First Lady (Warner Bros.) (1937)

x *« KAY FRANCIS ek oe eo ET in BO Ko (Current) Verree Teasdale Fated To Play ‘Catty Women Verree Teasdale, the movie actress, is getting tired of being “‘catty.’ Discouraged, too. She thinks it must be something in her face (a very beautiful face!) which can't be eradicated. Her latest meowing is in Warner Bros.’ ‘First Lady,’ now showing at the Strand. In it she’s the hated rival of Kay Francis. She tries to RAARAA ARs Y A bet was settled when the whims of studio casting officials brought Kay Francis and Verree Teasdale together in a picture recently for the second time. Jointly the ladies had wagered with Director Michael Curtiz that following their picture ‘Dr. Monica’”’ together, no film would reunite “the screen’s most beautiful blonde and brunette actresses,’ as some artist or other called them in 1934. They’ve just paid off Curtiz, Miss Teasdale having supported Kay in her latest Warner Bros. film, “First Lady.” wmrrrrerrryrryre—~ne="="n"=”" FY get her sweetheart, Senator Keane (played by Victor Jory) elected to the Presidency so she can be First Lady. Failing that she tries to get her husband played by Walter Connolly, into the nation’s top spot. Meanwhile Kay is sweetly catty herself in trying to get her own husband into the Presidency. He's played by Preston Foster. It doesn’t console Verree much that the whole tribe of women represented in the screen version of Jane Cowl’s famous stage vehicle, are a pretty feline, scheming tribe, albeit howlingly funny at times, comfortably and subtly humorous at others. She complained to Director Stanley Logan that merely ‘casting her for the “Irene Hibbard” role showed his opinion of her. *‘An opinion confirmed by countless casting directors and directors, not forgetting a few producers,” Verree admitted. Born in Spokane, Washington, she comes to pictures from a very distinguished stage career. Probably her greatest hits behind the footlights were ““The Greeks Had a Word for It,’’ and ““The Constant Wife.” Five-feet-six and 123 pounds of voluptuous blonde beauty, she has a classical profile. But artists and sculptors who have come to capture her profile were even more fascinated by her expressive mouth. She’s married to Adolphe Menjou. BN @ soa: NN@)\{| =n .@)E4S ANITA LOUISE IS A CLEVER ‘NAMERL WIth HER PRIZE-WINNING (RISA SETTERS “COPPER PENNY” AND “RUSTY NAIL. SHE OWNS A SCOTTIE Too, “WEE THISTLE" BuT LEFT HIM AT HOME TO AVOID INTERNATIONAL ENTANGLEMENTS ! SHE'S IN WARNER'S “FIRST LADY” Mat FL 102-B—15c Order from Campaign Plan Editor iN =) a wa gr e Mat 202—30c WHEN LADIES MEET and both of them want to be the First Lady, there are bound to be some lady-like fireworks. Kay Francis (right) and Verree Teasdale fight it out in ‘First Lady,” the Katharine DaytonGeorge S. Kaufman comedy, coming soon to the Strand. Kay Francts Stars In ‘First Lady’ Brilliant New Comedy At Strand SYNOPSIS: The ambition of Lucy Chase Wayne is to have her husband become president so that she can be the First Lady of the land. When she hears that her social rival, Irene Hibbard, is about to divorce her husband and marry young Senator Keane who has a good chance for the presidency, she circumvents that by pretending to back Irene’s present husband for the candidacy. The plot boomerangs when it turns out that Irene’s husband has a good chance to win. Lucy, however, turns the tables again (with the aid of the foreign diplomatic service) in a gay surprise ending. Length 7566 feet @ “First Lady,” a brilliant comedy, opened yesterday to delighted audiences at the Strand Theatre. The lovely dark Kay Francis is the star of the show and the chief political manipulator in its plot. She Kay Francis Mat 109—15c is an ambitious wife in the story, and she tries to maneuver her husband into the White House, so that she can be the person that the movie's title describes. Preston Foster is her husband. But there are other socialite ladies in the Capital who have the same Chief among these is Verree Teasdale, who has the same idea about her own husband. This is Walter Connolly, who