Franchot on Joan's Humor, Talent, and Feminist Example

Joan. Dancing Lady, 1933.

Franchot continues his conversation with Jack Jamison on his love for Joan:

And then, of course, there's her sense of humor. You can always tell if a person really has a sense of humor by his willingness to let himself seem ridiculous. Joan loves to be caught looking 'silly,' so that people will laugh.

Sometimes at the end of a scene, while the cameras are still turning, she makes a face or lets her mouth hang open. Then when she goes into the projection room to see the rushes, she too laughs at the foolish picture of herself. It isn't loud, insincere laughter—the kind of laughter so many people use to cover a situation which embarrasses them. Nor is it the kind of laughter that seems to say, 'See what a good sport I am?' It's more a snicker, like a youngster's, but very real. She honestly loves to kid herself.

She loves to kid other people, too, but never cruelly—always gently. Once when we were making a picture together, I was supposed to do a swimming scene. Joan went to the director and asked anxiously, 'The tank isn't deep, is it?'

'Sure! Ten feet or so.' The director replied. 'Why?'

'Mr. Tone can't swim.'

'Can't he swim at all?'

'Well,' she said. 'He can do the breast-stroke a little.'

She had them nearly crazy, explaining that I'd look silly if I couldn't do a crawl stroke, wondering if they could get a shallow tank so I could just wade, arranging for me to stay up all night and learn strokes. Then after they were all wild, she broke down and told them that I really could swim, after all.

But there is something even more important than a sense of humor—especially in a woman. And that is good taste. Joan's taste is exquisite. Like her intelligence, it is instinctive. While William Haines gets the credit for decorating her beautiful home, Joan, as a matter of fact, did a great deal of the actual choosing.

And her taste is as creative as it is discriminating. I've even heard her make suggestions to Adrian when he was planning clothes for her. They must have been good suggestions, because Adrian followed them.

Incidentally, Joan's wardrobe is stunning because she has good taste and not because she spends large sums of money on clothes. Undoubtedly one of the best-dressed girls in pictures, she spends far less for clothes than many another feminine stars. Recently, when complimented on a lovely new outfit, Joan winked and said, 'Last year's suit. New scarf and new hat, that's all.'

Most important is her taste in people. I have never, and there is not a single exception, found a soul she liked whom I didn't like, too. In choosing her friends, accomplishment—what they've done—means nothing to her. She's interested in what they are. If what they are helped them to do something, that is another matter. But popular acclaim, fame, popularity—they mean nothing to her. They two qualities Joan looks for in a person are sincerity and self-reliance.

And then, last but not least, there is Joan's talent. She has temperament. Her emotions are quick and full. She's angry when she's angry, gay when she's gay. I think she is one of the most vivid personalities on the screen or stage today. And I think that, with her determination, she is going to become one of the greatest artists America has ever produced. She herself believes she is only beginning now.

I believe Joan Crawford would have achieved outstanding success in any profession she chose for herself. She is the perfect example for feminists to point to in maintaining that the sexes are capable of equal achievement. With her shrewd, clear, quick thinking, she would make a marvelous business woman. With her executive powers and ability at handling people, she could go far in politics. With her sympathy and intelligent understanding for other people's troubles, she would be ideal for social service. Every child she meets falls in love with her—she ought to be a wonderful teacher. That girl could do anything!

Part One: Franchot on Joan's Intelligence and Beauty

Source:
Jamison, Jack. "'I'd Rather Know Joan Than Anybody Else' says Franchot Tone." Photoplay Magazine. November 1933.

Franchot on Joan's Intelligence and Beauty

In 1933, in the very early days of their relationship, Franchot talked to a reporter about the reasons Joan fascinated him:

I'd rather know Joan Crawford than anybody else I know. And I have any number of reasons. In the first place, Joan is more intelligent than most people. Joan has what the French call l'intelligence de coeur, or intelligence of the heart. It is a human and sympathetic intelligence, the power of learning by putting herself in the other person's place. But it is more than that, too. It is the power of giving meaning to every new experience by relating it to a past experience. When Joan comes in contact with something new, she instantly coordinates it with the rest of her knowledge. Therefore, Joan is intelligent in a deep and understanding way.

She is receptive to every new idea. There are some people who make a pose of being receptive and brag about being 'open-minded.' Not so with Joan. She never accepts anything just because it is new, or because she wants to prove she is broad-minded. But she examines everything with an open mind, then chooses that which she considers worthwhile. And she has an instinctive mental judgment which helps her pick the wheat from the chaff. For example, Joan honestly believes that she knows nothing about acting, and is just beginning to learn. And yet, when we talk about the stage, when I tell her things that happened to me when I was on the New York stage, little tricks of technique that I saw actors use there—she can pick the good ones from the bad ones instantly. She knows at once what would be right for pictures and what would be wrong.

Then there is Joan Crawford's beauty. I hardly need mention that. But a fascinating thing about her beauty—and a thing you don't realize until you know her personally—is that she is beautiful in two distinct and different ways. One the screen her beauty is formal. It gives you the impression of a classic statue. It might be sculptured, that head of hers. But you don't really appreciate her beauty until you see her without her make-up. Sometimes when you're traveling in a foreign country you suddenly come across a woman who literally makes you catch your breath. If you're in Bavaria you find yourself saying, 'Here is the perfect type of Bavarian beauty.' Well, seeing Joan as she really is, so fresh-looking, with that clean-scrubbed look of hers, you say: 'Here is the perfect type of American beauty.' And her freckles are a part of it.

I think the first time I became aware of her great beauty was once when I had been asked to her house for lunch. She was in the back yard taking a sun bath. She came in, her hair rumpled, and oil all over her face and arms. And she was beautiful! Beauty like hers is a real thing. You can't mistake it!

Part two on Joan's humor, talent, and business sense coming tomorrow!

Source:
Jamison, Jack. "'I'd Rather Know Joan Than Anybody Else' says Franchot Tone." Photoplay Magazine. November 1933.

Payton-Tone: Marriage, Muir, and Malfunction

Just two weeks after the violent altercation with Tom Neal, Franchot, still bruised and swollen, married Barbara Payton in her childhood home in Cloquet, Minnesota. Many of Barbara’s family, knowing just as well as the public that this marriage would not last, were absent from the ceremony. It seems that only Franchot and Barbara were hopeful about the union. The usually astute Franchot was so wrapped up in his obsession with Barbara that he failed to recognize that, to the press and his fans, he looked more than foolish. Town officials stated that they did not appreciate the negative publicity associated with Barbara and that Cloquet was unimpressed with her and this marriage.

Following the wedding, Franchot and Barbara were photographed together and then headed to The Flame Supper Club and Hotel Duluth. Two days later, the honeymooners traveled to Franchot’s Canadian lodge before returning to Hollywood.

