Nancy Goes to Rio ♦ Alla Nazimova ♦ Pola Negri ♦
The Next Corner ♦ Florence Nightingale ♦ Kathleen Norris ♦
A Notorious Affair
Nancy Goes to Rio. A less successful 1949 MGM remake of It’s a Date.
Nazimova, Alla. Famous actress of the European and New York stage who originated the Polish play by Maria Morozowicz-Szcepkowska which was adapted for the American screen as Dr. Monica, which starred Kay in the title role.
Negri, Pola. European silent screen vamp who was Kay’s personal favorite movie star as a child. “She held me enthralled. I thought she must be the most marvelous person in the world. When I met Pola not long ago, I was so awed that I could scarcely speak” (PL). Kay met Pola on May 8, 1931 at a party hosted by Bebe Daniels.
The Willi Forst production, Mazurka (1935; a German film), had been a sensation in Europe. According to Negi, it was expected to be her big America film comeback. UNTIL Warner Bros. bought up all the distribution rights and withheld it from American theaters to remake it as Confession (1937), Kay’s last great film. Negri remained furious, possibly for the rest of her life.
Next Corner, The. Play by Kate Jordon which was brought to the screen as Transgression.
Nightingale, Florence. English historical legend who was a prolific nurse of her time. The White Angel was a biopic of her life story.
Wikipedia page. Florence Nightingale Museum.
Norris, Kathleen. Author of the novel which Passion Flower was based.
Notorious Affair, A. First National Pictures, 1930. Directed by Lloyd Bacon. Based on the play Fame by Audrey Carter and Waverly Carter. Kay’s most comfortable performance in front of the camera until that point, and her best vamp role. She plays a conniving, sexually charged Russian Countess who seduces a troubled musician played by Basil Rathbone. While Billie Dove stars as his ingénue wife, this is Kay’s movie.