Very interesting to read Thanks!

Rosella



On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 06:01:19 -0000 "Jo" <texanjo@...> writes:
> link: http://www.joancrawfordbest.com/articlescreenland1233.htm
>
> Joan Unmasks Hollywood for Franchot Tone
>
> A beautiful star proves that Hollywood can be friendly!
> One of the most refreshing stories you have ever read!
>
> originally appeared in Screenland, December 1933
>
> Your guess is as good as Hollywood's as to the status of the Joan
> Crawford-Franchot Tone "romance." Their scenes together in "Dancing
>
> Lady" are intense and torrid. On the other hand, both deny
> emphatically any serious off-screen interest. After talking to them
>
> both, I can only report that I thought I saw "Maybe" in their eyes.
>
> But whether they fall in love depends on -- oh, a lot of things.
> Joan won't be legally free until next May. She wants to see her way
>
> clearly. Which, at that, is a typical Crawford trait. No girl has
> ever tried so hard to do what is right and been so misjudged as the
>
> earnest, radiant Joan.
>
> As for Franchot?
>
> That he admires Joan tremendously, that to him she symbolizes all
> that is splendid and fine is evident to their friends. Does he
> aspire to win her? A pretty strong mebbe to that!
>
> Meanwhile, Hollywood lies before him like a world set out expressly
>
> for him to conquer. Certainly Joan interest has helped him both
> professionally and personally. Three months ago SCREENLAND presented
>
> him to you as a brilliant but constrained newcomer. In bringing him
>
> up-to-date Joan's influence must be credited for much of his
> advance.
>
> "When I started West from New York I expected to land in the most
> fantastic of places," he confesses now. "I thought every actress of
>
> importance would conduct herself in the fashion of the movie queens
>
> in "Once in a Lifetime." I visualized studio contacts as a moral and
>
> mental hazard, to be approached with great caution!"
>
> Then, break of breaks, he met Joan Crawford!
>
> Though he had an impressive cultural and stage background, Franchot
>
> was untested material to Hollywood. Being seen with Joan immediately
>
> focussed attention upon him. If she liked him, there must be
> something swell about the lad.
>
>
> Ever since they played together in "Today We Live" you have been
> clamoring to see Joan and Franchot together again. Your wish will be
>
> gratified in "Dancing Lady," from which the scene above is an
> exciting sample of what you'll see on the screen!
> Had he come into her life at any other time his luck might not have
>
> been the same. She would have been too busy. But Joan, at the end of
>
> her heartbreaking struggle to preserve her marriage, was tired and a
>
> little too lonely and discouraged. Franchot, so talented and good-
> looking, happened along at the psychological moment.
>
> "What Joan has done," he confided to me, "is to explain Hollywood.
> When you understand a thing you can plan your course accordingly and
>
> avoid the unnecessary mistakes."
>
> To realize just how he has benefited from his association with her,
>
> think back a minute to his past and his attitude when he arrived at
>
> M-G-M.
>
> The son of a wealthy business man, Franchot had no youthful
> struggles. He was sent to a boys' private school and later to
> Cornell. At college he was preeminent in dramatics and scholarship,
>
> being president of the dramatic club and a Phi Bete.
>
> Yet being elected to Phi Beta Kappa for his heavy studying didn't
> dampen his zest for extracting the utmost from each passing day. He
>
> is high-spirited and perhaps that is why he was intrigued by the
> exhilarating life of the theatre. To his staid parents' astonishment
>
> he accepted a job as the juvenile in a Buffalo stock company as soon
>
> as he had graduated.
>
> "I made forty a week -- while it lasted!" he recounts. "I headed for
>
> Broadway and fame when that 'tryout' was over. Only -- fame kept at
>
> a respectful distance from me. For weeks I pounded the pavements! At
>
> last I persuaded a little theatre organization in Greenwich Village
>
> to allow me to illustrate how well I could enact the lead in the
> first production. I read the part with profound confidence. They
> rewarded me with a supporting role.
>
> "It was a hectic but stimulating existence from then on. Good plays
>
> and bad ones, strong parts and poor ones. Finally I got into
> Katharine Cornell's 'The Age of Innocence.' " This success launched
>
> him into a series of juvenile leads and the highbrow critics
> proclaimed him the white hope of the legitimate. That brought the
> Hollywood bid.
