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Pilot # 5 is a 1943 propaganda war film directed by George Sidney and told in flashback form. The film stars Franchot Tone, Marsha Hunt, and Gene Kelly. The New York Times called it "tedious, overlong" yet praised its actors, saying that Franchot gives an "intelligent performance," Marsha is "sweet read more

Actor, director, and writer John Strasberg (son of Lee and Paula Strasberg) was Franchot's godson and wrote about Franchot in his 1996 book Accidentally on Purpose: I don't remember feeling any peace or harmony from the moment we moved back to New York in 1947 until I began spending summers in Can read more

Today's post has been written especially for In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood's Second Annual Barrymore Trilogy Blogathon. The Stranger's Return is a film that is overwhelmingly hard to track down, because MGM did not renew the rights to Phil Stong's original story. Back in 2014, Warner read more

Franchot had a distinctive voice which grew more resonant and authoritative with age. Fortunately, Franchot's voice was captured in many radio programs and used to great effect as narration on records. When I began collecting Franchot-related items, I knew that I wanted to obtain all of the old reco read more

Franchot on TV Sunday, August 7th 9:30 PM Eastern on TCM: Bombshell, 1933 comedy starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, and Franchot Tone.  Monday, August 8th 1:00 AM Eastern on TCM: Reckless, 1935 romance starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, and Franchot Tone 4:15 AM Eastern on TCM: Suzy, 1936 d read more

In celebration of Joan and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood's Joan Crawford Blogathon, I am excited to write about my favorite Crawford-Tone film, The Bride Wore Red. Directed by Dorothy Arzner, the screenplay (written by Tess Slesinger and Bradbury Foote) is based on Molnár's play The Brid read more

The Award, a Four Star Playhouse production, aired on CBS on June 30, 1955. Written by Leslie Stevens and directed by Roy Kellino, the episode stars Franchot Tone and innovative actress-director Ida Lupino. Unlike much of Franchot's work that I highlight here, finding a copy of The Award is ea read more

In 1936, Film Pictorial featured a loving photograph of Franchot and Joan on its cover and an article about the newlyweds inside. Source: my collection The article was written by Jerry Asher, an MGM publicity man and member of Franchot and Joan's inner circle of friends. Asher shared the conte read more

Franchot on TV: Sadie McKee will air on TCM on July 25th at 6:15 a.m. Eastern. On the Blog: In addition to my regular posts, I'll be writing about The Bride Wore Red for the Joan Crawford Blogathon hosted by In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood at the end of the month. Due to my read more

Source: Modern Screen, December 1940-February 1941. July 1, 2016 marks the 100th birthday of actress Olivia de Havilland. The Oscar-nominated actress moved to France in 1958 and still lives there today.  Possessing a gentle, flawless beauty and a willful attitude toward her car read more

The Girl Downstairs is a 1938 romantic comedy directed by Norman Taurog, who also directed Boys Town, Broadway Melody of 1940, Room for One More, and many Elvis movies. The film pairs Franchot with Franciska Gaal, a Budapest-born actress who starred in a handful of American films before returning to read more

Helen Ferguson as an actress in the 1920's (left) and a publicist at an event in the early 1960's (right). Helen Ferguson was an actress-turned-publicist who represented many of classic Hollywood's biggest stars—Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Henry Fonda, Jeanette MacDonald, and so on. In read more

I have a booklet titled Foods and Fashions of 1936 that the Fox Crane Theatre (Carthage, Missouri) sold for $1.00 in 1936. It includes a dedication to the recently deceased Will Rogers in the front. The rest of the booklet is all foods and fashions as the title suggests.  A photo of Franchot ac read more

TV Listings As far as I know, there are no Franchot movies being shown on television this month. That doesn't mean he won't pop up on something you're watching! Sometimes his later tv performances don't appear on the listing sites. The Blog I already posted my take on The King Steps Out (1936) for read more

Elizabeth who runs an amazing Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. blog nominated the Finding Franchot blog for the Liebster Award. Thanks so much for the nomination! If anyone who reads here is not familiar with A Prince of Hollywood, you must check it out. It's full of fascinating research on Fairbank read more

Recently, I watched the HBO documentary Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper. Although I think there are actually several things unsaid, Gloria's reflections on her life and conversations with son Anderson were fascinating. Gloria does not discuss Franchot at all in the docum read more

Franchot Tone and Grace Moore. Source: www.ha.com When I read that The Flapper Dame would be hosting a Royalty on Film blogathon, I knew that The King Steps Out would make a perfect post. The King Steps Out is a 1936 musical comedy directed by Josef von Sternberg, the man responsible for introducin read more

Well, here it is...the ONLY Franchot film I actually dislike. Out of the 63 FT movies I've watched, I love or really like all but this one.  Whenever anyone asks what my favorite Tone film is, I typically list about 20 titles before I realize I'm going too far. Sadly, Without Honor will ne read more

As part of Movies Silently's Classic Movie Ice Cream Social, I am happy to share my go-to movie when I need some instant cheer. The film is 1947's Honeymoon and the stars are none other than Franchot Tone and a grown-up Shirley Temple (does a more cheerful actress even exist?). Honeymoon has a read more

In February 1939, Franchot delivered a speech, in a series called "The Making of a Motion Picture," for the National Board of Review Conference. Others making speeches in the series included Screen Writer's Guild president Dudley Nichols, MGM costume designer Ladislaus Czettel,  Capitol Theatre read more