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| Franchot Tone in his first film role in The Wiser Sex, 1932. Source: scan from my collection. |
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| The Film Daily, 1931. |
As I was researching this film, I had an "a-ha!" moment. A lot of people refer to the 1933 film Today We Live as Franchot's first Hollywood film and I've always been perplexed by that and thought they were just overlooking his role in this 1932 film. Recently, it clicked. Better late than never, right? I realized everyone who says Today We Live is Franchot's first Hollywood film is absolutely correct. The Wiser Sex was filmed a year earlier, but not in Hollywood! The Wiser Sex was filmed at Paramount Studios in New York City, which I should have realized since Franchot was still acting in plays in '32.
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| Film Daily Year Book, 1932. |
The Wiser Sex is the only Franchot film I've been unable to see, but it does exist! The 35 mm is archived in the Library of Congress film division. It is available to view in-person for educational and research purposes but only with prior permission by the LOC and one person who did indeed view the film at the LOC said it was difficult for them to gain clearance.
It has been shown to public audiences. I know of two times for certain it was screened. It was on the schedule for the 2013 Fall Cinesation Film Preservation Festival at the Lincoln Theater in Massillon, Ohio and has also been screened at the Mary Pickford Theater at the Library of Congress in 2003.
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| Movie Classic, 1932. |
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| Screenland, 1932. |
Film Summary
*Spoiler Alert*The movie stars Claudette Colbert as Margaret Hughes, a society woman who will do anything to prove her boyfriend David Rolfe (Melvyn Douglas) is innocent of murder. Franchot has a very brief role as Phil, David's naive cousin who is being taken advantage of by a golddigger (Lilyan Tashman). In fact, Phil is the character who is killed by a gangster and whose murder causes David's frame-up.
Publicity
Franchot did not receive a great deal of publicity for this role; that would come a year later with his substantial part in Today We Live. Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas did get some attention for their performances. Here are some of the pieces that appeared in fan magazines:
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| Silver Screen, 1932. |
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| Mensajero Paramount, 1932. |
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| Photoplay, 1932. |
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| Photoplay, 1932. |
Here's hoping you and I are able to view Franchot's first film work someday—maybe at the LOC or a film festival and perhaps, if we are really lucky, one day on television or on a DVD release.
Sources:
¨The Wiser Sex.¨ Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200021840/
All clippings found at Media History Digital Library: https://lantern.mediahist.org/
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