Franchot and Barbara following the ceremony. Source: www.pinejournal.com

A week later, on October 5th, Barbara was subpoenaed again to testify in the continuing murder trial of her friend Stanley Adams. That same month, Barbara and Franchot promoted Barbara’s film Drums in the Deep South on a publicity tour of southern cities. Completely opposite from their triumphant publicity tour just nine months before, the couple encountered “boos” from some audience members, disinterest from city officials, and mocking newspaper coverage in several of the tour’s locations. As author John O’Dowd wrote, "As a couple, the Tones had become little more than a tacky, industry joke, and sadly, everyone seemed to know it but them."

So far, Barbara had been in the definite lead for the public's disapproval, with Franchot being looked upon more with pity than anger. But on October 29th, Franchot made headlines all by himself when he spit on a gossip columnist. Dining with Barbara and his mother Gertrude at Ciro's, Franchot approached Florabel Muir. Muir had repeatedly written scathingly about Franchot and Barbara. Franchot, after quite a bit of alcohol, walked up to Florabel and her husband. After some rude remarks were made about Florabel's marriage, Florabel asked Franchot if he was mad at her. Franchot responded, "Yes, I am. So mad, in fact, that I could just spit in your face. In fact, that's just what I'm going to do."

Then, he spit right in her eye! I must admit here and now that Franchot's verbal response always gives me a chuckle. It's such a dignified, cultured way to threaten someone, before very crudely and disgustingly spitting on them.  It's hard to believe that Franchot would think that spitting in a lady's eye was a good idea, but this was his year of very bad decisions. I am not placing any blame on Florabel for the specific incident, but I bet she was actually quite pleased it happened because it made excellent fodder for the next day's column. Florabel reported in her next column that Franchot had once been an "upstanding fellow displaying at all times a brilliant mind and charming manners. What has happened to him in the last few months is as big a mystery to me as it is to all his friends and acquaintances."

Florabel called the current Franchot a "guttersnipe" and charged him with being on narcotics and kicking her in the shin. Franchot was so angry at the false narcotics claim that he voluntarily submitted to drug testing and was cleared. In court on December 11, Franchot told the judge, "Your honor, I did not kick the complainant and I did not use any vile language. However, I do admit I may have lost my sense of proportion and my sense of good conduct."

Franchot arriving at court on December 11, 1951. Source: USC Digital Collection

Franchot was fined $400, but his 45-day jail sentence for battery was suspended by the judge. Before the Muir incident was even closed in court, Franchot had already begun divorce proceedings against Barbara. As most suspected, it didn't take long for the relationship to hit a sour note. Just 53 days to be exact. In late November, Franchot filed for divorce and not even a full month later, Barbara and Tom Neal were making headlines as they traveled together on a promotional tour for Bride of the Gorilla.

But the marriage proved to be exactly like the courtship. Barbara would break up with Tom and head back to Franchot and then back to Tom again. Franchot was embarrassed and hurt each time Barbara went back to Tom, but seemed to forgive her easily and welcome her back. On their tour, Barbara and Tom were typically drunk, rude, and caught in scandalous situations. Having dropped his divorce complaint in early December, Franchot reinstated it before the end of the year. In January 1952, Franchot and Barbara moved in together again and would remain together until March 15, when Franchot finally had enough and ended it.

The Franchot that Barbara encountered in the spring months of 1952 was not the beaten, pitiful man anymore. After two years, he was done with Barbara and ready for spiteful revenge. Unbeknownst to Barbara, Franchot had never actually dropped his earlier divorce action. Since Barbara wasn't aware it still existed, she failed to contest it in time. Barbara's attorney Milton Golden would claim that this was Franchot's duplicitous plan all along and that Franchot had tricked Barbara into moving back in with him as part of this ruse. Golden and his client Payton were surprised that, for once in the relationship, Franchot had the upper hand.

Franchot had finally shaken off the romantic spell he'd been under and fired back at Barbara even harder with his next move. Knowing that Tom Neal had moved back into the house with Barbara immediately after he vacated it, Franchot hired a private investigator. Photographs were taken of a compromising situation (there were also reports that there were other photos taken of Barbara with men who were not Tom.) Franchot would use these photos as evidence for his divorce, but he'd also use them as personal retaliation by anonymously distributing  the photos in sealed, blank envelopes across Hollywood. This malicious act was not typical of Franchot at all and researcher Lisa Burks would tell author John O'Dowd that Franchot had been pushed  to "his limits with her never-ending betrayals" and that this out-of-character revenge was motivated by "extreme emotional pain." Barbara's sister-in-law Jan agreed that "it was a very cruel thing to do...and not at all like Franchot."

Presented in court, the photos nullified Barbara's cross-complaint and on May 17, 1952, Franchot was granted a divorce.

Barbara would remain with Tom Neal for quite some time, but they never married. Due to the studio and public's response to their unpredictable and salacious behavior, Barbara and Tom's careers were soon destroyed. In 1953, the couple starred together in the film The Great Jesse James Raid and the play The Postman Always Rings Twice, but both attempts failed critically and commercially. They parted later that year.

Tom would later work as a landscaper. He married Patricia Fenton in 1956 and following their divorce, Tom married Gale Bennett in 1960. On April 2, 1965, Bennett was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Suspicion quickly turned to Tom, who surrendered himself the next day. Tom admitted that he and Gale were separated and arguing when he visited her on April 1. He claimed that Gale was killed when the gun accidentally fired during a physical struggle between the two. Found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, Tom served six years in prison. He died of heart failure at age 58 on August 7, 1972, just eight months after being released on parole.



Barbara covered in bruises at the police station, 1962. Source: UCLA Digital Collections

The I Am Not Ashamed cover

By the late 1950's, it was hard for the public to remember Barbara as the glamorous, young actress of Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. She was, by this time, an alcoholic and drug addict with multiple arrests. One of those arrests was for prostitution, the career she turned to once her promising acting career ended. In the early 1960's, Barbara participated in the exploitative biography project I Am Not Ashamed in order to buy more alcohol. Sadly, the one-time beauty that wealthy big names fought over was now an overweight and drunk "lady of the night" who was regularly beaten by her clients. It's devastating, truly, that someone could fall so far in such a short time. It seems Barbara was intent on self-destruction. Friends who knew her tried to intervene multiple times, but Barbara was, just like the title, not ashamed. She rejected all chances for a better life and died at only 39 years old on May 8, 1967. I highly recommend John O'Dowd's biography Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story. It's a well-researched work on an interesting life. I learned a great deal from the book and couldn't have written these posts without it.

Following the circus that was 1950-1952, Franchot would quickly pick up the pieces of his own life and return his focus to his career, his sons, dates with glamorous, but more stable women, and a private life lived in New York and at his lodge in Canada. Like Barbara, Franchot would drink more heavily with each passing year, but didn't let it interfere with his work ethic or public behavior (however, it did cause the end of his final marriage to actress Dolores Dorn.) He would never again let himself be smeared and ridiculed in the press. Franchot would outlive Barbara by just one year, dying from lung cancer at the age of 63 in 1968.

In the early 60's, Franchot was stopped by a reporter and asked for his response to Barbara's prostitution charges. Franchot, no longer bitter, said he felt bad that Barbara was having a tough time and that he wished her well.

