First Lady

Didn't realize "First Lady" was an adaptation of a play by the famed George S Kaufman; otherwise, I wouldn't have been surprised at how sharp, witty, and sophisticated the dialogue was. Kay Francis, Verree Teasdale, and Walter Connolly were born to play their roles in this highly enjoyable but largely unknown comic delight.

A very dated but still amusing political comedy, "First Lady" showcases Kay Francis's great comedic talent as the wife of a secretary of state destined, in her view, for the White House once presided over by her grandpa. The screen text as the film begins to roll alerts viewers to the "fact" that men control politics but behind the scenes the ladies are not without influence. Dated! But funny!

A comedy of machinations and quick-witted dialogue, "First Lady" is a period piece and it's fun to see how the filmmakers of the late 30s fantasized a Washington that never was. This must have been a nice distraction as America inched out of the Depression and moved closer to global war. It's good entertainment today.

Kay Francis is an aspiring "First Lady" in this 1937 comedy, based on the play of the same name which had a healthy Broadway run in 1935-36 and starred Jane Cowl. The film also features Preston Foster, Walter Connelly, Verree Tisdale, and Anita Louise.

Francis is Lucy Chase Wayne, granddaughter of a former President, and she'd like her Secretary of State husband (Foster) to make a run for President since the existing President isn't running again.

When she realizes her nemesis Irene (Verree Tisdale) is dumping her fuddy-duddy Supreme Court justice husband (Connelly) and taking up with the dashing Senator Keane (Victor Jory) and will probably be pushing him to run, Lucy gets to work convincing the powerful head of a women's organization (Louise Fazenda) that Irene's current husband is great presidential timbre, thus forcing Irene to stay by her husband's side.

Hubby is the world's dullest man, about as presidential as a piece of wood, and spends his evening listening to a family radio show.

This is obviously a play and as talky as all get-out, plus it's very dated, based on the premise that while politics is a man's world, the men are merely puppets for the women behind them.

Kay Francis looks great and is very charming, but for me her comedy is a little bit pushed. As far as I'm concerned, Verree Tisdale as Irene walks away with the movie as the bored, bitchy Irene. Her scene with Connelly where she complains about their evenings at home is a riot. Connelly is great as the plodding Supreme Court Justice.

Kaufman wrote some wonderful dialogue, so the script is witty if low on action. Watch it for the performances.

Kaufman without Hart and Kay without Lubitsch results in a film with mid level ladies magazine dialogue and the cinematic quality of a Liberty Mutual commercial.

Added Bonus: My Personal Top 5 and Bottom 5 First Ladies of the 20th/21st centuries

Top 5 5) Jackie Kennedy 4) Rosalyn Carter 3) Michelle Obama 2) Betty Ford 1) Eleanor Roosevelt

Bottom 5 5) Jill Biden 4) Florence Harding 3) Melania Trump 2) Nancy Reagan 1) Edith Wilson.

Kay Francis stars in a delightful adaptation of the George S. Kaufman- Katharine Dayton play First Lady which enjoyed a nice run on Broadway in the 1934-1935 season and starred Jane Cowl and Stanley Ridges in the parts played here by Francis and Preston Foster.

Back in these days when primaries were only confined to a very few states and deals were made in those proverbial smoke filled rooms, First Lady was far more relevant in the national scene of those years than now. Kay Francis is the wife of Secretary of State Preston Foster and she'd like to see her husband as President. Her family has been in the White House before, her grandfather was president at one time. It's what's given her the status of Washington hostess and behind the scenes maker of policy and men.

Kaufman was very clever indeed in choosing Kay's character name of Kate Chase Wayne. Back in the 19th century one Kate Chase Sprague was the daughter of Salmon P. Chase, Governor and Senator from Ohio and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. Chase was a widower and his daughter before and after she married William Sprague, a Senator from Rhode Island was a popular Washington hostess and behind the scenes back room player. She strove mightily to make her father president, he had to settle for being Chief Justice however to cap his career off.

This 20th century Kate Chase has an ongoing rivalry with another Washington hostess in Verree Teasdale. Teasdale is the trophy wife of a pompous old water buffalo of a Supreme Court Justice in Walter Connolly, but a promising young Senator in Victor Jory has caught her eye as well as the eye of Anita Louise, Francis's niece. Teasdale's thinking that she'd like to be First Lady even unofficially and she's pushing Keith.

Francis gets right back and starts a rumor that Connolly just might make a good presidential candidate and she's hoisted on her own petard for that one. The boom for the pompous old galoot actually takes off. Kay's got to do some scrambling for that one.

Of course she saves the day, but it's through the use of another old 19th century scandal that did almost sink a presidential candidacy and is more successful here. You have to see First Lady to find out what Kay did.

Francis and Teasdale are a good set of foes the like of which weren't seen until Joan Collins and Linda Evans came on prime time TV in Dynasty. My favorite though is Connolly, a guy no one thought of as president until he gets the bug. In fact this seems to be the germ of the idea for the famous George S. Kaufman film, The Senator Was Indiscreet with William Powell playing exactly the kind of character Connolly plays in the next decade.

You think Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain ever spar on the Washington, DC cocktail party circuit like this?