Customer Reviews

Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to be Forgotten - Her Life on Film and Stage

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I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this book that author Scott O'Brien did on a magnificent lady that I was
fortunate enough to have played her daughter in two movies..." I FOUND STELLA PARISH" and "COMET OVER BROADWAY" . I was Warner Bros first child star under long term contract so therefore knew much about what happened "behind the scenes". I have often cringed at some of the books I have read about some of my co-stars or very close friends that other authors have written about but Mr. O'Briens books show what lengths he goes to substantiate his stories and facts without filling in with apochryphal tales. He did this when he wrote a biography on my dear friend Kay Francis and I salute his very high morals as an author. Lets have more books written by Scott O'Brien!! Most Sincerely Sybil Jason

by a superb biographer. I loved the first edition so much that I wanted to buy the second edition with the new material and Mr. O'Brien doesn't disappoint. This is a sympathetic look at a complicated woman and a talent actress. Yet while the biographer looks at his subject sympathetically he doesn't make Kay Francis a saint. He brings forth a flesh and blood well-rounded human being with faults and foibles like everybody else, but who was essentially kind-hearted and misused by the studio in the later part of her film career. In the end Kay triumphs! and so does this well-written and researched book.

Kay Francis was a beautiful and talented actress of 1930's Warner Bros. films. She had always piqued my interest, and after seeing her in several films, I wanted to know more about her. She had been as big a star in her day as Bette Davis and others of that era, but there had been precious little that I had been able to read of her until I stumbled upon this book at Amazon.com She was, as I've already mentioned, beautiful and talented, but she was also very intelligent, quite progressive for her day, and well loved by friends and co-workers who were often the recipients of her generous nature. Her shabby treatment by Jack L. Warner (who seemed to treat many others in a similar fashion) led to an early death of her film career, and given her basic nature, she was not one to fight back as did Bette Davis, whom I also admire greatly as a performer.

If you are a fan of older films, especially from the pre-code '30's, give this a try, and also try to rent some of her films from Netflix or whatever sources that you can procure them. Also, just look at those eyes! Expressive is not enough to describe them. What a shame that Ms. Francis is not a more recognized name in film history. She deserved better.

Biography is a difficult endeavor, especially when you're writing about someone as exceptionally private as Kay Francis was. Especially toward the end of her life, Miss Francis was distinctly uninterested in talking about her career, and there are very few people left who worked with her. Scott O'Brien, however, found people who knew Kay, and was also able to access her private diaries, which he uses to great effect. She wrote in shorthand, but what she wrote was not censored in any fashion.

What results from Mr. O'Brien finding these sources is a remarkable account of a passionate, interesting and eventful life. Though she was terribly careful with a penny, thus allowing herself to gather a vast fortune for a comfortable retirement, Kay was anonymously generous to a plethora of friends, fans and others in need. Her greatest legacy, in addition to the beautiful films we can see whenever we wish, is her bequest to The Seeing Eye, something she told friends she intended to do, but which came as a surprise to the institution that still benefits from her gift.

What is most surprising and illuminating from reading Kay's diary entries is the sheer passion with which she lived her life, and I mean this literally and figuratively. Kay had many, many lovers, and documented most of them in her shorthand notes (with ratings on their quality). She was also tireless in her quest to "live for today;" doing work very near the front lines during WWII and standing up to career misfortunes with class and guts. Scott O'Brien manages to capture all of this, giving us a very good idea of what made Miss Francis tick and why we should be interested in her life. He doesn't shy away from the more unpleasant events in her life, but he doesn't wallow in them. Thanks to this deft handling of all the facts, he creates a fair, even-handed, yet respectful document to an actress, and a woman, who should be celebrated and never "forgotten."

Despite Kay Francis' title quote - and the disingenuous efforts of the venal Warner brothers - this book does a thorough job of reminding us why this incandescent actress is indeed memorable. Francis' story is a fascinating one, done great justice by the author's extensive efforts and insight. Access to Francis' personal diaries gives further credence to this fine work, which puts this all but forgotten leading lady, the biggest box office star of her time, in perfect perspective to the dramatically changing times she was forced to deal with as both an actress and a human being. In particular, this beautifully done book offers excellent insight into the post-code dilemma of those Hollywood personalities not willing (or able) to conform to the studio moguls' blatantly homophobic dictates. As such, this book (along with its brilliant and liberated subject) is as relevant as it is contemporary.

Beauregard Houston-Montgomery

as I enjoy Kay Francis in several films. But it is little more than a love letter from a devoted fan and has too many exclamation points and completely unnecessary italics in nearly every sentence. It reads like a breathless recap of a woman the author too obviously adores and whenever a bit of a bad review on Kay is printed, it is the critic who is to be questioned. As much as I personally like watching Kay Francis, it is not unheard of to read reviews of her acting skills as being far from superior or even especially competent. She was known as a great clothes hanger who didn't hurt a film, for the most part, but in this book, you would think she must be Katherine Hepburn (whom I never cared for, but was admired for her acting...(

In any event, if you can bear the historonics, it does more or less fill in some details of her life, although even she did not seem to know how many times she married...though she apparently kept count of the men she slept with, until she lost rack...even this is seen as an admirable trait here...

Great book. Very detailed account of Kay Francis life in front of and behind the cameras. Very fact filled account of each film.

I found this book to be far more general and less detailed than I had hoped for, had very few photographs (when I imagine many more must be available), and it is priced too high. Wait for an older cheaper copy.

I am a big Kay Francis fan, so even though this book was a little dry, I enjoyed it. It gives every detail of her career. Some dishing and inside information about the old stars, but pretty tame - nothing new. Still, a good read for a Francis or pre-code fan.