Top Twelve Tux Moments

Happy New Year's Eve! In honor of the new year, I'm counting down Franchot's Top Twelve Tux Moments in his film and television appearances.

12. Placing a high stakes bet in Twilight Zone: The Silence, 1961.

11. Supporting the relationship between a frail Margaret Sullavan and friend Robert Taylor in Three Comrades, 1938.

10. Mysteriously lingering in a doorway in Phantom Lady, 1944.

9. Giving Jean Harlow quite a performance in Bombshell, 1933.

8. Dodging a lion in his hotel room in Fast and Furious, 1939.

7. Longingly looking at Joan Crawford in Sadie McKee, 1934.

6. Walking toward a singing Deanna Durbin in His Butler's Sister, 1943.

5. Facing Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery in No More Ladies, 1935.

4. Defending himself under scrutiny in The Unguarded Hour, 1936.

3. Falling in love with Constance Bennett all over again in Moulin Rouge, 1934.

2. Entertaining Joan Crawford in Dancing Lady, 1933.

1. Gazing at Loretta Young in Midnight Mary, 1933.

Franchot wears many a tux in many a film, so it was a bit of a challenge to pick my top 12. Wishing you a safe and happy New Year's Eve and all the best in 2016!

Happy Holidays!

Source: www.listal.com

Wishing you all a happy holiday! I've already received a few early FT gifts from my a-m-a-z-i-n-g husband and can't wait to share them with you soon. Over the last few weeks, I've been creating a tribute video that I hope to have finished and posted in January. Also, in early January, I'm excited to be participating in the Loretta Young Birthday Blogathon hosted by Cinema Dilettante, Now Voyaging, and the Young Sisters Appreciation Group.

September 27, 1951

Embed from Getty Images

Green Grow the Lilacs (1931)

Green Grow the Lilacs was a play produced by the Guild Theatre that ran for 64 performances from January 26, 1931 through March 21, 1931. According to The Playbill Vault, the Guild Theatre first opened in 1925 at 245 West 52nd Street. It was renamed the Virginia Theatre in 1981 and the August Wilson Theatre in 2005.

The Pulitzer Prize-nominated play was written by Lynn Riggs, directed by Herbert Biberman, and featured a 26-year-old Franchot Tone in the role of Curly McClain. Green Grow the Lilacs was later the basis for Rodgers and Hammerstein's famous 1943 play, Oklahoma! According to Edward R. Halline's "Plays & Players" column in the November 11, 1951 edition of The Milwaukee Sentinel, the original 1931 play featured songs as well. The songs performed included "Hello, Girls, I Wish I Was Single Again", "Home on the Range", "Blood on the Saddle", "The Old Chisholm Trail", and "The Next Big River". You can browse the written play online at Google Books (some pages are omitted).

The New York Public Library's Billy Rose Theatre Division houses many photographs of the 1931 production. You can view the collection online in the NYPL's Digital Collections. I've included a handful of the photos here.

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone as Curly McClain (with the guitar) & Helen Westley as Aunt Eller Murphy." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3cd2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Scene from the Green Grow the Lilacs starring Franchot Tone as Curly McClain & Helen Westley as Aunt Eller Murphy." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3cd6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone as Curly McClain & Richard Hale as Jeeter Fry." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3ce1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone (Curley McClain) & June Walker (Laurey)." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3cfd-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone (Curley McClain) and Claire Woodbury (Aunt Eller)." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3d0d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone as Curley McClain." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3d00-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

In researching this play, I discovered many 1950-1970s newspaper columnists who, when looking back at this play, found it strange that the "debonair Franchot Tone" was a cast member. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone, especially theatre columnists, because Franchot was active in the theatre for several years before he found Hollywood stardom. Throughout his life, Franchot maintained an active theatrical career, from his time at Cornell University up until the year of his death.

A Franchot Tone Holiday Gift Guide

Have a Franchot Tone fan in your life or want to treat yourself to a new Franchot DVD this holiday season? Here are my picks for the movies that should be wrapped under your tree!

 

• Wish you had been able to see Franchot in a live play? Buy the 1957 film Uncle Vanya. The film is staged like the play in which Franchot performed multiple times and was dear to his heart.

• Enjoy a little music with your comedy? Try Because of Him, a 1946 musical comedy teaming Franchot with the delightful Deanna Durbin and Tone's chum Charles Laughton.

• Eager to see Franchot in a darker role? Look for Phantom Lady, a 1944 film noir with Franchot in a deliciously devious part.

• Want to see footage that captures some of that Crawford-Tone magic? You must watch The Bride Wore Red, a 1937 romantic comedy starring Franchot as a sweet postman and Joan as his complicated dreamgirl.

• Looking for more of a period piece? Look no further than Quality Street which was written by J.M. Barrie and costars Franchot with a young Katharine Hepburn.

• Intrigued by political drama and scandal? Advise & Consent is the way to go! This 1962 film directed by Otto Preminger stars an older Franchot as the U.S. President.

• Hoping for a mixture of war, romantic, and gangster drama in one film? You'll love 1937's They Gave Him a Gun starring Franchot, Spencer Tracy, and Gladys George.

• Ready to laugh out loud at a fast-paced, quick-quipped comedy? Fast and Furious, a 1939 comedy pairing Franchot with Ann Sothern is charming. Bonus: The DVD comes with two other films in the Joel and Garda Sloane series. (The other films in the series do not feature Franchot, however.)

• Avid for adventure? See Franchot as a lieutenant in India during the British Raj in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, a 1935 film featuring Gary Cooper and Richard Cromwell.

• Collect Oscar Best Picture Winners on DVD? Make sure you have the 1935 Oscar winner Mutiny on the Bounty! Franchot was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in this sea adventure.

Already own every single Franchot DVD available? Think about using eBay or another auction/used goods site to add some original photos, lobby cards, playbills, or movie posters to your collection!

Lost Honeymoon (1947)

Lost Honeymoon is a 1947 romantic comedy starring Franchot Tone, Ann Richards, and Tom Conway that has fallen into the public domain. Following World War II, Johnny Grey (Franchot Tone) is confronted by his abandoned English wife Tillie Grey and their two little children. But Johnny doesn't remember ever being married thanks to a case of amnesia and Tillie is not exactly who she says she is. It's a light, cute movie that I recommend to those of you who enjoy Franchot's other light comedies (for example, His Butler's Sister and Nice Girl?).

Source: www.letterboxd.com

Source: www.wikipedia.org

Lobby card. Source: www.ebay.com

 

The film is available online, but my attempt at screen capturing was not successful due to the film quality. Instead, I'll just embed the film here, so you can watch it for yourself. If the film below doesn't work properly, just use this direct Youtube link: https://youtu.be/mVr-CfMuBSw


The interaction that occurs between a wandering Franchot and the police officer at around the 1 hour mark really cracks me up! I always rewind that scene to watch the "kidding pants" part.

This film is also available on DVD, but I'm not sure of the quality on that one.