money than the studio executives and sued over a movie role that went to Claudette Colbert the studio decided to make an example of her. They tried to get her to quit by embarrassing her by putting her in B films, put her name below the title, adding more “R” in the script to make her lisp more pronounced, taking away a her posh dressing room and having her assist with screen tests. Kay wasn't about to give up. She did what they wanted her to do and collected her pay check every week until the contract ended. I find it interesting that the only people who came to her defense are Bette Davis and James Cagney. Both had run ins at the Warner Brothers studio and went through suspensions during their contract years. Kay was liked by all the workers at the studio and other actors, but no one wanted to incur the same wrath from the Warner Brothers in charge. I try to take her courage and dedication in my own life when things don't go well at my job. Wbshop.com/archive have a few films out on DVD and there are several others out from Paramount and Universal, but not very many.