Forgive me if there was already a topic covering this wonderful unsung actress. But I just saw her in "Blood Money" on the Fox Movie Channel...and wanted to share my thoughts. Please...chime in:
Well I'm watching "BLOOD MONEY" right now (and VHS-ing it as I write this). Look at Judith Anderson looking so young and spiffy with a mole on her chin and exposed skin. In profile, she kind of looks like Fanny Brice. Handsome. And there's the unsung Theresa Harris, playing Jessica, the maid, (as usual). George Bancroft is kind of a nice, sensitive wiseguy even though he plays fast & loose with the law as a bailbondsman. What a big man he was. Darkly handsome too. But he's about to get his brains beat out by Frances Dee.
And of course THAT is the main reason to watch this movie: for the beautiful, luminous FRANCES DEE. Why does she touch my heart so much. I can't explain this in a normal way. It's just all so subjective and emotional I can't explain it or understand it, even to myself. Her eyes...there's something about her eyes...in her eyes looking at someone that gets me. (Not like Gloria but still...) It was interesting to watch her watch the Hawaiian dancer during her dad's luau, and then join her in the dance. She says a pretty good line:
"I need a man who'd give me a good thrashing. I'd follow him around like a dog!"
Not very good feminist consciousness...but a swell line nonetheless. And besides, you wouldn't hit her. You'd follow her around.
"People you know are guilty of everything, but dullness," Dee says to Bancroft.
She's a good-time, wide-eyed society girl who likes the excitement on the "other" side of the tracks. Since this is pre-Code, I'm sure nymphomania can't be far behind. I hope.
"How'd you like to get interested in me?" She spells her name out to him (Chick Chandler?) slowly and they give her a big close-up doing that, too.
"Every dollar you make is wrung from somebody's heart," says Anderson to Bancroft. Oh boy, she's tough enough to stand up to the big guy. She's sore at him for loving Dee; has him framed by having all his clients jump bail. I'm telling you fellas, "...a woman scorned." She puts the plot into motion even though Dee is the cause of Bancroft trying to turn Chick in.
The last time we see Dee, she bumps into a young woman who has just had a horrible experience answering an ad in the paper for an artist model. She had to fight her way out of the room, bruised arm, roughed up...Dee is fascinated, grabs her newspaper and is going to go upstairs for that experience...looking for her next thrill...her next high.
WHOA!
Why wasn't Dee a bigger star. Perhaps not from this film...but in general? I can only imagine she personally didn't want it. She had a husband, a family, and probably a very satisfying life.
I'm a big big fan. Thanxx for the heads up on this film being screened.
If there is a thread aleready on Frances Dee, please point it out to me. Loved her in "Meet the Stewarts" predictable film but very sweet.
UTTERLY DEELIGHTFUL: FRANCES DEE
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movieman1957
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Always happy to learn more about her. Our own "CarrieLiz" is a big fan and has a website for Frances.
http://www.francesdeemccrea.com
http://www.francesdeemccrea.com
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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charliechaplinfan
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Lzcutter
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Does anyone know why Frances Dee and Joel McCrea seperated later in life?
They never divorced but supposedly McCrea filed for divorce in the mid-1960s and they separated at that time.
Considering how long their marriage lasted and by all accounts they loved each other very much, what happened?
They never divorced but supposedly McCrea filed for divorce in the mid-1960s and they separated at that time.
Considering how long their marriage lasted and by all accounts they loved each other very much, what happened?
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Avatar-Warner Bros Water Tower
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Avatar-Warner Bros Water Tower
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Ann Harding
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Count me in as well! I like Frances a lot! 
So far, I have seen her in An American Tragedy (1931), Finishing School (1934), Of Human Bondage (1934), The Gay Deception (1935), Becky Sharp (1935), If I Were King (1938), So Ends Our Night (1941), I Walked With a Zombie (1943) and The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947). Well....I didn't realise I had seen so many...
A little animation with lovely Frances & Ronald Colman in If I Were King.
CarrieLiz: your website is a delight!
So far, I have seen her in An American Tragedy (1931), Finishing School (1934), Of Human Bondage (1934), The Gay Deception (1935), Becky Sharp (1935), If I Were King (1938), So Ends Our Night (1941), I Walked With a Zombie (1943) and The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947). Well....I didn't realise I had seen so many...
