I found Stella Parrish

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Movie
Original title I found Stella Parrish
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 85 minutes
Rod
Director Mervyn LeRoy
script Casey Robinson ,
John Monk Saunders
production Mervyn LeRoy for Warner Brothers
music Heinz Roemheld
camera Sid Hickox
cut William Clemens
occupation

I Found Stella Parrish is a 1935 American film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Kay Francis .

action

Stella Parrish is a celebrated actress who triumphed on the stages of London. However, she has a dark secret: in 1930 her name was Elsa Jeffords and her husband shot her stage partner in a fit of jealousy. Due to some complications in the script, the young wife was also sent to prison, where she gave birth to her daughter. Elsa celebrated success as Stella Parrish and became famous when one day her husband, who was believed to be lost, reappears and blackmailed her. To spare her daughter the scandal, Stella Parrish disappears from one day to the other with her daughter to America. The press turns it into a media event and reporter Keith Lockridge goes in search of the star. As the title suggests, one day he finds Stella Parrish and betrays her. Stella decides to spare her daughter the scandal and sends her to a convent, while she herself sinks deeper and deeper, only to appear in a cheap burlesque show at the end. Keith and Stella have fallen in love and together they both survive many entanglements. In the end, with the help of Stephan Norman, Stella makes a terrific comeback and is celebrated as the new Duse . She finds true happiness with Keith.

background

Kay Francis had joined Warner Brothers from Paramount in 1932 and in just a few years had become the studio's biggest female star. Her films were mostly routine flicks that presented Francis as a woman who got through all kinds of problems with tears in her eyes. The never-ending suffering in their films was covered with a high degree of glamor. Her success with a predominantly female audience was based on her ability to play even sentimental and implausible stories with self-confidence and integrity. In addition, she had a reputation for being one of the best-dressed women in America. In 1936 she was awarded the title "Best Dressed Woman in Movies", which she won against competition from Marlene Dietrich , Joan Crawford , Norma Shearer and Carole Lombard .

I Found Stella Parrish is a prime example of the kind of films that made Kay Francis a star at matinee shows, the theatrical screenings specially designed for housewives in the early afternoon to give female audiences the opportunity To go to the cinema quickly after school and any hairdresser appointments. The story, produced with considerable effort, causes little stir in questions of logic and credibility and concentrates entirely on keeping as many strokes of fate as possible ready for Stella Parrish. With that, Francis returned to the formula that made her a star after a few appearances in light comedies found little favor with fans. The film was one of the studio's top productions of the year, and out of gratitude, management renewed the actress' contract and increased her weekly fee to $ 5,250.

The film was the first film that Francis and Ian Hunter presented together. Both actors re-played the roles on Louella Parsons’s popular radio show Hollywood Hotel .

criticism

The New York Times summarized the fate of the heroine:

“If [the studio] actually overlooked any trick to bring out the last tear, then the failure is too marginal to mention. The story is not only indescribably sad, but also staged by Mervyn LeRoy at the pace of a funeral procession. "

Theatrical release

A production cost of $ 392,000 was the average the studio invested in a Kay Francis film of the period. At the box office, I Found Stella Parrish proved popular. In the United States, he grossed $ 461,000, plus overseas revenue of $ 374,000, resulting in a cumulative box office of $ 835,000. This was a good third more than what the actress' previous films grossed.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ If [the studio] has overlooked any of the familiar devices for wringing the last tear from the reluctant duct, the omission is not sufficiently marked to be mentioned. Not merely is the story too, too tragic, but Mervyn LeRoy has directed it in the cadence of a graveyard processional.