MovieChat Forums > King of the Underworld (1939) Discussion > Warners thimb nose goodbye at Kay Franci...

Warners thimb nose goodbye at Kay Francis

posted 11 years ago by deforest-1
3 replies | jump to latest

Apparently once the Warner studio decided to dump Kay Francis -- who had been their top female star up to the mid Thirties -- they jettisoned her career with a couple of *beep* epitaphs like this one. For a film made in 1938, three years before he actually earned his stardom, they put Bogart's name solely above the title for this B-movie and left Kay in tiny letters down below. Was she the umpteenth female star to rebuff a male producer and have her career destroyed in revenge? Can't ever recall a reason or even an excuse given for why she was treated so shabbily...

[–] a666333 10 years ago

She had a contract for big dollars. When her movies did not bring in as much as they wanted/expected, they wanted out of the deal but she understandably did not. This led to obvious friction and the studio decided to invest as little as possible into her pictures (which they were still obligated to produce). At the same time, they did other things to take her down a notch and hopefully urge her out.

[–] bear022013-909-645034 9 years ago

They have the power,unfortunately,but WB makes money on EVERY FILM,Check tax laws
They ruined Clint Walker and others too.
Compare great innocent films of this time to the filth that is out in what was once America...............

[–] fbm72751 9 years ago

Like Louis B Mayer and to a lesser extent, Darryl Zanuck, Jack Warner was one of the worst tyrants in the film colony. Even at old age in the 1970s, he had never changed. The only one he admired was his late brother Sam. He hated the other siblings. But no one can argue that they delivered so many good films during that time and the public was for the most part quite happy.

Your observation is 100% accurate to the nail.