Stolen Holiday

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Movie
Original title Stolen Holiday
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1937
length 84 minutes
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Virginia Kellog ,
Warren Duff
production Warner Brothers
music Werner R. Heymann ,
Heinz Roemheld
camera Sid Hickox
cut Terry O. Morse
occupation

Stolen Holiday is a 1937 American film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Kay Francis . The plot has certain parallels to the financial scandal involving Serge Alexandre Stavisky , which rocked France in 1933.

action

Stefan Orloff is an impostor and financial juggler who has amassed a fortune with worthless bonds and has excellent connections to the highest circles in the French government. He is outwardly engaged in the business of ambitious fashion designer Nicole Picot to hide his true activities. While Nicole is having great success with her collection, Orloff continues to work on his speculations that end up threatening the stability of the entire French economy. At the height of his power, Orloff falls and dies. Nicole has since fallen in love with Anthony Wayne, who has long been her loyal friend and supporter. In the end, the two find happiness and get married.

background

Kay Francis had joined Warner Brothers from Paramount in 1932 and within a few years had become one of the highest paid actresses. In 1936 she made $ 227,000 and her income for 1937 was $ 209,000. Her success was based on her ability to play even sentimental and implausible stories with 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 . Her studio tried to profit from the title and used Kay Francis as a fashion designer to bring as many spectacular costumes as possible to the screen. Her character of Nicole Pricot was very loosely based on Coco Chanel and the affair that Nicole has with the British Anthony Wayne shows parallels to Chanel's own relationship with an English nobleman. The film initially had the working title Mistress of Fashion . Only later did the focus shift more in the direction of Oroloff's character and the choice fell on Stolen Holiday , a title that had served as a working title for a wide variety of projects for years. The costumes were designed by Orry-Kelly , Warners in-house designer. Ian Hunter was seen again as the man at Francis' side, replacing George Brent as a permanent partner. Francis and Hunter had previously worked together successfully on I Found Stella Parrish , Give Me Your Heart and The White Angel .

The character of Stefan Orloff was closely based on the impostor Serge Alexandre Stavisky . He was a French impostor and financial juggler of Russian descent whose trade in worthless bonds and his close connections with respected and influential public and political figures led to political unrest and a crisis of the democratic system in France in the early 1930s. To date, it is unclear whether he died by suicide while fleeing the Chamonix police or was killed by the police in order to eliminate a dangerous witness. His life was filmed in 1974 by Alain Resnais with Jean-Paul Belmondo in the title role.

Significant changes have been made to the script for Stolen Holiday . B. Suicide was not allowed to be shown due to the strict censorship regulations. The film's financial failure marked the beginning of the bitter arguments between Francis and the studio, which eventually culminated in a lawsuit at the end of the year.

criticism

The New York Times alluded to the key benefit the star would have to play a role in the fashion business:

"[And because she] plays a successful fashion designer, Kay Francis wears the most impressive costumes Hollywood designers can create in the Parisian style."

Theatrical release

Production costs averaged $ 524,000, which the studio was investing in a Kay Franics film at the time. At the box office, Stolen Holiday turned out to be less popular compared to the actress's previous films. In the United States, he grossed $ 502,000, with a further $ 272,000 from abroad. The end result was a total of $ 774,000.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ... and because as a successful modiste, Kay Francis parades in the most striking wardrobe that Hollywood's couturiers can conceive in the Paris manner.