Kay Francis, forgotten megastar

 

Who today, apart from fans of late-silent and early-talkie Hollywood films, remembers Kay Francis?  Yet along with Garbo, she was one of the very biggest stars of Tinsel Town and the highest-paid actress of the time.  Now she’s become a cult figure online, as shown by the blog Operator 99.
 
Born Katharine Edwina Gibbs in Oklahoma City in 1905, she started out on Broadway before trying her luck in Hollywood at the end of the 1920s where, as a tall and charming brunette, she was an instant hit.  She made 21 films between 1929 and 1931, was snapped up by Warner Bros. in 1931 and notably starred in George Cukor’s Girls About Town with Joel McCrea.

See blog

See fan site

See IMDb entry

 

Kay Francis with William Powell in Movie Classic magazine (September 1932) and with Edward G. Robinson in Modern Screen magazine (November 1933)

© DR / Coll. Institut Lumière

Kay Francis and Ricardo Cortez in The Picture Show magazine (1933)

© DR / Coll. Institut Lumière

 

27/07/09

 

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