Thursday, September 15, 2011

Passion Flower (1930).



Passion Flower (1930). Cast: Kay Francis, Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford, Winter Hall.

The story is about two cousins, Dulce who marries Morado, a wealthy Spanish aristocrat, and Cassy who falls in love with the family chauffeur, Dan Wallace. Cassy's father is having none of it and orders the couple to leave his home. They are soon married at Don Morado's estate. Dan refuses Morado's offer of a farm as a wedding gift, but.. after 5 years they are still struggling to make a living. So he finally, he accepts Morado's offer. Dan, knows that it is wrong, but, falls in love with Dulce and when Morado dies, the two of them go to Paris. Will Dan be able go through with the divorce, or will his memories of his family prevent him from going through with it?


Kay Francis, was wonderful in this film about human nature and the reason I decided to watch... Passion Flower. I would give this film 3 stars.


ZaSu Pitts(January 3, 1894– June 7, 1963). Was discovered by screenwriter Frances Marion. Pitts made her debut in the silent film, The Little Princess (1917), starring Mary Pickford. Pitts became a leading lady in the film, Greed (1924). Von Stroheim also featured her in his films, Sins of the Fathers (1928), The Wedding March (1928), War Nurse (1930) and Walking Down Broadway, which was re-edited by Alfred L. Werker and released as Hello, Sister! (1933).

Pitts became popular following a series of Universal one-reeler comedies and earned her first feature-length lead in, Better Times (1919). The following year she met and married actor Tom Gallery. The couple performed in several films, Bright Eyes (1921), Heart of Twenty (1920), Patsy (1921) and A Daughter of Luxury (1922).

In 1924, she was was given the greatest tragic role of her career in the epic classic, Greed (1924). Pitts, often starring in B movies and comedy shorts, teamed with Thelma Todd. She was best known in her performances as a fretful, flustered, worrisome spinster. She starred in a number of Hal Roach shorts and features, and co-starred in a series of feature-length comedies with Slim Summerville.

Some of her other performances include: The Dummy (1929), Finn and Hattie (1931), The Guardsman (1931), Blondie of the Follies (1932), Sing and Like It (1934) and Ruggles of Red Gap (1935).

She performed on the Fibber McGee and Molly show, playing a dizzy dame constantly looking for a husband.

Post-war films continued to give Pitts the chance to play comic snoops and flighty relatives in movies like, Life with Father (1947).

She played second banana to Gale Storm on, The Gale Storm Show (1956), as Elvira Nugent ("Nugie"), the shipboard beautician. Her last role was as a switchboard operator in the Stanley Kramer comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).

3 comments:

  1. I soooo want to watch that film! Love the title - plus: Kay Francis AND ZaSu Pitts!?! That's awesome!!

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  2. The movie is a bit slow at times, but, over all.. I really enjoyed watching it.

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  3. Ok - a bit slow - I think I can live with that if it is mostly enjoyable.. :")

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