A little animation with lovely Frances & Ronald Colman in If I Were King.
CarrieLiz: your website is a delight!
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The Ingenue
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CineMaven -- You know, Frances can't be talked about too often.
I'm interested by your comment about her eyes. People talk about eyes, and I don't always see what they see, but this time I do. There's something magical in Frances'. She seemed to look at people with a genuine desire to listen to everything they said and to understand their feelings. She was very much a "people person", and sometimes found life in the somewhat isolated world of the McCrea ranch hard to cope with. In an obituary published in the Boston Globe (on March 9, 2004), Peter McCrea is quoted as saying "My mother told me that it meant so much to her to get out and see people and get fresh air. That stuck with her forever."
Lzcutter -- I've wondered, too, about what caused Joel and Frances' separation in the '60s. Sometimes I think I should ask Mr. McCrea, but then it seems such an odd question to put to a son.
He once volunteered that their marriage had some stormy times, and that Frances liked to quip, "The first forty years were the hardest."
Ann Harding -- Thank you for that lovely animation. If I Were King is one of my favorite Frances movies, but I have yet to find a copy of the VHS that fits my budget. Now I can watch that beautiful scene over, and over, and over...
And thanks, folks, for your kind words about my web site. I'm so glad to know you like it.
I'm interested by your comment about her eyes. People talk about eyes, and I don't always see what they see, but this time I do. There's something magical in Frances'. She seemed to look at people with a genuine desire to listen to everything they said and to understand their feelings. She was very much a "people person", and sometimes found life in the somewhat isolated world of the McCrea ranch hard to cope with. In an obituary published in the Boston Globe (on March 9, 2004), Peter McCrea is quoted as saying "My mother told me that it meant so much to her to get out and see people and get fresh air. That stuck with her forever."
Lzcutter -- I've wondered, too, about what caused Joel and Frances' separation in the '60s. Sometimes I think I should ask Mr. McCrea, but then it seems such an odd question to put to a son.
He once volunteered that their marriage had some stormy times, and that Frances liked to quip, "The first forty years were the hardest."
Ann Harding -- Thank you for that lovely animation. If I Were King is one of my favorite Frances movies, but I have yet to find a copy of the VHS that fits my budget. Now I can watch that beautiful scene over, and over, and over...
And thanks, folks, for your kind words about my web site. I'm so glad to know you like it.
CarrieLiz: "I'm interested by your comment about her eyes. People talk about eyes, and I don't always see what they see, but this time I do. There's something magical in Frances'. She seemed to look at people with a genuine desire to listen to everything they said and to understand their feelings. She was very much a "people person", and sometimes found life in the somewhat isolated world of the McCrea ranch hard to cope with. In an obituary published in the Boston Globe (on March 9, 2004), Peter McCrea is quoted as saying "My mother told me that it meant so much to her to get out and see people and get fresh air. That stuck with her forever."
Hmmm...makes me look at Joel McCrea just a tad differently. You know, men were very different back then. Women were their property...oh, I mean "my wife."He might've been a bit on the possessive side, maybe even putting the kibosh on her career a bit. Just speculation. I'm hoping she was happy. All I know fer sure is she and Ingrid Bergman effect me like no other.
Hmmm...makes me look at Joel McCrea just a tad differently. You know, men were very different back then. Women were their property...oh, I mean "my wife."He might've been a bit on the possessive side, maybe even putting the kibosh on her career a bit. Just speculation. I'm hoping she was happy. All I know fer sure is she and Ingrid Bergman effect me like no other.
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The Ingenue
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Possible, but I really doubt it as far as her career in concerned. Her momentum slowed in 1934 when she was expecting her first child during the making of Of Human Bondage. They had to film her carefully for that.CineMaven wrote:He might've been a bit on the possessive side, maybe even putting the kibosh on her career a bit.
She had two children in two years (1934 & '35), and motherhood agreed with her so well that it began to rival her interest in acting. I have a recording of the on-stage interview Frances gave at Tufts University in 2003. In it she says, "I’d be at the studio and I’d want to be at home; I’d be home and I’d want to be at the studio."
She goes on by talking about how much she enjoyed watching her boys grow up, which she couldn't have done as well from a movie set, so I think that was why her film projects became fewer and fewer, and why this city-girl chose to stay on the ranch. Judging from what she said in the interview, it was her own decision.