{"id":20625,"date":"2023-08-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=20625"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:16:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:16:11","slug":"flawless-kay-francis-jewel-heist-comedies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/flawless-kay-francis-jewel-heist-comedies\/","title":{"rendered":"Flawless: Kay Francis\u2019 Jewel Heist Comedies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kay Francis is not the best remembered of the screen goddesses of the 1930s. She is overdue for a revival; she has an idiosyncratic aura that makes her stand out. <\/strong>Her waves of dark hair, distinctive brows like exaggerated commas, and sleepy, almond-shaped eyes make her a sophisticated beauty, both angelic and wry. <\/strong>A slight speech disorder (her r\u2019s sound more like w\u2019s) add to her unique appeal. She\u2019s a luxury commodity, always enhanced yet never upstaged by the fabulous styles of the day. If it\u2019s a Kay Francis joint, you\u2019re going to get your fill of satin, tulle and gold lam\u00e9. Her slinky gowns are always extravagantly adorned with sequins, beads and feathers, but the clothes never wear her. Her effortless chic builds up her characters, who are always independent and self-possessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with all the great stars, it\u2019s the coexistence of paradoxical qualities that make Francis indelible. She has a unique ability to simultaneously embody both sheer elegance and pure sex.\u00a0And like all great stars, she\u2019s a timeless reflection of her own time. Francis embodies the spirit of the Pre-Code Era: poised and witty, slyly suggestive and insinuating without ever slipping into vulgarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the highest-paid female star of the early \u201830s, Francis made an astonishing number and variety of films, including the Western When The Daltons Rode <\/em>and the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts.<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>She also played women trapped in melodramatic love triangles, but she was rarely a <\/strong>stereotypical sloe-eyed vamp or femme fatale<\/em>: her sense of humor always makes these characters more complex. It\u2019s a combination of wit, insouciance and warmth that really made Francis what she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis shines brightest in movies about jewel heists: William Dieterle\u2019s Jewel Robbery <\/em>and Ernst Lubitsch\u2019s Trouble in Paradise<\/em>, both from 1932, featuring Francis as wealthy women targeted by thieves, only for them to quickly realize that she is far more dazzling than anything hanging around her neck. <\/strong>Jewel theft movies are a very specific subset of the heist genre. Watching people lift great piles of cash is fun, but stealing jewelry involves an extra level of panache and aesthetic inclination. The savoir faire and elegance of the scheme should match the beauty of the jewels themselves. In luxurious settings, and among glamorous characters, different kinds of longings\u2014aesthetic, financial, and sexual\u2014are tangled into complex knots. These plots and themes suited Francis’ striking appeal and urbane patina, and allowed her to play independent characters who choose their own paths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jewel Robbery <\/em>is a delicious caper, totally irresistible in its gleeful Pre-Code immorality. Francis\u2019s Teri, a Viennese society woman, has been suppressing her boredom with her wealthy older husband with a lackluster affair and a much more earnest longing for diamonds. <\/strong>Her husband is haggling to buy her a great honking rock when they\u2019re held up by a group of jewel thieves, led by a mystery man known only as \u201cThe Robber.\u201d <\/strong>Francis charms as the unapologetically pampered Teri; she shades her pouting with enough of a winking edge to make it more funny than grating. <\/strong>Once the robbery is underway, Teri does nothing to disguise her absolute glee at the thrill of it all. Nor does conceal the thrill she gets from The Robber himself, played by the always-dapper <\/strong>William Powell. When Teri first gets a good look at him, her face goes incandescent and woozy. \u201cI think I\u2019m going to faint,\u201d she says, smiling, leaving little doubt as to the real reason why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powell and Francis were frequently cast opposite each other, and it\u2019s easy to see why. The dialogue between the pair is winking and sizzling. (At one point they make a toast to \u201cmerely man\u201d, \u201cmerely woman\u201d and \u201cwhatever joins them.\u201d) Because the dialogue is so bold, the delivery has to be deft. Francis and Powell find a frequency that\u2019s witty and polished while still emphasizing all the implications. What feels both strikingly modern, and also emblematic of the Pre-Code era, is the emphasis on female fantasy and a woman\u2019s right to choose freely in love. Teri makes it quite clear that her hesitance about running away with The Robber is mostly superficial, and that what she really wants is the fantasy of being abducted. While she wavers a bit about her final choice, The Robber leaves the decision in her hands till the very end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The question of a woman\u2019s choice in love takes a more bittersweet turn in Trouble in Paradise<\/em>. Francis\u2019 charisma reaches sublime heights in this jewel heist story that reveals hidden depths of the subgenre, and plays up the romantic comedy subplots that often accompany them. Lubitsch focuses on a love triangle, as <\/strong>famous thief Gaston Monescu plans to rob Francis\u2019 Madame Colet, a wealthy widow, by posing as her secretary. <\/strong>The plan goes awry as Gaston falls in love with Madame, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend and accomplice Lily.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before she meets Gaston, Madame\u2019s life is luxurious but dull. She\u2019s well aware of her own allure, and swans around in fur-trimmed wraps, looking like the cat that\u2019s got the cream. She half-heartedly entertains two fuddy-duddy suitors. \u201cDon\u2019t be so downhearted, Major,\u201d she tells one of them. \u201cYou\u2019re not the only one I don\u2019t love.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaston ignites the part of Madame that longs for sex and adventure. Their first meeting is subtler than Jewel Robbery<\/em>\u2019s daring Meet Cute, but its carnal subtext is still there, implied with great finesse. Francis and Herbert Marshall\u2019s Gaston seem magnetically drawn to each other, their faces moving together in many almost-kisses. <\/strong>But Gaston seduces Madame with an unusual, bossy servitude. <\/strong>He tells her everything that\u2019s wrong with her household affairs, and, with all the audacity of a master thief, charms Madame by telling her she\u2019s wearing the wrong shade of lipstick. <\/strong>Gaston caters to her every need and has a languid manner, with the implicit suggestion that he could fulfill other needs, if asked. <\/strong>Ultimately, she makes the first move, and she doesn\u2019t pussyfoot around it. \u201cYou\u2019re conceited,\u201d Gaston tells her in the almost-kiss that\u2019s about to become a real one. \u201cBut attractive,\u201d she counters, confident of and reveling in all her movie-star allure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the glorious fantasy world of Jewel Robbery<\/em>, Trouble in Paradise<\/em> ends with a dose of reality. Madame Colet must decide if she can trust a thief and live a life on the run, without her creature comforts. Here, Francis tempers her incandescent aura with wistful melancholy, something beautiful and sad in her glistening eyes. The rueful Madame\u2019s hidden feelings require Francis to plumb hidden depths. The way she meets the moment is a testament to Francis\u2019 gifts, which are a joy to rediscover.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten of Francis\u2019s films<\/em><\/a>, including <\/em>\u201cJewel Robbery\u201d<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>\u201cTrouble in Paradise,\u201d<\/em><\/a> are currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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