If you missed the first two parts of my Payton-Tone series, please read about the beginning of the relationship and the altercation, too. Researching Franchot and Barbara's relationship and Barbara's life afterwards has been a little emotionally draining for me. It was just such a rough time for Franchot and a rough life for Barbara. Even though Barbara was responsible for a lot of Franchot's heartache and completely responsible for the sad path of her own life, I still feel badly that her life was so tragic. I'm looking forward to celebrating happier times in Franchot's life this month, including Franchot's Oscar-nominated performances.

Sources:

• "Barbara Payton." Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen: http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/217/Barbara+Payton/index.html
• Franchot Tone is Fined. New York Times. December 12, 1951.
• Hollywood Starlet Barbara Payton site: http://hollywoodstarletbarbarapayton.com/
• John O'Dowd's author site: http://www.john-odowd.com/portfolio/book-kiss-tomorrow-goodbye/
• O'Dowd, John. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story. Bear Manor Media, 2006. Payton, Barbara. I Am Not Ashamed. Holloway House, 1963
• UCLA Digital Collections. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/

Payton-Tone: The Altercation

If you missed my first post on the Barbara Payton and Franchot Tone relationship, you may want to start here: The Beginning. This is a painful post to write and read if Franchot is dear to you. Although it reads like a soap opera, the whole thing is more like a scary movie to me. You want to scream,  "Franchot, don't go to the house!," "Franchot, don't do it! It's a trap!" Spoiler alert: He does go to the house and he does fall into a trap. Well, here we go...

Barbara and Tom in 1952. Source: UCLA Digital Collections.

When we left off, Barbara had met Tom Neal and thoughtlessly renounced Franchot while he was away on business. Throughout August 1951, Barbara would change her mind several times over which man she wanted and amazingly, the men seemed to comply. Finally, Barbara stated she would marry Tom and they spent nearly the first two weeks of September together. On September 13, Franchot came to town and Barbara spent the entire day with him at Beverly Hills Hotel and the evening at Ciro's. After 1 a.m., an inebriated Franchot and Barbara returned to her apartment to find an equally inebriated Tom and his friends.

Franchot and Tom confronted each other. In I Am Not Ashamed, Barbara relates that what set Franchot off was a pair of dumbbells on the patio—a painful reminder that Tom had been living with Barbara in the apartment Franchot paid for. According to author and Payton researcher John O'Dowd, as the argument became more heated, Barbara kissed Franchot and told him to "get rid of Tom." Throughout this entire affair, Franchot had seen the printed publicity in which Tom Neal had called him old and dull. Barbara would say that during this particular argument Tom would question Franchot's virility and ability to please Barbara. Now 46-years-old, Franchot's ego must have taken a hit at these comments. To prove himself to Barbara and regain control, Franchot (about 25 pounds thinner than his opponent) challenged Tom to a fight outside.

Tom threw the first punch and it was so powerful that it lifted Franchot up in the air and then forced him to the ground. Once Franchot was down, Tom jumped on top of him and beat him mercilessly. A next door neighbor would report that he saw Tom punch Franchot over 30 times in less than 10 minutes, but the uncouth Tom would later say that he only hit him a handful of times, else Franchot "wouldn't have any face or head left!"

Franchot lost consciousness several times and was unable to remember a lot of details of the fight. He would later tell District Attorney Roll:

Neal's first blow rendered me unconscious. I regained consciousness two or three seconds subsequently, to find Mr. Neal sitting on top of me, beating me about the head and face. I raised my hand to protect my face, but lost consciousness again immediately.

After one of Neal's friends tore Tom off Franchot, Franchot, in grave condition, was rushed to the nearby California Lutheran Hospital. Reporters who caught wind of the beating and hurried to the hospital waiting room were told that there was concern about blood clots and strokes and that this was essentially a “death watch.”

The beating left Franchot with a shattered cheekbone, fractured upper jaw, broken nose, and concussion. His face was so damaged that the doctors performed emergency plastic surgery and warned that his face might never look exactly the same as the public remembered. Immediately following the fight, Barbara stated to the press that she planned to marry Franchot and called Tom a “vicious man.” Although she snuck in martinis to a bandage-wrapped and pained Franchot, Barbara’s main focus seemed to be embracing the publicity that the ordeal had produced. She didn’t appear to understand why she was getting such negative press and offered no explanations. And she didn’t alter her behavior, either.

Barbara visiting Franchot in the hospital. Source: UCLA Digital Collections.

While Franchot was recuperating in the hospital, Barbara was photographed dancing with Tom in nightclubs. Reporters witnessed Tom enter Barbara’s apartment in the evenings and exit with her each morning before Barbara, alone, went to visit her badly beaten, on-again fiancée in the hospital. The fact that Barbara continued to go behind an ailing Franchot’s back to be with the man that beat him senselessly is something that I, personally, have a hard time understanding. It’s just such a cold, selfish way to behave and a horrible way to treat any person. Payton’s son John Lee thinks that Barbara behaved this way because she didn’t understand how to give or receive love. Barbara’s friend Tina Ballard commented that Barbara was one of those people who is so deeply self-destructive that they unintentionally wreck the lives of all in their path. In O’Dowd’s biography, Tina also described Barbara’s feelings for both men:

I think Barbara wished she could combine Franchot's qualities of wealth, intelligence and class with Tom's down-and-dirty, somewhat raw sexuality, and make a whole other person out of them! She loved and admired both men...the pull to Tom, though, was way stronger...

The fight placed negative publicity on all three principal players. Barbara walked away with a pretty horrible reputation in the public's opinion and was dropped from a leading role in Lady in the Iron Mask (I’ll get into her dreary post-Franchot years in a later blog post.) Franchot was able to redeem his reputation and career after some time, but it would take years of dedication to his craft and re-embracing the privately-lived life he’d known before Barbara.

In the year after the fight, however, Franchot was ridiculed by the press for his behavior with Barbara and publicly humiliated (even by some colleagues) for engaging in and losing a fight with a physically stronger man. But the embarrassment of the situation and stain against his character were nothing compared to the physical damages Franchot suffered. I think the plastic surgeons were extremely skilled, because they were able to maintain his recognizable facial features. Still, to me, he never looked quite the same after the fight. How could he after a shattered cheekbone, fractured upper jaw, and broken nose? Franchot looked like himself, just a slightly different version.

I do not have source info for this photo, but I think it's a good example of the
work done on Franchot's face. His nose looks differently here. Smoother, not with
the natural, imperfect slope of his nose prior to the incident.

Here's a good side-by-side comparison that shows
how Franchot's nose bump and nostrils looked in 1937 and
then after required plastic surgery in 1951.

His voice was affected, too. Don’t get me wrong. I realize that a lot of his vocal change in later years was due to cigarettes and scotch. Barbara herself said that Franchot never quite talked the same way and a few years later, in 1953, Franchot would unsuccessfully sue Lloyds of London for damages inflicted by Tom. Franchot stated that he had suffered “facial disfigurement and impairment of his voice.” (Resisting the suit, Lloyds argued that Franchot “was intoxicated, provoked a fight and exposed himself deliberately to danger.”)

