Midnight Mary (1933)

I am a huge fan of Franchot Tone (obviously, ha!) and Loretta Young, so their 1933 film Midnight Mary is one of my favorites! The film is most definitely a Loretta Young vehicle and it takes a while before Franchot appears, but you will not be disappointed. Mary Martin (Loretta Young) has had a rough life from the start, losing her mother and getting mixed up with the wrong crowd at a very early age. Although she is viewed by society as an immoral woman, Mary has a heart of gold (as is often the case with Loretta Young's precode heroines.) In a robbery gone wrong, the debonair, wealthy lawyer Tom Mannering, Jr. (Franchot Tone) is enchanted by and covers for Mary.

Tom puts Mary through secretarial school and gives her a job at his law firm. Although Tom expects nothing in return for his generosity, their attraction to each other is undeniable. As is typical with precodes, Mary's past eventually comes back to haunt her. I won't spoil the plot for you, but watch Midnight Mary! You won't regret it.

I wish Loretta and Franchot had made many more movies together. As fate would have it, they only costarred in one other film, The Unguarded Hour in 1936.

Franchot and Loretta in Midnight Mary.

Midnight Mary is available in the Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume Three. It is combined with Other Men's Women, The Purchase Price, Frisco Jenny, Heroes for Sale, and Wild Boys of the Road. If you're a fan of precodes, you can purchase this set at:

Amazon