“I Can’t Wait to be Forgotten” Hollywood Star Kay Francis Longed for Obscurity and Nearly Achieved it

You have seen Kay Francis if you, like me, watch movies from the 1930s. She is the tall, dark-haired woman wearing impossibly elegant clothes. You might not be able to recall any of her sixty film titles since none are considered essentials but she was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. When I noticed that Turner Classic Movies would be featuring her all day on August 9, I knew I needed to know more about her to prepare for the marathon. I hope you enjoy this post. Please comment below and find previous articles on the right. To subscribe, email angela.firkus@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

Picture Play Magazine (February 1937)

Katharine (Kay) Francis, in 1939 at the end of her contract with Warner Brothers, confided to a reporter “I can’t wait to be forgotten.” He wrote “today—one of the top stars of cinema. Tomorrow—just another woman. And here was Kay welcoming oblivion.” She intended to continue to work because she found it satisfying, but she said she was done with stardom, even the modified version she had crafted. While other stars chose marriage partners to please the studio boss, she kept her racy private life secret (but recorded in daybooks available now at Wesleyan University). Francis avoided publicity and was a notoriously bad interview. She lived in such a modest bungalow that the “homes of the stars” tour guides did not even point it out. After leaving Warner Brothers, Francis returned to the stage and also made additional movies, but she found it was difficult to get work in a Hollywood dominated by the big studios. She nearly received her wish of obscurity.

Maddox, Ben. “Glamour is a Gadget.” Picture Play Magazine (Sept. 1935): 59

Francis was born in Oklahoma City in 1905 and followed her mother into acting. She initially worked on Broadway and at studios in New York. She appeared in the Marx Brothers movie Cocoanuts (1929), which was a huge hit. By the summer of 1929 she had relocated to Hollywood and she quickly rose to the top becoming the biggest box office draw of the early 1930s. Francis portrayed strong and compassionate characters that resonated with audiences of the Great Depression. And her five foot nine inch frame displayed sleek 1930s fashion beautifully. Fan Dorothy Holcombe of Wisconsin, much preferred the escapism of a Francis film to realism and she thought everyone else did also. She wrote to Picture Play Magazine in 1935:

“After I’ve seen one of her pictures about four times I watch others’ reactions to it. I’ve seen them sigh and cry with exultation and emotion when Kay, in a long black velvet evening gown melts in the hero’s arms, her long dark hair streaming in ripply waves to her shoulders, her arms about his neck. So, down with the family life pictures!”

Holcombe also sent a description of the combined glamour and sincerity of Francis to the same magazine in 1937:

Dark divinity,

Stately grace,

Jewels and treasures,

Point Venise lace;

Beauty, refinement,

A pensive glance,

Away with cares---

A whirl with chance!

A mood of laughter,

A winning smile,

Queen of Fashion,

Inimitable style!

Picture Play Magazine (December 1935): 26

By the end of the decade Francis was the highest paid star in Hollywood and Warner Brothers was trying to get rid of her. She was still popular, but new stars (such as Bette Davis) were paid much less and bringing in more money for the bosses. If the studio fired Francis, it would have to fulfill her lucrative contract so the executives tried to get her to quit by assigning her to star in low-budget films. Francis considered suing the studio but ended up outlasting Warner Brothers, making every movie she was ordered to. Clearly by 1939 when her contract expired she was sick of the studio system. But that was fine; she had made her money and now felt free, she told a reporter, to travel and renew old friendships.

Francis kept working though. She initially kept up a frantic pace, making ten movies in the next two years. She stole the show from Carole Lombard and Cary Grant as the vengeful wife of In Name Only (1939). Ever faithful fan Dorothy Holcombe proclaimed the “Kay Francis banner still waves on high” and critics loved her portrayal. The Academy, however, failed to recognize her performance and in fact she never received an Oscar nomination. Francis took up producing to provide movie roles for herself and did not officially retire until 1952. She lived out the rest of her life quietly on the East Coast. With no acclaimed films to her credit, she was quickly forgotten. Most of her films survived and are being newly discovered by classic movie fans thanks to TCM.

 

Sources and Further Reading

Dorothy Holcombe fan letters and poem https://archive.org/details/pictureplay4547stre/page/n1087/mode/2up?view=theater
https://archive.org/details/photopla15chic/page/4/mode/2up?view=theater
https://archive.org/details/pictureplay4143stre/page/n584/mode/2up?view=theater
https://archive.org/details/pictureplay4547stre/page/n1097/mode/2up?view=theater

“Kay Francis, Pretty Poison.” You Must Remember This Podcast. July 18, 2014. http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/youmustrememberthispodcastblog/follies-of-1938-chapter-2-kay-francis-pretty?rq=Francis

Kay Francis Papers. Wesleyan University. https://www.wesleyan.edu/cinema/collections/francis.html

Kear, Lynn and John Rossman. Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2006.

Mook, S.R. “I Can’t Wait to be Forgotten! Kay Francis Looks Ahead.” Photoplay (March 1939): 32, 72. https://archive.org/details/photoplay53chic/page/n213/mode/2up?view=theater

O’Brien, Scott. Kay Francis: “I Can’t Wait to be Forgotten.” Boalsburg, PA: BearManor Media, 2006.