Tom’s post-Franchot life will require a future post as well, but immediately following the assault, Tom was facing felony charges and possible prison time. Franchot was planning on pressing charges on Tom and following his hospital release, gave his version of the event to District Attorney S. Ernest Roll. During the meeting, a still-in-recovery Franchot, who was described as being very swollen, bloodshot, and pale, made it clear that Tom was the aggressor, but his fiancée backpedaled on it. Despite her earlier statements that Tom was a violent brute who nearly killed Franchot, Barbara was now obviously lessening those charges in order to protect Tom.

Franchot on September 25, 1951. This was the first photo of Franchot following the assault
and his hospital stay. It was taken at the DA's office. Source:UCLA Digital Collections.

Between that meeting and September 27^th, Barbara privately convinced her fiancée not to file charges on her lover (former lover, thought Franchot, but the world knew differently.) On September 26^th, Barbara flew with her son for a visit of her hometown in Minnesota. The next day, Franchot angered the district attorney when he withdrew charges on Neal and caught a flight to Minnesota.

Franchot waiving assault charges against Tom Neal. Source: UCLA Digital Collections.

By September 28^th, Franchot and Barbara were married.

Next week, I'll share the story of Franchot and Barbara's hasty marriage and, as most predicted, divorce less than 9 months later.

Sources:

• "Lloyd's Fights Tone's Suit." New York Times. May 10, 1953.
• O'Dowd, John. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story. Bear Manor Media, 2006.
• Payton, Barbara. I Am Not Ashamed. Holloway House, 1963.
• UCLA Digital Collections. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/

Payton-Tone: The Beginning

I've avoided posting about the tempestuous relationship and ensuing scandal of Franchot and Barbara Payton for a good 21 months. Not because I was trying to deny its existence, but because I didn't want to fall into the noticeable trend of recognizing him for this brief moment in his life over the years of accomplishments. When I first became interested in Franchot and started searching for information on him, I was discouraged to find that nearly every site, article, even his obituaries shouted out things like "Tone beaten to a pulp by boxer!" There's so much more to Franchot than this incident, this relationship, this two-year period—but there's also much insight to be gained from Franchot's participation in and response to it. I want to take a full look into the Tone-Payton relationship so I'm breaking this topic up into a series of posts. Naturally, we'll start at the beginning of their relationship.

Barbara Payton was born Barbara Lee Redfield in Minnesota in 1927. By the time she began her acting career, Barbara had married twice—the first marriage annulled and the second to John Payton ending in a 1948 separation and 1950 divorce—and had a young son. In 1949, Payton gained notice in several films which resulted in starring roles with top actors James Cagney, Gary Cooper, and Gregory Peck in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Dallas, and Only the Valiant, respectively. She would go onto to make a total of 15 films, but her popularity waned after a few short years of bad publicity. I've only watched one Payton film, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, but found her to be a talented actress and an especially good fit for film noirs.

When Franchot met Barbara, he had just ended his marriage to actress and model Jean Wallace. Married in 1941, Franchot and Jean appeared to have a happy marriage during the first half of the forties. They proudly talked about their two sons and each other's best traits in fan magazines and look relaxed and in love in photographs. In keeping with Franchot's attraction to strong, unflinching, outgoing women, I've read claims that Jean (who was half Franchot's age) could be as spirited and high-maintenance as Joan Crawford and Barbara Payton. Sometime before their divorce in 1948, things fell apart—although Franchot and Jean were professional enough to co-star in two films, Man on the Eiffel Tower and Jigsaw, during this time.

John O'Dowd's biography Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story was written with the cooperation of Payton's son John Lee Payton and is an excellent, well-researched book. It celebrates Barbara's accomplishments and good traits—her son praises her as a mother and her friends note her endless generosity—but doesn't shy away from the bad decisions she made and the people she wronged. It presents all the facts and goes in-depth at discovering who Barbara was and what helped to form her as a person. Parts of it are hard to read (because of her story, not the writing itself), but at the same time, it's impossible to put down. As much as I value and recommend the book, I was left confused about the exact details of Franchot and Barbara's first meeting (this may be due to reader error, so feel free to let me know if I misunderstood a passage.) O'Dowd tells us that Barbara first met Franchot at Ciro's in the early months of 1950. Yet in another passage, O'Dowd states that Franchot was "instantly hooked" when he judged a Charleston dance contest at the Mocambo and saw Barbara (who won first prize) for the first time. Whichever came first, Franchot and Barbara met in a popular nightclub in 1950 and embarked on a very public, whirlwind romance.

Over ten years later, a destitute Payton participated with tabloid journalist Leo Guild in an exploitative autobiography project entitled I Am Not Ashamed and described her attraction to Franchot. If you've not read I Am Not Ashamed yet, be warned that you probably will not like Barbara very much once you have. She unapologetically brags about using people (for example, Franchot) to move up in the world. (Note: Biographer John O'Dowd asserts that much of the book's content was fictitious and sensationalized due to Guild's involvement.)

Payton referred to Franchot as "the actor with the most class in Hollywood' and recalled:

I went out with every big male star in town. They wanted my body and I needed their name for success...Franchot Tone, suave, likeable, quiet, unexciting Franchot asked me to do a play with him in New York. He was hooked on me. He believed in me, too. That was the route I had to travel. He spelled it out for me and I read him...'Kiss me and your troubles are over.' Right? So I went East with Tone...

Despite warnings from friends that he may be entering into dangerous territory, 45-year-old Franchot fell hard and devoted himself to wooing 23-year-old Barbara. According to O'Dowd's book, Franchot took a Pygmalion interest in Barbara. He was drawn to her gutsiness and rough-around-the-edges persona. Franchot liked that Barbara wore temporary face tattoos and had pink dye in her hair, atypical of 1950's beauty norms. As much as he liked this side of Barbara, Franchot felt the need to guide her into his version of the perfect lady. He gifted her with jewelry and expensive furs and introduced her to the most well-respected people and establishments. Barbara was certainly unfair to Franchot in many ways, but it was also unrealistic and unfair of Franchot to expect Barbara to eventually change to suit him.

Franchot was only 6 years younger than Barbara's father Lee "Flip" Redfield, and Barbara seemed to view Franchot as a father-figure of sorts. Barbara had always desired more love and attention from her father (there's some speculation out there that abuse may have occurred between father and daughter which created Barbara's need to please men and eagerness for attention.) During their courtship, Barbara called Franchot "Doc," liked to cook for him, and embraced his guidance.

In the summer of 1950, Franchot traveled with Barbara to the Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye premiere and a key to the city presentation in Miami. A man who usually shielded himself from publicity of any kind, Franchot embraced public appearances with his new girlfriend. In September 1950, Franchot and Barbara costarred in a production of The Second Man. (Franchot would later reprise his role in the play with Margaret Lindsay as his costar.)

By October of 1950, Franchot and Barbara announced their engagement. That same month, Barbara garnered negative attention when she was a defense witness in the perjury trial of Stanley Adams, a friend of Barbara's who was suspected of murder.  December 1950 marked the second occasion of bad publicity for the couple. Before Franchot's custody battle with ex-wife Jean Wallace, the write-ups on Franchot and Barbara's association were pretty benign. Jean testified that she was concerned about her sons being near Barbara and didn't approve of Barbara's social activities. On the stand, Franchot had to publicly state that he'd seen Barbara nude on many occasions. Not scandalous by today's standards, but it made quite a headline in 1950.

