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Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten
I Can't Wait To Be Forgotten pays tribute to Kay's compassionate nature, her concern for others, her great contributions on behalf of those serving in the armed forces during World War II, and the financial legacy she contributed to The Seeing Eye. Kay felt that being of some service to others was far more important than focusing totally on promoting herself and a film career. Readers will be surprised to learn about the "real" Kay Francis in retirement. Her godsons paint a portrait of a woman who lived in the moment, and generated a great deal of loving warmth. Many rare, unpublished photos from Kay's youth and retirement years are featured in her biography. Interviews from co-workers, friends and children of her "ex's" complete the picture of one of Hollywood's most glamorous and intriguing stars.
380 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
17 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Scott O'Brien
14 books4 followersScott lives in Sonoma County, California. A native of Ogden, Utah, he graduated from Stagg High School in Stockton, California. Scott received his BA from San Francisco State and his MA (Library Science) from San Jose State University. He has authored film biographies for BearManor Media that focus on Classic Hollywood. Currently, Scott is writing a biography on Ruth Chatterton.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 10, 2021
Kay Francis was one of the top actors in the 1930's and early 1940's. She was impossibly beautiful and a great actor. Her life and career is detailed in this book. She was a woman who knew who she was and didn't go to Hollywood to create a new persona. She always remained a down-to-earth person who showed kindness to everyone she worked with. She loved acting, she loved men, and she loved life. She was shoddily treated by Warner Brothers, where she had a contract. She was forced to honor a multi-year contract with Warner Brothers, even when they put her in films of very poor quality. Hollywood had lots of sparkle, but it could be a brutal place for an artist. She moved on without public rancor and had a happy later career on the stage. She kept her private life out of the news while she conducted it with wild abandon. She learned that she was not destined for marriage (after several failed ones). She didn't need that kind of relationship to define herself. She lived modestly and put away tremendous amounts of money, allowing her to live quite comfortably after she left Hollywood. I discovered Kay Francis in recent years, and was always mesmerized by her presence, her style, and her talent. History has left her behind in the history of film, but I hope this book revives interest in this truly remarkable woman.
August 29, 2020
Long overdue book about an A film star who was inexplicably humiliated by one of the studios she worked for in the 30s. The writing slows down in a few places, some important questions left unanswered, but overall a well researched and written account of her entire life. I'm glad I purchased the book and will be reading more by this author.
August 8, 2021
This is a very thorough biography of one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1930s. She almost got her wish of being forgotten though since none of her movies are considered essential and few received any Oscar nominations. Francis is so interesting, with a racy love life and some success bucking the oppressive studio system of the time. O'Brien also provides minibiographies of many of the people in her life. I read this for a blog post on Francis and found great material. TCM has helped to make her movies more prominent and will devote all of August 9, 2021 to showing her films. Francis is a woman worth remembering even if she preferred obscurity. This book is a great place to learn more about her.
July 29, 2009
A very enlightening book about 1930s actress Kay Francis. She was certainly a liberated woman! I would love to read the diaries author Scott O'Brien used in this book. WHOA!
Born in Oklahoma City in 1905, Kay started out on Broadway after her first divorce (married four times, no kids) before she made her debut in the movie "Gentlemen of the Press" playing a vamp. The reviews she received for this movie and the next one got her a contract with Paramount and a move to the West Coast. She made six movies with William Powell (four at Paramount, two at Warner) and also had an affair with him. By 1935, she was Queen of the Lot at Warner Brothers, and by the next year, she was the highest paid actress on the lot (5,250 a week). I'm sure you all remember the problems James Cagney and Bette Davis had with Jack Warner, eventually serving lengthy suspensions. I can only imagine how much those two wanted to stick it to Warner. Well, Kay did it for them! When she signed her new contract, it was with the understanding that she would star opposite Charles Boyer in a movie called "Tovarich", but Warner gave it to Claudette Colbert instead. (The movie was a flop anyway, so it's just as well Kay wasn't in it!) Kay was seriously ticked off and took Warner to court in order to break her contract. Suddenly, she dropped the lawsuit and went back to work at the studio. Unfortunately for her, she was relegated to B movies. But think about it, she was STILL under contract for another 18 months, so she was the HIGHEST paid B actress at that time! Talk about sticking it to the man!