>
>
> Director Robert Leonard talks over the scene about to be "shot" with
>
> the star and her leading man. This story tells you how Joan has
> helped Franchot Tone to win screen success. The Crawford-Tone team
> will delight you in "Dancing Lady."
> Franchot was anxious to oblige when he reported to M-G-M. But he had
>
> no suspicion that movie-making was going to be complex. Everything
> had been comparatively smooth sailing. Despite the pavement pounding
>
> he was never broke. He soon found that there are all sorts of
> problems in Hollywood and that signing a contract is only half the
> battle.
>
> He determined to play a lone hand. Silence couldn't get him in to
> trouble. And so our first conception of him was that he was aloof.
>
> The advice of one who is at the top, of one who has learned the
> ropes by often bitter experiences, has been an invaluable aid.
> Ability can mean nothing in pictures if you don't know the tricks of
>
> the trade. Unless it is properly explained.
>
> "This is where Joan's counsel comes in," Franchot said to me. (We
> were introduced over the telephone, by the way! I'd called Joan and
>
> he happened to be at her house. So she did the honors by remote
> control. Later I took to visiting them on the sets.)
>
> "In every business there are people who must be pleased if one
> wishes to be looked up with favor. Powers behind the thrones, too.
> Joan intimated who was who in Hollywood." And, of course, she
> sponsored him socially.
>
> Probably the most noticeable change she affected on him was in his
> viewpoint towards publicity.
>
>
> Sensational chapeau! Joan Crawford sponsors the satin "sailor" -- to
>
> be worn with formal frocks, my dear! Of course this type of hat
> should only be worn by girls with poise and sophistication. Speaking
>
> of luscious lines, this hat has 'em!
> "On the stage it is a negligible factor. I felt that posing for
> portraits and autographing books for fans was a form of
> exhibitionism. At premieres I used to blush violently when noticed
> and I'd scribble my name in the fans' books so fast I scarcely knew
>
> what I was doing.
>
> "Joan showed me how wrong I was. She convinced me that a picture
> player is not making a fool of himself when he acknowledges the
> public's curiosity. She believes one should be very grateful to the
>
> fans for their approval. I agree now that I've reasoned it out.
>
> "I remember my first Mayfair Club party at the Biltmore. A news
> photographer snapped a group shot of Joan and Doug, Jr., the Irving
>
> Thalbergs and the Leslie Howards and myself. I carefully stood so
> that my head would be completely hidden by Leslie's!"
>
> The lessons in showmanship have modulated his reserve. He still
> lacks the spectacular quality which big stars have, but it can be
> developed since he is no longer inhibited by self-consciousness. He
> is endeavoring to discover just what kind of publicity is best.
>
> "When I see how writers have badgered Joan, particularly when she
> announced her separation from Doug, I shudder at the dangers one can
>
> encounter by being too kind to the press!"
>
> Franchot has moved in from the beach to Brentwood, a few blocks from
>
> Joan. The set decorator who fixed that delightful barn-house for
> Alice Brady in "When Ladies Meet" supervised the furnishing of the
> new Tone home. (With some suggestions from Joan!) The chief feature
>
> is a beautiful all-white bedroom, designed for his mother. Franchot
>
> anticipates a visit from her shortly, having forwarded pictures of
> the room to Niagara Falls.
>
> There are many details of the actual camera work which he has had to
>
> master, and on which Joan helped him.
>
> "My gestures were quicker than they should be for the screen and
> Joan slowed me down. Then the speed with which scenes are taken
> confused me. It is difficult to rise to a climax with no
> preliminaries, as we have on the stage.
>
> "I noted that whenever Joan loses the mood of a scene she stops and
>
> begins anew. Naturally, she'd be a mechanism if she did otherwise. I
>
> might expose my secret! On occasions when I realize I'm not getting
>
> the correct mood I pretend to forget a line. They have to stop. Only
>
> a star rates ceasing without some pretext!"
>
>
> Satin for formality, says Adrian. Joan Crawford wears this
> interesting gown with its highly original neck and sleeve
> arrangements in the new film. How do you like Joan's new coiffure in
>
> the portrait above? Those Victorian bangs give an entirely new
> expression, don't they?