In January 1951, the engaged couple hit the premiere of the film Operation Pacific looking glamorous and receiving big applause from the audience at the Pantage Theater. Barbara's career and her relationship with Franchot seemed to be going smoothly. She had met his friends and family and he, hers. Barbara's friend and sister-in-law, Jan Zollinger Redfield said:

Franchot Tone was a very nice and extremely generous person. We saw him several times at Barbara's apartment and he was a lovely man. Although I don't think I ever saw him without a drink in his hand, he was never out of line nor did I ever hear him raise his voice at Barbara—ever. His manners were always impeccable. Lee and Mabel [Barbara's parents] both liked him and were impressed with how cultured he was. I know they were hoping that he would get Barbara to finally settle down and start behaving herself...Franchot was a gentle human being, and Frank and I were always very comfortable around him. And he adored Barbara. He showered her with gifts and she loved it!

By the middle of 1951, Franchot had heard gossip that Barbara was fooling around with costars on her movie sets. Franchot hired a private detective to tale Barbara and caught her with actor Guy Madison. Despite this, Franchot remained dedicated to the couple's engagement. (I have no knowledge about the terms of Franchot's own physical fidelity during the Payton relationship, so I cannot vouch for his own innocence.)

In July, Franchot traveled to fulfill an obligation in New York and Barbara stayed behind to work in Bride of the Gorilla. Only a few days passed before Barbara set her eyes on a muscular, 37-year-old actor named Tom Neal. Several days later, and obviously without Franchot's knowledge, Barbara had moved Tom into her apartment (on which Franchot paid the rent) and began introducing him as her boyfriend to others. When a concerned friend asked her about Franchot, Barbara dismissed it with the explanation that she'd deal with Franchot later. Barbara publicly called off her engagement to Franchot by the end of July.

In I Am Not Ashamed, Barbara said of the situation:

I didn't want to get involved with him [Neal] on any permanent basis because he was just another bit player with a gorgeous physique. But he lusted for me and I lusted for him...Here a sociably acceptable Mr. Tone was begging to pay my bills legally and Mr. Have-Nothing was living in my house while I was in New York doing his exercises by the pool...Like all feminine romantics, I thought if I stayed long enough from Tom, he'd beg me to marry him. That's why I held off Franchot until we got back to Hollywood.

August saw Barbara back with Franchot then abruptly back with Tom. September found the entire screwed-up affair blowing up in everyone's faces and presenting lasting consequences for all involved. Stay tuned for details of the Neal-Tone altercation, my second post in the Payton-Tone series.

Sources:

• O'Dowd, John. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story. Bear Manor Media, 2006.
• Payton, Barbara. I Am Not Ashamed. Holloway House, 1963.

Dolores Dorn on Franchot Tone

Some time ago, I read Dolores Dorn's short e-book Letters from a Hollywood Starlet. Dolores was Franchot's costar in Uncle Vanya as well as his fourth and final wife. I've wanted to write about Dolores' memories of their marriage and my own reflections on this time in Franchot's life for a while now.

First Impressions and First Date
Actress Dolores Dorn first met Franchot Tone when she read for the part of Elena's understudy in Uncle Vanya. Dolores met Franchot and director David Ross for the audition at Franchot's Warwick Hotel penthouse. Dolores was immediately struck by Franchot:

I'd met a lot of sophisticated, attractive men in London and Hollywood but none with the presence and savoir-faire of this man. And did I mention he was handsome with a twinkle in his eye too?...True, he was older, but I'd never met anyone like him in my life. Now I had another reason for wanting the part.

Franchot and David were impressed with Dolores and she won the understudy part. When Signe Hasso left the play, Dolores took over the role of Elena and entered into a relationship with Franchot:

After playing the role a few weeks Franchot asked me to have something to eat after the show. I didn't hesitate. The attraction between us on stage was obvious to everyone. The attraction I felt for him offstage I could barely conceal...Franchot and I went out almost every night after the show. For my birthday, he gave me a beautiful heavy gold bracelet with two dolphins going in the opposite directions supposed to symbolize my astrological sign of Pisces from Van Cleef & Arpels.

Despite Dolores' mother persistently vocalizing her dislike of the 29-year age gap in the relationship, Dolores and Franchot were undeterred by the difference and remained very much in love. It's apparent that Dolores was enchanted by Franchot as she can still recall all of the conversation covered in their first date. In her memoir, Dolores remembers that over a quiet French dinner, Franchot shared much about himself.  He told Dolores of his family history. He was proud that his dad had worked his way up from a teacher's son to the president of a company. Franchot grew up with all the perks of wealth yet revealed that he struggled with his classification in the upper class. He shared the experience of producing The Man on the Eiffel Tower and working with his best friends, Charles Laughton and Burgess Meredith. He agreed with Dolores in her dislike of the studio system and love of the theater and was eager to hear all about her experiences and aspirations. Franchot expressed his goal of owning his own theater where he could produce plays that included real-life issues (reminiscent of his Group Theatre days).

A "Secret" Wedding and Private Marriage

On May 14, 1956, Franchot and Dolores held a private wedding at the Montreal mayor's house and honeymooned at Franchot's Canadian home, which he called a "summer camp." Dolores described it as:

two rustic houses nestled in the woods between two fresh water lakes. The main house had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room with a large stone fireplace and a large screened-in porch with a view of "Thirty-One Mile Lake." The other house was larger and was used as a guest house. They stood on an acre of woods.

Attending their wedding were Franchot's friends Jean Paul and Libby Dejordins, who celebrated with champagne, before driving Franchot and Dolores to the cabin. There, housekeeper and cook Donalda and her husband John, had a meal and a cozy fire prepared for the newlyweds. (Note: I'll be adding Dolores' description of the cabin and wedding to the post on Franchot's ties to Canada that I did last week.) After a long weekend, the Tones returned to New York and quietly resumed work on Uncle Vanya.

Although their close friends all knew, Franchot and Dolores managed to keep their marriage a secret for 2 more years! It wasn't until someone overheard Dolores answer to the name Mrs. Tone in a restaurant that Franchot and Dolores confirmed their marriage in 1958. Although Dolores doesn't say in her memoir and Franchot never spoke of it, I assume that their marriage was kept secret for two reasons:
1. They were happy in their relationship and didn't need public confirmation of it to remain content.
2. Franchot had such a horrible publicity experience in his very public relationship and brief, tempestuous marriage to Barbara Payton. I imagine he wanted to keep this new relationship and marriage a secret to maintain its authenticity and avoid public scrutiny.

Franchot and Dolores in their library in 1958 following confirmation of their 1956 marriage.