is a tired, more or less henpecked oldster. idea. There is a fanatical, be-spectacled leader of a woman’s reform group, who controls millions of women’s votes — and of course the chief rivals go out for her support. This old gal is none other than Louise Fazenda. So you can see the comic possibilities. To add to the confusion there’s a new and handsome young politician — Victor Jory — for whose influence and oratorical assets, Kay Francis and Verree Teasdale contend. And a lovely young deb from the South — Anita Louise — with whom he is in love. Over the tea-tables, the girls get Running Time 82 minutes together and manipulate politics to suit their own feminine fancy—and incidentally to get an edge on each other socially. The feud between Kay Francis and Verree Teasdale which started over the theft of a Preston Foster Mat 108—15e cook, forms the highly hilarious theme of the film. Each is determined to keep the other out of the White House at almost any cost. To them, politics is a purely personal matter. It is deftly handled parlor comedy, sparkling with wit, superbly acted by a hand-picked cast. Kay Francis turns her dramatic ability to sophisticated comedy with telling effect, Verree Teasdale is the perfect prototype of the completely self-centered beauty who uses men to advance her social status. Walter Connolly, Preston Foster, and Victor Jory, the chief male characters are all completely at home in Washington society, and charming Anita Louise does an amazingly good <aricature of a debutante who's long on looks and short on brain. It was splendidly directed by Stanley Logan from a_ screenplay made by Rowland Leigh, based, of course upon the Broadway hit of the same name. Not to be taken seriously, ‘‘First Lady” provides, nevertheless, one of the most amusing evenings one can spend in a theatre. [$] “FIRST LADY” «x (Opening Day) ‘First-Tadyts Played In Film By Kay Francis Quite appropriate just now, with Washington D. C., as a _ seething news center, is a comedy picture dealing with a phase of the capital's life that hasn’t been presented on the screen before—namely, a story of the “parlor politics’’ played by the wives of governmental office holders. Just such a thing is “First Lady,” which opens today at the Strand Theatre, with Kay Francis in the Victor Jory and Verree Teasdale, both miniature camera fiends, shot “candid” photos of Kay Francis, Preston Foster, Walter Connolly and other members of Warner Bros.’ "First Lady’ cast, and each without the other’s knowledge presented the stars concerned with small albums of the prints. The albums chanced to be identical, being from the same supply house. Fortunately, the photos were all different. leading role. She portrays an ambitious wife, who wants her husband Preston Foster to be President so she can enjoy all the social privileges of being Mistress of the White House. But manipulating a man into the nomination for the Presidency is no easy matter, as Kay finds when she runs athwart Verree Teasdale, who has the same ambitions and tries to push her husband forward for the job — Walter Connolly. The sly maneuverings of Kay and Verree — plus a young robetween Victor Jory and Anita Louise — make up the story, which was based, of course, on the successful Broadway stage play of the same name. **First Lady’’ was directed excellently by Stanley Logan, from a screenplay devised by Rowland Leigh. Besides those named, the cast includes such notables as Marjorie Rambeau, Louise Fazenda, Henry O’Neil, and Grant Mitchell. mance Foster On Vacation Preston Foster’s vacation — following the making of his current film role opposite Kay Francis in Warner Bros.’ “First Lady’’ — was spent fishing from his yacht off the Mexican coast below Baja California. And he caught plenty! “First Lady” is now at the Strand. FANCIES oF te AO) = 1 @)E4S CIs LIKES TO TRAVEL NEVER So HAPPY AS WHEN BOARDING AN OCEAN-BOUND LINER OR A CROSSCOUNTRY PLANE, HOLLYWOOD'S BEST DRESSED Lavy 1S HERE SEEN HOPP/NG OFF FOR PARTS UNKNOWN WT ONE OF HER NUMEROUS PETS. 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