Franchot Tone & Joan Crawford's sophistication

Joan Crawford surprised everyone in "Today We Live" (1933) by not making a play for Gary Cooper – whose other conquests had been as diverse as [Lupe Vélez] and Marlene Dietrich – but for the fourth lead, the more sensitive Franchot Tone.

In "Dancing Lady" Joan looks fabulous in costume and braided blonde wig. Of the male leads, however, it was Franchot Tone’s irascible playboy who stole the show, resulting in his being offered the second lead in Joan’s next film, "Sadie McKee."

As for Gable, he was ordered to take time off and fix his rotting teeth. Throughout the shooting of "Dancing Lady" he had been in agony, constantly swigging whisky to numb the pain, and many of the cast had complained that, even from a suitable distance, his halitosis had made them retch. Gable hit the roof upon learning that Franchot would be partnering Joan in the film.

Joan’s next film was No More Ladies (1935), of note only because it was directed by George Cukor, with a screenplay by Donald Ogden Stuart. ‘The sophistication of No More Ladies is the desperate pretence of the small girl who smears her mouth with lipstick and puts on sister’s evening gown when the family is away,’ the New York Herald Tribune remarked.

It told the tale of society favourite Marcia (Joan) and her involvement with two men: Jim (Franchot Tone), who shares her ideal that a person should only have one partner in their lifetime; and Sherry (Robert Montgomery), who has had more women than hot dinners. Joan had wanted Clark Gable for the Robert Montgomery part in the film, but he was busy with Mutiny on the Bounty – as was Franchot, whose part in "No More Ladies" had been trimmed to allow him more time on the more important production. -"Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr" (2008) by David Bret

David O. Selznick, had just arrived at Metro from a tenure at RKO, and he was assigned to handle the production of Dancing Lady. Selznick had no great fondness for musicals, but he saw at once that the script lacked precisely what would make it a success for MGM and Crawford. Warner Bros. had just released the musical extravaganza 42nd Street, which was so lucrative that it very quickly saved that studio from bankruptcy. Selznick then clinched the deal with Joan by telling her that Clark Gable was available to be her leading man, and by agreeing to her request that the important supporting role be given to Franchot Tone, who was then being photographed as Joan’s escort around town.

Despite all the production setbacks, Dancing Lady shines with good humor, engaging songs, lively dancing and an astonishing polish, justifying Selznick’s belief that Metro could out-Warner Warner when it came to musicals. The picture provided a major boost to the careers of Crawford and Selznick.

Another of Joan’s contributions to the screenplay was the development of Franchot’s character, a snob forever tutoring Janie Barlow on proper grammar and the best way to dress. Those moments of corrective etiquette were lifted right out of the Crawford-Tone relationship. -"Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford" (2010) by Donald Spoto

The Gatineau Lakes area is one of Canada’s most beautiful lake regions. The area lies in the heart of the Gatineau Hills located north of Ottawa. Most major lakes are an hour’s drive via Hwy 5 North from Ottawa, Ontario or the neighbouring city of Gatineau,Quebec. The Gatineau Lakes are known for their freshness, solitude, natural setting and the surrounding hills. There is a huge history of hunting, fishing, tourist lodges and cottages. Aside from generations of Canadian families, Americans and Europeans also own exclusive properties here.

Famous Hollywood celebrities such as Joan Crawford or Zsa Zsa Gabor have also vacationed here. The family of Franchot Tone - one of Hollywood’s leading male actors in the 40’ & 50’s – still has a cottage property in the Gatineau. The four largest lakes are 31 Mile Lake, Lac Heney, Lac Pemichangan and Blue Sea Lake. They are located in the Upper Gatineau near Gracefield, Quebec – one hour north of Ottawa. Source: www.cottagecountry.com

Vaudeville had flourished in America from 1881 until its final demise when the Palace Theatre closed its doors in 1932. Vaudeville had been the training ground for all the aspiring young comics, the battlefield where they sharpened their wits against hostile, jeering audiences. However, the comics who won out went on to fame and fortune. Eddie Cantor and W. C. Fields, Jolson and Benny, Abbott and Costello, and Jessel and Burns and the Marx Brothers, and dozens more. Vaudeville was a haven, a steady paycheck, but with vaudeville dead, comics had to turn to other fields. The big names were booked for radio shows and personal appearances, and they also played the important nightclubs around the country. Toby Temple played them all, and they became his school. The names of the towns were different, but the places were all the same. Toby’s act consisted of parodies of popular songs, imitations of Gable and Grant and Bogart and Cagney, and material stolen from the big-name comics who could afford expensive writers. All the struggling comics stole their material, and they bragged about it. “I’m doing Milton Berle.” “You should see my Red Skelton.” Because material was the key, they stole only from the best. Toby had lunch with O’Hanlon and Rainger at the studio. The Twentieth Century-Fox commissary was an enormous room filled with wall-to-wall stars.

On any given day, Toby could see Tyrone Power and Loretta Young and Betty Grable and Don Ameche and Alice Faye and Richard Widmark and Victor Mature and the Ritz Brothers, and dozens of others. Some were seated at tables in the large room, and others ate in the smaller executive dining room which adjoined the main commissary. Toby loved watching them all. In a short time, he would be one of them, people would be asking for his autograph. Toby appeared so innocent and wistful, standing up there on that stage, that they loved him. The jokes he told were terrible, but somehow that did not matter. He was so vulnerable that they wanted to protect him, and they did it with their applause and their laughter. It was like a gift of love that flowed into Toby, filling him with an almost unbearable exhilaration.

He was Edward G. Robinson and Jimmy Cagney, and Cagney was saying, “You dirty rat! Who do you think you’re giving orders to?” And Robinson’s, “To you, you punk. I’m Little Caesar. I’m the boss. You’re nuthin’. Do you know what that means?” “Yeah, you dirty rat. You’re the boss of nuthin’.” A roar. The audience adored Toby. Bogart was there, snarling, “I’d spit in your eye, punk, if my lip wasn’t stuck over my teeth.” And the audience was enchanted. Toby gave them his Peter Lorre. “I saw this little girl in her room, playing with it, and I got excited. I don’t know what came over me. I couldn’t help myself. I crept into her room, and I pulled the rope tighter and tighter, and I broke her yo-yo.” A big laugh. He was rolling. He switched over to Laurel and Hardy, and a movement in the audience caught his eye and he glanced up. -"A Stranger in the Mirror" (1976) by Sidney Sheldon