The Undoing Over Uncle Vanya and Franchot's Increasing Unpredictability

Franchot was so proud of Uncle Vanya (a play he had starred in even before he became a film star) and the positive response to its current run that he decided to produce it on film. Dolores and the rest of the cast were excited about the project as well and agreed to shoot the film during the day and perform the play on stage each night. Franchot first encountered difficulty finding an American distributor and later a European one. Certain of the film's success and eager to produce the type of film he'd always hoped to do, Franchot ended up using $250,000 of his own money to ensure the film was completed. (According to www.measuringworth.com, that's the equivalent of a little over 2 million dollars today.) Although the film received good reviews, it did not do well enough commercially to earn Franchot his money back.

Franchot submitted the film to the first San Francisco International Film Festival and even emceed the festival's opening night on December 4, 1957. The film was well-received there, but didn't garner the award for best film or for best actor. Disappointed that his own performance went unnoticed, Franchot was not congratulatory when a surprised but absolutely deserving Dolores was announced the winner of the Best Actress Award. He had been so supportive of her career up until this point, but that night, Dolores writes, a depressed Franchot became "very drunk and verbally abusive."

The film was out of sight from that night until it was released on DVD a few years ago, but the disappointment associated with it lingered with Franchot for some time. It's a shame that the film didn't gain more of a following, because Franchot had put so much time and work and poured so much of himself into it and that is all visible in the final product. Uncle Vanya is one of my favorite films and although I have a hard time naming just one favorite Franchot performance, his portrayal of Astroff may top the list. He's not just playing Astroff. In many ways, Franchot is Astroff. Elena Gonzalvo wrote a fantastic article on the similarities between Astroff and Franchot that you can read here.

Dolores writes:

He became more and more depressed when nothing worked out. He began to drink and became more and more verbally abusive...His drinking behavior was getting me down. I felt badly for him and badly for myself.

In most of my research of Franchot in the 50's and 60's, many of those who knew him mention that he was brilliant, kind, gentle, and had a serious drinking problem. From what I've read, he would start off the day hopeful and charming but by the end of the night, he was full of melancholy and seeking comfort in a bottle of Scotch. It's sad to me that he had an inner pain so great that he felt the need to dull it with alcohol. Certainly, he drank before the 50's (it's hard to recall a film star who didn't), but it really seemed to become noticeable to those around him in the last two decades of his life. For the most part, Franchot was able to control the effects of drinking. Except the visible aging of his face, his heavy drinking was not apparent in the quality performances he turned out night after night on stage and on television. However, his drinking seemed to be the cause of the dissolution of his marriage to Dolores. She writes of a man who was unpredictable. When sober, Franchot was deeply supportive of her career. He advised her of good parts to accept and encouraged her to take lessons with Strasberg. Drunk, he was resentful of her quick success and possibly, her youth. Dolores even heard rumors that Franchot may have asked the Actor's Studio not to pass her audition. This rumor was never proven and Dolores did pass her audition, but Dolores says she always wondered if it was true. In her memoir, Dolores reflects:

At first it seemed like a betrayal to me but then I thought that Franchot didn't seem to want me to work as an actress. Did he want a more traditional marriage? It was beginning to look like that from the call and some subtle and not so subtle message he'd been giving me. Could I do that? I loved him, yes, but could I do that? Should I do that?

Following her miscarriage and peritonitis, a loving Franchot took good care of Dolores in the hospital. Shortly after, Dolores decided that she needed to move on. They separated and divorced in 1959. Dolores did not expect to see much of Franchot after the divorce, but as it turned out, they actually became good friends and remained that way until his death in 1968.

My Reflection

Dolores Dorn's short memoir only covers a brief time in her life and seems to suggest that she plans to write more later. I hope she does as I'd like to learn more about her life and career after Franchot. She comes across as a sweet, determined woman who truly loved Franchot. They had similar career interests and seemed to get along well in the beginning. I wonder if the marriage could've lasted had they not had that 29-year age gap. It seems to me that they were a good match. If Franchot had been younger, was just starting out in the theater like Dolores, had not experienced so many disappointments already, and had not turned to alcohol to cope with those disappointments, I believe Franchot and Dolores may have experienced a long-lasting marriage. I think it's important to note that there was still enough respect between the two of them to warrant a friendship that survived their divorce.

As an admirer of Franchot or any classic film star, it can be difficult when you uncover less-than-great things they did. I wish he had been happy for Dolores when she won Best Actress at the festival. I wish he hadn't let his own disappointments in life negatively affect his relationship with her. But Franchot, like all of us, was human. If you're really interested in a person and want to have a full picture of him, you can't ignore the flaws in his character. You can't deny that these flaws exist and I am frustrated when I see other devoted fans of the classic Hollywood era flat-out deny that their favorite star ever made any mistakes.

For the most part, I've found that Franchot was a thoughtful, hard-working, compassionate man who made others feel special and respected. That's the Franchot the majority of my posts focus on, because those qualities truly made up the majority of who he was. But I can't deny that he drank heavily and that habit affected his actions and in this particular case, his marriage to Dolores Dorn. We are all complicated beings, even my favorite Mr. Tone.

Has Marriage Helped Joan Crawford?

In 1936, Film Pictorial featured a loving photograph of Franchot and Joan on its cover and an article about the newlyweds inside.

Source: my collection

The article was written by Jerry Asher, an MGM publicity man and member of Franchot and Joan's inner circle of friends. Asher shared the contents of the telegram he received from Franchot announcing the couple's marriage. Franchot wrote:

You are the very first person we've told. Our happy moment came this morning at ten-fifteen in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Nick Schenck made all the arrangements and the secrecy was complete. The ceremony was performed on the lawn of the residence of ex-Mayor White, overlooking the Hudson River from the Palisades—and Mayor Jenkins of Fort Lee conducted the ceremony. We exchanged rings, Joan's a narrow diamond and platinum, mine a plain platinum circle. Mr. Schenck and his associate, Mr. Friedman, were the witnesses. After they ceremony they toasted us in champagne and we rushed right back to New York to get Joan to a rehearsal of a radio broadcast. We each wore a red carnation. We had visited the place the preceding Wednesday night to sign the application for a license. The moon was shining over the Hudson and outlined the slender sweet of the George Washington Bridge in the background. It really was a heavenly spot.

Asher writes how elated Joan was as they drove to their house (newly decorated by William Haines) and how once situated there, Franchot and Joan would dance around the dining table to the radio.

According to Asher, when the newly married couple entered their home for the first time, the butler asked Franchot where he should put Mrs. Tone's trunks.

For a minute Franchot looked startled. 'Oh-h-h-oh, the trunks,' he repeated hesitatingly, as the full significance of just who Mrs. Tone was swept over him. Then swallowing hard and looking a trifle embarrassed, Franchot replied,'Put my wife's trunks in her room, please.' Turning to me he winked, as he continued, 'I haven't the courage to call her Mrs. Tone yet. Guess I'll try that tomorrow.'

Describing his bride, Franchot said:

I had never hoped to find so much beauty in one person. Besides her physical beauty Joan possesses a beautiful mind and a spiritual quality that is going to carry her to supreme heights. Joan has a talent that hasn't as yet been touched. When I came to Hollywood, I merely wanted to make money. I had no intention of remaining, and little dreamed that such happiness could be in store for me. In Joan I found everything I had ever hoped to find—all in one woman. 