> Joan's generosity towards her fellow actors was a revelation to him.
>
> He had been warned that every movie star was for self, and heaven
> rescue the rest of the cast.
>
> "Which is silly generalization," Franchot declares. "Joan is fair to
>
> everyone. She wants each person to do his best." She told him how to
>
> deal with these scene-stealers.
>
> "An actor may maneuver around so that you are 'backed up,' as they
> describe it. He emerges full-face to the camera and you have only a
>
> profile showing. Joan recommended that if such a situation arose I
> turn my back completely to the camera. Then the director would have
>
> to give me a close-up to see what the heck I was expressing on my
> face!
>
> "In a recent picture the leading lady tried to do me dirt exactly in
>
> this manner. I followed through quite successfully with Joan's
> advice!"
>
> On the stage the stars leave the wardrobe items to those who are
> paid to attend to the costuming. Franchot learned from watching Joan
>
> that a wise star wouldn't dream of overlooking his or her clothes.
>
> At first he was in a daze with the Hollywood custom of rushing one
> into a part without consulting the actor about it. Everyone knows
> before the player, in contrast to the legitimate where one may pick
>
> at leisure the suitable roles. That Joan has proffered opinions as
> to which are "building" parts is not to be doubted.
>
> And I'm going to quote Joan. Though she has been interviewed
> numberless times she is always vivid copy. That is because she is a
>
> thinker as well as a doer, because she is ever progressing, ever
> living.
>
> "From all appearances Franchot is the most indifferent person in the
>
> world," Joan began as we sat in her portable dressing room on
> the "Dancing Lady" set. She was adorable in a demure Swiss costume,
>
> topped by a flaxen wig. Patiently she braided the long yellow hair
> into two coy pigtails and tied on a bright blue bow as the finishing
>
> touch. The fancy effects were for a Broadway revue number in the
> picture.
>
> "Then you begin your scene with him and are astounded to find you
> are working with the keenest of actors. Technically, he is perfect.
>
> He knows how to express every kind of feeling -- instantly!
>
> "I have no technique at all for myself. I'm all emotion and when I
> cry, for instance, I keep on until I'm cried out. I'd give anything
>
> to be as skilled in acting as he is. But he learned his technique on
>
> the stage and you can't develop any in films.
>
> "Franchot has fascinated me with his accounts of the theatre. My
> greatest desire now is to act with the famous Group Theatre in New
> York, the organization with which he played. They take time to
> analyze every character, to study everything pertaining to drama."
>
> And speaking of analyzing reminded Joan that Franchot is the most
> logical man she has ever known.
>
> "He has taught me to curb relying upon my intuition. If someone
> hurts him he doesn't lose his temper. He sits in a corner quietly
> and reasons out why. When people have said sarcastic things to or
> about me I've cried. But he has shown me that they must have had a
> motive for being mean. And when you search for it you recognize
> their purpose and aren't hurt."
>
> I asked her what is his most foremost characteristic and she replied
>
> sincerity and honesty. It may be imagined that his wealth of
> academic and stage atmosphere strikes a hitherto untouched chord in
>
> Joan's heart. Doug Jr. thrilled her when she was impressed with
> superficial glory. Franchot stands for maturity, conservative
> achievement.
>
> "It's not true that I'm easily influenced," Joan added, denying the
>
> many articles which have painted her as swayed by her
> environment. "The friendship of people I trust and respect
> indirectly affects me -- for the better, I hope! But I have to like
>
> them a lot to value their prescriptions.
>
> "I have learned peace of mind from Franchot," Joan concluded as an
> assistant director called her to work. "He has taught me to have
> faith in my own judgement. And, oh yes -- he reads aloud to me! All
>
> the grandest plays -- and 'Alice in Wonderland.' I'd never read
> it!"
>
> "Maybe you are falling in love, Joan?"
>
> "Ah-ha!" she rallied back. "You want the lowdown, don't you? Well, I
>
> refer you to Carlyle who said something about love being the
> embroidery of the imagination upon the stuff of nature!"
>
> Joan may be ambitious, but she is the eternal woman at heart. She
> couldn't be so exciting if she led an ordinary life.
>
>
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