Kay's On Broadway

Fay Carter (Kay Francis) was born in a trunk. She's spent her life acting and touring the country; first with her actor/father, later on her own. She is determined to build a career on Broadway, but the only parts she are offered are tours. A chance meeting with Peter Snowden (Ian Hunter) may change all that. Peter yearns to produce a Broadway play, and he may have just found the actress to help him succeed. Our film this week is  Secrets of an Actress (1938).

We really enjoyed this film. It's compact (a mere 70 minutes) with excellent acting, a bit of drama, and a dash of comedy for Ms. Francis (who, as we mentioned in our review of The Cocoanuts is quite a good comedienne). If we had any complaint at all is that we would have liked the film to be a bit longer. A little more backstory, especially for Carla (Gloria Dickson) and Dick Orr (George Brent), as well as for Fay would have been welcome.

Ms. Francis, though, has a choice part. She gets to be the straight woman for Isabel Jeans (as the frequently inebriated Marian Plantagenet), be lovelorn with George Brent, and assertive with Ian Hunter. Fay is one of her richer characters - well drawn by the writers, a strong, talented woman who is interesting and attractive to both the audience and to her leading men. It's quite easy to see why both Peter and Dick are drawn to her. She has pizzazz! (For an excellent overview of Ms. Francis, both in this film, and through her career, see this TCM article).

Gloria Dickson as the villainess is also quite good. When Ms. Dickson is on the screen, you cannot take your eyes off her. Her delivery is sharp, and her demeanor has just the right touch of self-assured nastiness. We were not familiar with Ms. Dickson, who made a total of 23 pictures between 1937 and 1944. We'd seen her before as Dolly in Lady of Burlesque (1943), but she frankly didn't make an impression. Unfortunately, she died at the age of 28 when a fire (caused by a cigarette setting fire to a sofa) engulfed her house.

Isabel Jeans as the hard-drinking Marian became rather wearing after a few scenes.  The character's drinking could have been toned down a bit, which would have made her much more appealing. Her binges don't add a lot to the film; it's hard to understand what the writers were thinking. Regardless, the relationship between Marian and Fay is well done - they come across as really good friends; we did wonder how long Fay will be able to tolerate Marian in her cups.  In the end, we would have preferred less of Marian and more of Ian Hunter and George Brent.

There did seem to be one continuity issue. Early in the film, we see Dick ask Carla for a divorce (before he meets Fay). But later, when questioned why he has never asked for a divorce, he says there  is no point. We wondered if the censors insisted that the earlier scene be included to emphasize that a physical marriage no longer existed between the couple.  It did bother us that Dick didn't tell Fay that  he was married - Mr. Brent plays him as an upstanding guy. By hiding the marriage, the audience loses sympathy for him.

The film had two working titles before release: Lovely Lady and The Woman Habit (AFI catalog). It has gorgeous sets by Anton Grot and exquisite gowns by Orry-Kelly.  While Warner's was already starting to (undeservedly) sour on Ms. Francis, they do provide her with a lovely setting for the film. The Complete Kay Francis Career Record: All Film, Stage, Radio and Television by Lynn Kear, John Rossman call the film "uneven." While this is a fair evaluation, this is still a film worth a viewing.  Here is a trailer to whet your appetite.