Joan said:

Franchot never ceases to amaze me. He is the most honest person I have ever met and I do admire honesty. He has a wonderful perspective on everything. We are so good for each other because, when I get upset, I think emotionally. Franchot has a reserve that is a godsend. It saves him so much and allows him to handle a situation so much better. His ideas are good and he has such a nice way of carrying them out. He is a highly interesting conversationalist. Besides loving him as a husband, I have great admiration for him as a man.

Sources:

• Asher, Jerry. "Has Marriage Helped Joan Crawford? Film Pictorial. June 6, 1936.
• "Jerry Asher." The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia. www.joancrawfordbest.com

Franchot & Joan: A Lifetime of Love

Fresh from the New York stage and with only one film (The Wiser Sex with Claudette Colbert) under his belt, Franchot Tone was assigned the role of Ronnie in the 1933 war drama Today We Live. The leading lady of the picture would be Joan Crawford, flapper-turned-dramatic actress, who was well-respected and a public darling after her most recent successes in Grand Hotel and Possessed. Vying for Miss Crawford's attention in the film were the handsome and talented Gary Cooper and Robert Young. A Hollywood unknown, Franchot was cast as her brother. With a marriage to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. on the rocks and divorce looming, Joan and Franchot acted on their mutual attraction for one another.

Magazines were abuzz with "Are they or aren't they?" columns before the end of 1933, but neither Joan or Franchot would give journalists the satisfaction of a confirmation. (Amusingly, in one personal telephone interview in which Joan refused to address a relationship, she put Franchot who happened to be at her house on the line so he could talk to the reporter, too!) By 1934, moviegoers had already seen two more romantic dramas starring both Joan and Franchot. In 1933's Dancing Lady, a tails-and-tie Franchot competes with Clark Gable (Joan's real life on-and-off lover) for Joan's affection. And although Clark always wins Joan (the three were combined again for 1936's Love on the Run), Franchot certainly gives him a run for his money in the steamy swimming scenes. They may have been concealing their relationship off-set, but there was no hiding the electricity between Franchot and Joan in their Dancing Lady scenes. The swimming scene is, to me, one of the sexiest love scenes in classic film. The 1934 romantic drama Sadie McKee teamed them up again. Joan's character Sadie has grown up in the servants' quarters of Michael Alderson's wealthy home. Sadie and Michael (Franchot) have had a flirty attraction since they were kids, but a thoughtless, snobby comment from him turns Sadie off and Michael must find a way to repair their relationship. They respected each other's acting ability and reflected on the ways in which they influenced one another in an interview with Ben Maddox for Screenland in December 1933.

Joan said of Franchot's acting technique:

"From all appearances, Franchot is the most indifferent person in the world. Then you begin your scene with him and are astounded to find you are working with the keenest of actors. Technically, he is perfect. He knows how to express every kind of feeling instantly! I have no technique at all myself. I'm all emotions and when I cry, for instance, I keep on until I'm cried out. I'd give anything to be as skilled in acting as he is...I have learned peace of mind from Franchot. He has taught me to have faith in my own judgment." 

Franchot was grateful to the film-experienced Joan for providing him with the following tips:

"On the stage it was a negligible factor, I felt that posing for portraits and autographing books for fans was a form of exhibitionism. At premieres I used to blush violently when noticed...Joan showed me how wrong I was. She convinced me that a picture player is not making a fool of himself when he acknowledges the public's curiosity. She believes one should be very grateful to the fans for their approval. I agree now that I've reasoned it out...My gestures were quicker than they should be for the screen and Joan slowed me down...Joan is fair to everyone. She wants each person to do his best."

1935 was an important year for the couple. Franchot had now gained his own following in pictures with Jean Harlow and Loretta Young and starred in 3 Oscar-nominated films in '35 alone: Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable, Lives of a Bengal Lancer with Gary Cooper, and Dangerous with Bette Davis. 11 years before Joan would earn her first nomination for Mildred Pierce, Franchot was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Byam in Mutiny. (I actually didn't realize that he beat Joan to a nomination until I was writing this post. I can't believe Joan was not nominated multiple times in the 30's. She absolutely deserved to be.)

Now public with their romance, the couple opted for a private marriage ceremony on the morning of October 11, 1935. According to the New York Times, Mayor Herbert Jenkins performed the ceremony with just a handful of witnesses present. Joan wore a dark blue ensemble and Franchot a gray-striped suit. The ring Franchot placed on Joan's finger was in white gold band set with emeralds and diamonds.

In her autobiography, Joan gave a loving description of her husband:

"Franchot Tone had a quiet way of looking at me across a set, a capacity for giving more than a scene required... He was a tonic to me, this remarkable young man with his individuality of thought and imagination, who understood and was very patient with me, whose two hands were always filled with beauty. Franchot was of a different fiber from anyone in Hollywood."

Although he got the girl in real life,  Franchot was relegated to second leads in their next three film collaborations, which saw Joan preferring Robert Montgomery (in 35's No More Ladies), Robert Taylor and then Melvyn Douglas (in 36's The Gorgeous Hussy), and Clark Gable (in 36's Love on the Run) over Franchot. In 1937's The Bride Wore Red (my personal favorite of their films), Franchot's sweet and caring mailman loves Anni despite her focus on the wealthy character Robert Young portrays. Franchot is finally given a substantial part opposite Joan and wins his girl in the end.

MGM always cast Franchot and Joan in love triangle plots. I wish the Tones had been given a romantic drama to star in together, instead of Franchot always being sort of an afterthought character in a Crawford picture. Franchot shines in his film romances with Miriam Hopkins (The Stranger's Return), Loretta Young (The Unguarded Hour), Katharine Hepburn (Quality Street), Franciska Gaal (The Girl Downstairs), and Deanna Durbin (His Butler's Sister). It's a shame that he was not given more of a lead role in the films he and Joan made together. There's so much magnetism in their scenes together. Can you imagine if they had been given a full romance film starring just the two of them? The screen would've positively sizzled!

At home, Franchot and Joan enjoyed their tennis court, pool, dogs, and nights on the town with friends, often Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck. In photographs of the couple taken during their marriage, they always look so happy in each other's company. I've noticed, too, how adoringly Franchot gazes at his bride in many of the pictures.

In my research of Franchot, I tend to come across two alternate assumptions that have been published online and in books. The first assumption people make is that Joan dominated Franchot. Told him what films to make, what to wear, who he was allowed to see, etc. The opposite assumption made is that Franchot dominated Joan. Pushed her into opera lessons and literature study, and asked her to leave Hollywood for theatre. I don't think either party dominated the other. In 1937, Franchot addressed the rumor of his grooming Joan for the stage in Screenland:

"...that myth about the little theatre we have in our garden should be exploded. It is not for Joan to learn stage acting in, and never was so intended! I've read that it was built so I could teach her the technique of the footlights. That's a sample of the incredible situations I've been in since I've been here. Joan doesn't require any special coaching from me or anyone else to be able to act on the stage. She is an actress."

