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They Gave Him a Gun is a 1937 crime drama that was based on William J. Cowen’s 1936 novel of the same name. Admittedly, I have many favorite Franchot films, but this is one of his early dramas that I particularly enjoy. Warning: this post contains spoilers. As Jimmy, Franchot Tone gives a con read more

The 1935 romantic drama No More Ladies focuses on a smitten girl with a common problem: she sets out to reform a philandering bad boy even though he has no desire to change. A firm believer in true, faithful love, Marcia (Joan Crawford) is pursued by notorious ladies' man Sherry Warren (Robert Montg read more

Source: The Cavalier Daily. 24 April 1940. Page 3. To read Burgess Meredith's thoughts on his friend Franchot, click on this earlier post.  I'm not sure of the particular war drama this non-Franchot fan was referring to, but Franchot starred in quite a few excellent war films: Today We Li read more

Some people have asked how to pronounce Franchot's name and even my film historian hero Robert Osborne incorrectly pronounces it before he introduces Franchot's films on TCM. To set the record straight, I uploaded a quick 4 second soundclip of Franchot introducing himself before a radio performance read more

The Man on the Eiffel Tower stands out among Franchot's filmography for many reasons. First, it is a film that Franchot cited as one of his favorites. Second, it is the only film of his in color. Third, it features his second wife and mother of his children, Jean Wallace (yet they were either separa read more

Since I've had my own gray hair and wrinkles, producers have been willing to recognize me as a character actor.  There was a long spell in Hollywood where I appeared in nothing but bad romantic comedies. They were 'dress suit roles.' Acting talent didn't matter. The important thing was to have read more

  Source: Life Magazine, August 1, 1938, page 23 read more

Like the Franchot Tone: Finding Franchot Tone Blog Facebook page for blog post updates, photos, and news.   You can go straight to the page at https://facebook.com/franchottoneblog read more

In honor of what would be Natalie Wood's 77th birthday, here's a post about Franchot and Natalie in Too Old For Dolls. A production of Ford Television Theatre, Too Old for Dolls aired on February 24, 1955. Franchot Tone plays Mike Ramsay, father of Natalie Wood's character, Polly. Mike and his read more

In 1965, Franchot played a secondary character in a Warren Beatty vehicle called Mickey One. Before I get started, I want to admit that Mickey One is not my favorite film. I found the shots and mood of the film interesting, but the actual story didn't do much for me. However, it is directed by Arthu read more

I had quite a Franchot day this past Friday. Enjoying a lazy day off work, I managed to squeeze in two films I had never seen before. First up was Mickey One, a 1965 drama starring Warren Beatty with Franchot as a minor, yet memorable character. Second was Here Comes the Groom, a 1951 musical comedy read more

In 1956, Franchot Tone starred as the doctor in the 4th Street production of Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya. After the run of the play, Franchot would produce and star in the film version. An interesting bit of trivia is that a young Franchot had originally played a character in a 1929 production read more

Dolores Dorn was born on March 3, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. The year that Dolores was born, her future husband Franchot Tone starred in Gentleman Are Born, Straight is the Way, The Girl from Missouri, The World Moves On, Sadie McKee, and Moulin Rouge.In 1957, 52-year-old Franchot and 23-year-old Do read more

The Hour Before the Dawn is an interesting little World War II film. Based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, the 1944 film stars Franchot Tone and Veronica Lake (without her signature peek-a-boo hairstyle). At just 75 minutes long, the film is short, but still packs a punch. Although I feel the plo read more

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In 1944, Franchot took a sinister turn, costarring with Ella Raines and Alan Curtis in the film noir, Phantom Lady. In Phantom Lady, Scott Henderson (played by Alan Curtis) goes out for a night on the town with a mysterious woman after his wife tells him she doesn't love him anymore. Scott and read more

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June and July are the busiest months for me at my job and involve extra hours, tasks, and stress,  so I'm pretty much crashing as soon as I get home each day. I think I'm only going to be able to post about twice a week until August comes and things return to normal.  Look for new posts on read more

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There are currently 77 archived images of Franchot in NYPL's Digital Collections.  The collection, representing his early film career and later stage appearances, is wide-ranging. You can browse the photos here. read more