Stolen Holiday
- Kay Francis: Nicole, Nicky ' Picot
- Claude Rains: Stefan Orloff
- Ian Hunter: Anthony " Tony" Wayne
- Alison Skipworth: Suzanne
- Alexander D' Arcy: Anatole
- Betty Lawford: Helen Tuttle
- Walter Kingsford: Francis Chalon
Stolen Holiday is an American film directed by Michael Curtiz in 1937 with Kay Francis in the lead role. The plot has certain parallels with the financial scandal involving Serge Alexandre Stavisky that shook France in 1933.
Action
Stefan Orloff is an impostor and financial juggler who has amassed a fortune with worthless bonds and maintains excellent contacts to the highest circles of the French government. He is involved in the outward business of the ambitious fashion designer Nicole Picot, to hide his true activities. While Nicole has great success with her collection, Orloff continues to work on his speculation that threaten at the end of the stability of the entire French economy. At the height of its power falls Orloff and comes to death. Nicole has fallen in the meantime Anthony Wayne, who has been their long time loyal friend and faithful counsel. In the end, the two find their luck and get married.
Background
Kay Francis in 1932 came from Paramount to Warner Brothers and became within a few years one of the highest paid actresses. In 1936, she earned $ 227,000 and income for 1937 amounted to $ 209,000. Their success was based on their ability to play sentimental and implausible stories with confidence and integrity. Then there was her reputation to be one of the best dressed women of the United States. 1936 her the title of "Best Dressed Woman in Movies" was awarded, she won against competition from Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and Carole Lombard. Your studio was trying to pull out of the title and put Kay Francis as a fashion designer, so as to bring the greatest possible number of spectacular costumes on the canvas. Her character of Nicole Pricot was very loosely based on Coco Chanel and the affair that Nicole has with the British Anthony Wayne has parallels to Chanel's own relationship with an English nobleman on. The film initially had the working title of Mistress of Fashion. Only later, the focus was shifted more towards the character of Oroloff and the choice fell on Stolen Holiday, a title that had served as a working title for a variety of projects for years. The costumes were designed by Orry- Kelly, house designer of Warners. As a man of Francis Page was again Ian Hunter to see who replaced George Brent as a permanent partner. Francis and Hunter had worked together successfully in I Found Stella Parrish, Give Me Your Heart and The White Angel.
The character of Stefan Orloff was closely modeled on the Serge Alexandre Stavisky impostor. Stavisky was a French impostor and financial juggler Russian origin, led the trade with worthless bonds and its close links with respected and influential people in public life and policy in the early thirties in France to political turmoil and a crisis of the democratic system. It is still unclear whether he of the police in Chamonix committed suicide to escape or was liquidated by the police to eliminate a dangerous witness. His life was made into a film in 1974 by Alain Resnais with Jean -Paul Belmondo in the title role.
In the script, Stolen Holiday significant changes have been made since, for example suicide due to strict censorship laws could not be shown. The financial failure of the strip marked the beginning of bitter disputes between Francis and the studio at the end of the year, resulting in a production process.
Criticism
In the New York Times alluded to the crucial advantage that brought it for the star with it, to play a role in the fashion business:
" [ Because they ] plays a successful fashion designer, Kay Francis wears the most impressive costumes that can Hollywood Designer Parisian-style design. "