When her contract was up, she went freelance, making another 14 movies after that. Only two of them were any good: 1939's "In Name Only" with Cary Grant and Carole Lombard, and 1941's "Charley's Aunt" with Jack Benny. Once the war started, she devoted herself to the war effort. With three other actresses (Martha Raye, Mitzi Mayfair and Carole Landis), Kay went overseas to do shows. But not ordinary shows, nope. The Four Jills (as they called themselves) did foxhole tours: they went into actual battlefields where the men were getting dirty and did shows for them. Right before one show in Algiers, there was an air raid, and the Four Jills were forced to dive into a bunker with the men. They never complained. They went to England and North Africa (Algiers and the Sahara). It takes a lot of courage to do what they did, and I admire all of them for that.
Kay was a penny pincher, but when it came to her friends, she was generous to a fault, always willing to help them out. After leaving a few things to friends in her will, the bulk of her estate, one million dollars, went to the Seeing Eye Institute, which trains dogs for the visually impaired. It is a legacy that is still going strong today, and as of 2005, was worth over five million dollars!
O'Brien did a wonderful job on this book. I'll be honest: I had never heard of her before I got read this. Now I hope I get the chance to see some of her movies! A definite must-read!
Born in Oklahoma City in 1905, Kay started out on Broadway after her first divorce (married four times, no kids) before she made her debut in the movie "Gentlemen of the Press" playing a vamp. The reviews she received for this movie and the next one got her a contract with Paramount and a move to the West Coast. She made six movies with William Powell (four at Paramount, two at Warner) and also had an affair with him. By 1935, she was Queen of the Lot at Warner Brothers, and by the next year, she was the highest paid actress on the lot (5,250 a week). I'm sure you all remember the problems James Cagney and Bette Davis had with Jack Warner, eventually serving lengthy suspensions. I can only imagine how much those two wanted to stick it to Warner. Well, Kay did it for them! When she signed her new contract, it was with the understanding that she would star opposite Charles Boyer in a movie called "Tovarich", but Warner gave it to Claudette Colbert instead. (The movie was a flop anyway, so it's just as well Kay wasn't in it!) Kay was seriously ticked off and took Warner to court in order to break her contract. Suddenly, she dropped the lawsuit and went back to work at the studio. Unfortunately for her, she was relegated to B movies. But think about it, she was STILL under contract for another 18 months, so she was the HIGHEST paid B actress at that time! Talk about sticking it to the man!
When her contract was up, she went freelance, making another 14 movies after that. Only two of them were any good: 1939's "In Name Only" with Cary Grant and Carole Lombard, and 1941's "Charley's Aunt" with Jack Benny. Once the war started, she devoted herself to the war effort. With three other actresses (Martha Raye, Mitzi Mayfair and Carole Landis), Kay went overseas to do shows. But not ordinary shows, nope. The Four Jills (as they called themselves) did foxhole tours: they went into actual battlefields where the men were getting dirty and did shows for them. Right before one show in Algiers, there was an air raid, and the Four Jills were forced to dive into a bunker with the men. They never complained. They went to England and North Africa (Algiers and the Sahara). It takes a lot of courage to do what they did, and I admire all of them for that.
Kay was a penny pincher, but when it came to her friends, she was generous to a fault, always willing to help them out. After leaving a few things to friends in her will, the bulk of her estate, one million dollars, went to the Seeing Eye Institute, which trains dogs for the visually impaired. It is a legacy that is still going strong today, and as of 2005, was worth over five million dollars!
O'Brien did a wonderful job on this book. I'll be honest: I had never heard of her before I got read this. Now I hope I get the chance to see some of her movies! A definite must-read!
