The Wiser Sex (1932)

Franchot Tone in his first film role in
The Wiser Sex, 1932. Source: scan from my collection.

In 1932 Franchot made his movie debut in the film The Wiser Sex, directed by Berthold Viertel and based on a play by Clyde Fitch. The movie stars Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Lilyan Tashman, William Boyd and Ross Alexander.

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.

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. 

Movie Classic, 1932.

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:

Silver Screen, 1932.

Mensajero Paramount, 1932.

Photoplay, 1932.

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/

The Gorgeous Hussy: Franchot & Politics

I'll conclude my Franchot & Politics series with a look at the 1936 film The Gorgeous Hussy. Directed by Clarence Brown and based on the 1934 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, The Gorgeous Hussy was a period piece designed for Joan Crawford in the part of Peggy Eaton. In addition to Crawford, the film starred Lionel Barrymore, Robert Taylor, Beulah Bondi, Melvyn Douglas, Franchot Tone, and James Stewart.

 

A warning should anyone be watching solely for Franchot's part: I would not consider this a "Franchot Tone film." He doesn't appear in the first 45 minutes and although his scenes are good, they are certainly not abundant. However, this is an ensemble drama, so no actor apart from Joan is really present for the majority of the film.

 

The Gorgeous Hussy is a fictional account of the life of Peggy O'Neill Eaton, the beautiful, flirtatious daughter of a hotel proprietor who faces criticism as a senator's wife and friend to President Andrew Jackson. In the film, Joan is flirtatious, but much more than that, comes across as extremely kindhearted and lovely (not nearly as bold and controversial as the real Peggy was reported to be.)

 

The film shows a young Peggy enjoying the advances of the politicians who frequently stay at her father's hotel. We find that unlike most women of the time, Peggy is privy to much political discussion and exposed to confidential  information. Peggy's childhood friend Rowdy (James Stewart) is smitten with her, but she sees him only as a friend. Peggy is head over heals for senator John Randolph (Melvyn Douglas), who although protective, rejects her declarations of love.

 

By the time Randolph discovers that he does indeed have romantic feelings for her, Peggy has married Bow Timberlake (Robert Taylor). Timberlake leaves for duty the morning after their marriage and soon dies in action.

 

In the midst of Eaton's romantic drama, we see that she is, innocently, the apple of senator Andrew Jackson's eye. She is beloved by Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) and his wife Rachel (Beulah Bondi). Jackson is well-liked, but his wife Rachel is regularly insulted in public because they view her as uneducated and unsocial. Peggy cares for Rachel as if she's her own mother and tries to shield her from public scorn, a scorn Peggy will feel herself after she takes care of Jackson following Rachel's deathbed request. Quickly becoming the newly elected president Jackson's confidante, Peggy is the focus of much gossip.

 

Franchot Tone is senator John Eaton, a man who proposes to Peggy after many years of admiring her from afar. Peggy is still deeply in love with Randolph, but they are unable to get past their political differences.  Not out of love, but to please president Jackson and improve her reputation, Peggy marries senator Eaton.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting a wounded John Randolph without her husband present, the cabinet (and, especially, their wives) are furious about her indecorous behavior and demand that president Jackson banish her. Instead, Jackson demands the resignation of all members, except Eaton (this would become known as the Petticoat affair.). In the film, Peggy realizes that her notoriety will overshadow Jackson's progress and requests that she and her husband be sent away.

The film strays from the true account of Peggy's life (you can read about the real woman here,) but the costumes and sets perfectly capture the historical time in which its set. I found The Gorgeous Hussy a bit tedious in places and apart from Beulah Bondi's performance (wow!), wouldn't call any of the performances in this movie the best of their careers. Good, yes, but not the best. It's an interesting film to check out just to see the likes of Barrymore, Crawford, Taylor, Tone, and Stewart working together.

 

In some ways, I agree with Frank S.Nugent's review in the New York Times:

We don't believe in Miss Crawford's Peggy, we have reservations about Lionel Barrymore's Andrew Jackson, we discount Sidney Toler's Daniel Webster, we pity Melvyn Douglas's Senator John Randolph of Virginia and we cannot even recall Frank Conroy's John Calhoun or Charles Trowbridge's Martin Van Buren.

What we have here, and you might as well make the best of it, is a thoroughly romanticized biography in which Miss Crawford is gorgeous, but never a hussy. An innkeeper's daughter she may be, but that is all the women of Washington can possibly hold against her. Sweet, demure, trusting and of rather doubtful inspiration to Old Hickory—even though Mr. Barrymore gallantly implies she is his chief prop in his efforts to preserve the Union against the States-righters—Miss Crawford's Peggy is a maligned Anne of Green Gables, a persecuted Polyanna, a dismayed Dolly Dimple.

The Gorgeous Hussy is definitely a heavily romanticized tale, but it's worth watching for its legendary ensemble cast and nod to a historic event in U.S. history. It is available on DVD.

 

I've taken great pleasure in writing a series of posts devoted to one subject over the past 6 weeks. If you've missed any previous posts in my Franchot & Politics series, you can access those below:

The Nixon Luncheon

Gabriel Over the White House (1933)

Franchot Targeted in the Blacklist
A Political Ancestry
Advise & Consent (1962)
 

From here until the new year, I'll be writing about a variety of Franchot-related subjects and am happy to be participating in blogathons devoted to Cary Grant and Agnes Moorehead in December.

 

Sources:
Nugent, Frank S. "Democratic Unconvention in 'The Gorgeous Hussy,' at the Capitol -- 'A Son Comes Home,' at the Rialto." September 5, 1936.

Melvyn Douglas on Joan Crawford

Image Source: Amazon.com

One of my favorite hobbies is collecting and reading the autobiographies of classic movie stars. Last week, I finished Melvyn Douglas' fantastic autobiography, See You at the Movies. Douglas focuses on his theater work and political activism over the details of his film career, and shares his personal reflections on his life with candor and humor. Douglas does, however, illuminate the reader with his experiences on some of his films and his relationships with a handful of his costars.  I have a habit of immediately checking the index of an autobiography for Franchot's name. Although Franchot is mentioned, it is only briefly and not enlightening information. However, Melvyn Douglas does go into detail about Joan Crawford across the four films they made together. The quotes below are Melvyn's view of Joan and should not be attributed to Franchot, but I thought I would include them here for you to read anyway.

“None of the so-called Hollywood glamour queens, besides Garbo and Swanson, have aroused as much interest and given rise to as much out-and-out mythology as Joan Crawford, which is perhaps what the lady intended. Miss Crawford and I did four films together between 1935 and 1942, and she too struck me as a most unusual person.”

On the set of The Gorgeous Hussy: "I went onto the set where Miss Crawford, whom I scarcely knew, made a grand entrance in costume through one of the doors. She greeted me in a gracious and distinctly southern manner, less as if I was a fellow player than a guest in her house. This atmosphere continued throughout the making of the picture…In addition to Miss Crawford, the film included a number of other well-known players, such as the man she had just married, former Group Theatre actor Franchot Tone… Joan’s delicate comportment during the making of the picture was a surprise because, before coming on the set I had heard stories about her being a hail-fellow-well-met sort of person whose language was not exactly sanitary."

On the set of The Shining Hour and A Woman's Face: "By the time I made my next picture with her in 1938, she had again become rough, bluff and hearty. However, during the 1941 filming of A Woman’s Face, yet another Crawford persona emerged. She had at that time just adopted a little girl who would be led on to the set at about three-thirty or four every afternoon by a real English nanny. The arrival of this child, dressed in a pinafore, patent leather shoes, peek-a-boo gloves, ribbons in her hair and bonnet, would stop production for about a half hour while everyone gathered in a circle and Joan made a great show of being a mother."

During and after World War II: “Sometime during the first year of the war I helped to arrange a luncheon…and Joan showed up in yet another role. She had by this time divorced Tone and remarried. She arrived in an enormous picture hat and a long flowing skirt looking like an eighteen-year-old blushing bride. With eyes downcast and virginal hand timidly outstretched, she was introduced to the guest of honor… Over a period of time, and after witnessing a number of these transformations, one came to the conclusion that Joan played as many parts off the stage as on. She became an effective spokeswoman for Pepsi-Cola after the death of her fourth husband, and it is an interesting question whether she developed into a top-level executive out of an innate talent for administration or her ability to absorb and live a role. During the period when I knew her, I am not sure that, for better or worse, she would have recognized the difference—or even that there was a difference.”

Source: Douglas, Melvyn, and Tom Arthur. See You at the Movies: The Autobiography of Melvyn Douglas. Lanham, Md.: U of America ; 1986. 89-91. Print.