As in most relationships, I feel that Joan and Franchot simply tried to introduce each other to their own interests and supported each other in new endeavors. Joan taught Franchot what she knew and Franchot did the same for Joan. I believe, and they both said, that they always had a mutual respect for one another. On top of the obvious physical attraction, it is clear that they were intrigued by one another's personalities.

In the beginning of their relationship, Joan and Franchot were drawn to each other because of their different backgrounds and approaches to their careers. Eventually, these different personalities caused them to grow apart. Here's what I think. Joan endured a tumultuous childhood and worked tirelessly to become the star Joan Crawford. She never wanted to be poor again. She never wanted to not be Joan Crawford. She had come too far to risk losing it.  She enjoyed being a star and the responsibilities that came with it. Franchot and his friend Burgess Meredith, at separate times, mentioned that Joan needed a lot of approval. She was very sensitive to people's response to her and wanted to please the public. She filled her days with film preparation, exercise, dance lessons, and the like so that she could maintain her talent and physique. Her film career was important to her and she made it a top priority. Franchot came from a well-to-do background, a stable family life, and educational and social opportunity. But he was no loaf, either. He worked relentlessly in plays from the time he graduated college until his death in 1968 (excepting the years in the 30's when he focused solely on his film career). In one year alone, he made 7 feature films. Franchot's craft was important to him and he was always interested in expanding his technique and exploring new characters. But, and here's the difference, Franchot did not need to be the star Franchot Tone. Although I'm sure he enjoyed being liked, Franchot didn't seem to care if anyone approved of what he was doing or not. He didn't feel the pressure that Joan must have felt in Hollywood. Yes, he wanted good roles and was frustrated when he didn't get them. Yes, it must have been hard being referred to as Mr. Joan Crawford and having gossips ridiculously claim that you are only in pictures because of your marriage to her. But, I don't think that they broke up because he was spiteful of her success, but rather, because he didn't always understand her consuming need to maintain it.

When Franchot and Joan parted in the summer of 1938, they released a statement that they were separating on the friendliest of terms. When Joan filed the divorce suit in February 1939, the New York Times reported that although Franchot knew how many hours Joan dedicated to her film career at the studio and at home, he still insisted that she "go out with him socially", "continually objected to her activities....and made unreasonable demands upon her time." This gap between them caused Franchot to be "sullen and angry" and he often went days without talking to Joan. In the end, there were whispers of infidelities on both sides and even physical fights.

They were seen out dining and dancing following their divorce, and eventually went on to wed others (Joan two more times, Franchot three) and have children. Following Joan's divorce from Phillip Terry and Franchot's from Jean Wallace and Barbara Payton, Franchot and Joan were seen in each other's company. In 1950, Joan shared with Modern Screen:

"I still worship Franchot—worship, you understand, not love—for his ability to talk very intelligently about our profession. I've never been able to do that. I can only feel my roles...Franchot would never deliberately use his ability to harm another player."

In the 1950's

In 1954, Joan told May Mann of Screenland:

"Franchot Tone knew I was coming to New York (we always correspond) and he was completely wonderful. He sent flowers and had tickets for me for his play and several other shows. And we talked, and danced, and laughed, and recalled the time when we both studied singing. We were serious about it; we studied opera. Now with the bitterness all gone, I thought to myself, 'If I'd only been more mature, and had had a sense of humor when we were married!' However, one cannot go back—not even wishful thinking could make it so."

Throughout the 1950's and 60's, Franchot was seen at parties in Joan's honor and Joan was spotted at the opening nights of Franchot's plays. When asked about his relationship with Joan in 1964, Franchot remarked:

"[We] have dinner every once in a while and Joan is always stunning. She's very busy with her executive work for Pepsi-Cola and with pictures. She's good at anything she does."

In her autobiography, Joan reflected on their continued friendship after their divorce:

"I have the utmost trust in Franchot and regard for him. It took courage for us both to walk away, courage I didn't know I had. Somewhere I had once read, 'Let your courage be as keen but at the same time as polished as your sword.' We walked away. We retained a mutual respect." 

Their companionship continued while Joan gained new success with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Franchot with plays such as Strange Interlude and becoming a series regular on Ben Casey. In early July 1965, Franchot and Joan visited together at his home in Canada. They were photographed at the airport in Quebec and you can view that candid shot at The Concluding Chapter of Crawford website. They remained close until Franchot's death on September 18, 1968.

In August 1967, a little over a year before his death of cancer, Joan received this letter from Franchot in which he apologizes for something unknown (to us) that he did and writes the exceptionally romantic line, "I pray never again to let you for a moment think I do not love and glorify and thank you for all your kindness and thoughtfulnesses (is that a word???)". Here's the letter which is available on The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia:

Source: http://www.joancrawfordbest.com/celebletters.htm#Tone67

I'm always stunned when I read comments that suggest Franchot used Joan to gain movie roles or Joan browbeat Franchot into being a submissive husband. It's obvious to me in the words and photographs of them which span over thirty years that Franchot and Joan simply enjoyed each other's company and that their relationship was one of understanding and devotion.

This post is a part of Phyllis Loves Classic Movies' Star-Studded Hollywood Couple Blogathon. To read about other famous couples, please visit the roster on the Phyllis Loves Classic Movies blog.

Sources:

• The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia. http://www.theconcludingchapterofcrawford.com/1965.html
• Clark, Frances. "Joan Crawford's Other Life." Modern Screen. 1950.
• The Concluding Chapter of Crawford: http://www.theconcludingchapterofcrawford.com/1965.html
• Crawford, Joan and Jane Kessner Ardmore. "Courage to Part From Love." The Miami News. August 17, 1962. Page 5A.
• Crawford, Joan, and Jane Kesner. Ardmore. A Portrait of Joan: The Autobiography of Joan Crawford. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. Print.
• "If You Were Joan." Movie Classic. 1935.
• "Joan Crawford Asks for Divorce." New York Times. February 11, 1939. p. 18
• "Joan Crawford Married to Tone: Wedding of Film Stars Friday by Mayor." New York Times. October 14, 1935. p. 19.
• Kerr, Martha. "What's Wrong with the Man?" Modern Screen. 1935.
• "Leaves Joan Crawford: Tone Agrees to 'Friendly' Separation in Hollywood." New York Times. July 20, 1938. p. 22.
• Maddox, Ben. " Joan Unmasks Hollywood for Franchot Tone." Screenland. December 1933. p. 28, 70-72.
• Maddox, Ben. "The Truth about Tone." Screenland. April 1937. p. 77
• Mann, May. "I Live an Exciting Life." Screenland. August 1954. p. 42.Morehouse, Ward. "No More Toney Roles for Franchot Tone." The Toledo Blade. May 31, 1964. Page 2.
• Stars and Letters: Letters from Hollywood's Golden Age: http://starsandletters.blogspot.com/2014/09/joan-forgive-me.html
• Walker, Danton. "Hollywood on Broadway." Screenland. June 1954. p. 44
• Wilson, Earl."Joan Crawford Would Try Anew with Franchot Tone." Milwaukee Sentinel. March 18, 1954. Page 21.