S.S. Atlantic ♦ S.Z. Sakall ♦
John Monk Saunders ♦ Scandal Sheet ♦ B.P. Schulberg ♦
Randolph Scott ♦ Secrets of An Actress ♦ The Seeing Eye ♦
David O. Selznick ♦ Norma Shearer ♦ Vincent Sherman ♦
Hal Skelly ♦
Alison Skipworth ♦ Barbara Stanwyck ♦ State of the Union ♦
Henry Stephenson ♦ Stolen Holiday ♦ Lewis Stone ♦
Storm at Daybreak ♦ Stranded ♦ Strangers in Love ♦
Street of Chance ♦ Street of Women ♦ Gloria Stuart ♦
Stuart Walker Company ♦ Sweet Aloes
S.S. Atlantic. The original title of One Way Passage.
Sakall, S.Z. Character actor who appeared in It’s a Date and The Man Who Lost Himself.
Saunders, John Monk. Author of The Judas Tree, the play which was filmed with Kay as I Found Stella Parish.
Scandal Sheet. Paramount, 1931. Directed by John Cromwell. George Bancroft, Clive Brook, and Kay star in this film based on the life of Charles Chapin, a former editor for the New York Evening World. Chapin murdered his wife and was sent to Sing Sing where he died on December 12, 1930, around the time production on Scandal Sheet was wrapping up.
Schulberg, B.P. Kay’s boss when she worked at Paramount.
Scott, Randolph. The leading star in 1940’s When the Daltons Rode, and a rumored gay lover of Cary Grant, whom he once lived with.
Secrets of an Actress. Warner Bros., 1938. Directed by William Kieghley. This film was actually produced before her previous released film, My Bill, but was shelved and released about 8 months later. This was Kay’s last movie with George Brent. One of the weakest films Kay ever made, Motion Picture noted that, “If Vitagraph wants to kill off Kay Francis, they are doing a swell job of it. More walkouts than we have seen in some time…”
Seeing Eye, The. Located in Morristown, NJ, this is where Kay left the bulk of her nearly $2 million estate after her death on August 26, 1968.
Selznick, David O. Producer who is widely recognized as making Kay Francis a star at Paramount with Street of Chance and For the Defense, as well as other films. Later, when Selznick was casting the part of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, he considered Kay as a possibility.
Wikipedia page. NY Times obituary.
Shearer, Norma. One of the most important stars in the 1930s when she was the Queen of MGM, and their First Lady of the Screen. Kay socialized frequently with Shearer and her husband, Irving Thalberg. After his premature death, the two remained close. When Warner Bros. purchased the rights to First Lady, Shearer was considering the potential star. When she turned the property down, it went to Kay instead.
Sherman, Vincent. A producer for Warner Bros. who worked on several of Kay’s final films for the studio. He wrote in his autobiography of her mistreatment at the studio, that he liked Kay, and they he admired her for standing up to Jack Warner over the disagreement about her employment with the studio.
Wikipedia page. Official website.
Skelly, Hal. Vaudevillian who was the star of 1930’s Behind the Make-Up, which Kay had a small role in opposite William Powell (in their first film together).
Skipworth, Alison. Appeared in Raffles as a society woman but had a bigger, more appealing role as Kay’s best friend in Stolen Holiday.
Stanwyck, Barbara. One of the first freelance actresses in Hollywood, but had a contract with Warner Bros. when Kay was first signed. The two were pinned against each other for some roles which Kay eventually got. These included Dr. Monica and Wonder Bar. No word on their personal opinions of one another.
State of the Union. Broadway play Kay appeared in when Ruth Hussey became ill in 1947 & 1948. See the Stage Page for further information.
Stephenson, Henry. British character actor who appeared with Kay in Cynara, Give Me Your Heart, It’s a Date, and The Man Who Lost Himself.
Stolen Holiday. Warner Bros., 1937. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Kay stars as a Parisian model of American decent who gets wrapped up in a world of trouble influenced by Claude Rains. Ian Hunter and Alison Skipworth also star.
Stone, Lewis. Character actor at MGM who is most famous for the Judge Hardy roles opposite Mickey Rooney as “Andy.” Stone worked with Kay in Passion Flower.
Storm at Daybreak. MGM, 1933. Directed by Richard Boleslavsky. Stars Kay, Walter Huston, and Nils Asther in a World War I drama which was rejected by Greta Garbo who made Queen Christina instead.
Storm at Daybreak page.
Stranded. Warner Bros., 1935. Directed by Frank Borzage. Kay’s reunited with George Brent as a traveler’s aid agent who loves Brent involved in a union scandal regarding the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Before Kay went on a vacation, she told interviewers she was most excited about the film and considered it one of the better she had made in some time (BF). Her boyfriend Delmer Daves worked on the script (which may have been why she was in favor of it).
Strangers in Love. Paramount, 1932. Directed by Lothar Mendes. Kay’s last film directed by Mendes and her last film with Fredric March, who plays a dual role.
Street of Chance. Paramount, 1930. Produced by David O. Selznick. Directed by John Cromwell. Based on the life of Arnold Rothstein, William Powell and Kay star in their second movie together. Many point to Street of Chance as the film which made Kay Francis a star.
Street of Women. Warner Bros., 1932. Directed by William Dieterle. Kay’s second movie for Warner Bros. and the film which made her an important name in the fashion world, as she plays the owner of her own dress shop. Roland Young and Gloria Stuart also star.
Stuart, Gloria. Best remembered for her role as the older Rose in Titanic (1996), she made her film debut opposite Kay in Street of Women.
Stuart Walker Company. Kay toured with this group in the late 1920s. See the Stage Page for further information.
Sweet Aloes. The play by Jay Mallory which Give Me Your Heart was based off of.