March 6, 2022
Glamor! Intelligence! Compassion! These three words flow to my brain when I think of the 1930s film starlet of Kay Francis. EXCELLENCE. This word flows to my brain when I think of her biography, "Kay Francis, I Can't Wait To Be Forgetten: Her Life On Film and Stage" by Scott O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien completed a stunning project through interpreting Ms. Francis's shorthand-scribed social calendars of almost 30 years combined with interviews of her nearest and dearest. In Ms. Francis, the book depicts a hard worker, a passionate lover, a good friend, a patriot, and a dog lover. I might be the only girl in the land with a Kay Francis crush in the year of 2022, but such is true! From the moment that she dropped her towel for Ricardo Cortez in "Mandalay" (1934) to when she listened with an open heart to her adultering husband played by the great Ronald Colman in "Cynara" (1932) to when she produced a bastard child in "Give Me Your Heart" and sacrificed her motherly love for the child's secured future (1936) to when she reveled in the glory of a flirtation with the great William Powel in "Jewel Robbery" (1932)... well, I have been hooked, leading me to learn more and to buy this biography by Mr. O'Brien. Ms. Francis, a pre-code goddess, dressed in slinky revealing gowns and dramatic hats is one never to be forgotten despite her intention to be exactly that: forgotten. This book covers every film and stage production in which she starred. Because the author does such an incredible job, I feel it necessary to point out a few moments of error for his third printing, if one should exist in the future. 1.) The description of "Transgression" on page 75 is done incorrectly. The book quotes husband Cavanagh as "hysterical upon seeing Kay wearing makeup"... "once back in England." This is untrue. The husband is hyserical about the makeup on the night that he returns to Paris. This happens before Ms. Francis's character completes a rendezvous with Ricardo Cortez's character in Spain, before her eventual return to England. 2.) I disagree with the author's interpretation of "Street of Women" on page 93. He writes, "The connotation was simple. Mistresses, not wives, are the real impetus behind all the great achievements of men, in this instance skyscrapers." I interpret the real meaning of this film to state that behind every successful venture of a man is the heart of a woman. In this film, Kay was not "the mistress" but rather "the woman who loved her gentleman so passionately that she brought back his vigour for life and business." 3.) Page 261 - he inconsistently cites "Brazil, Trinidad, Sao Paulo and Santa Cruz" as places that Ms. Francis toured during the war. He should either state city or country or city/country... not a combination thereof. Again, this book is divine, and I recommend it to be read by every Kay Francis lover, classic film lover (1930s), or anyone interested in pre code history. BRAVO!
May 25, 2015
Kay Francis- I Can't Wait To Be Forgotten
I chose this rating because I am a big Kay Francis fan, and wanted to know as much about her as possible including information about her movies. This book includes that and more. Mr. O'Brien really did his homework before writing this book, and with the help of Ms. Francis and all of her personal diaries from 1929- the late 50's. There is so much insight to this fascinating woman. I started to become interested in her ;when I started watching her movies, however, as I started to read this book it discusses movies that I have never seen before, and I found myself searching for these long lost movies, (and found almost all of them!) I really liked this book however, as I have said before I am a big Kay Francis fan. If you're interested in learning about woman who lived her life on her own terms, and did not play the Hollywood game in the 30's then this is a good book for you. She was ahead of her time!
I chose this rating because I am a big Kay Francis fan, and wanted to know as much about her as possible including information about her movies. This book includes that and more. Mr. O'Brien really did his homework before writing this book, and with the help of Ms. Francis and all of her personal diaries from 1929- the late 50's. There is so much insight to this fascinating woman. I started to become interested in her ;when I started watching her movies, however, as I started to read this book it discusses movies that I have never seen before, and I found myself searching for these long lost movies, (and found almost all of them!) I really liked this book however, as I have said before I am a big Kay Francis fan. If you're interested in learning about woman who lived her life on her own terms, and did not play the Hollywood game in the 30's then this is a good book for you. She was ahead of her time!
May 15, 2009
Please see my detailed review at Amazon Graceann's "Kay Francis" Review"
Scott O'Brien is a biographer I love to read, and I don't just say that because he's a friend. He is truthful, and doesn't hide from unsavory details, but he doesn't wallow in them, either. He also doesn't print prurient fantasies and then have the nerve to call his work "biography." Scott is objective, fair and respectful (but not worshipful). It's a fine line to walk, and he walks it well.
Scott O'Brien is a biographer I love to read, and I don't just say that because he's a friend. He is truthful, and doesn't hide from unsavory details, but he doesn't wallow in them, either. He also doesn't print prurient fantasies and then have the nerve to call his work "biography." Scott is objective, fair and respectful (but not worshipful). It's a fine line to walk, and he walks it well.
April 23, 2008
Kay Francis was one of the most glamorous stars of the 30's. Largely forgotten today (as the title suggests, that's how she wanted it) except by fans of Turner Classic Movies, this entertaining and informative biography tells all the dirt on Francis, yet in a respectful and even affectionate way. O'Brien interviewed people who knew her and researched his subject well. I enjoyed seeking out and watching Kay's films as I read the book.
May 20, 2012
If you already know and love Kay Francis, you'll learn a lot. Author Scott O'Brien takes you behind the scenes into Francis' private life, reveals her very interesting and important contribution to WW II morale, and details her post-Hollywood career as a legit stage actress.
If you've never heard of Kay Francis, consider getting to know a very important movie star and fashion icon!
If you've never heard of Kay Francis, consider getting to know a very important movie star and fashion icon!
Currently reading
October 14, 2008I love old movies and I discivered Kay Francis while watching TCM. I had never heard of her, so I am reading her bio now. Fascinating!
November 30, 2008
Very well written and researched but I would have liked a bit more information and anecdotes about more of her movies and co-stars. Made me love her even more.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews