detestation for the girl," Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., said in his memoirs, also divulging that at dinner one night Harlow rested her hand in his lap while announcing she had just become engaged to Joan's good friend at Metro, Paul Bern. Joan overlooked that indiscretion, but later, when Jean began to make cow eyes at Franchot Tone on the set of
The Girl from Missouri,
the star from Kansas City decided it was time to put her territorial brand on the cultured Eastern actor.
On the day she seduced him, Joan was indulging in her latest passion—sunbathing. "The best sun is between twelve and two," she told the readers of
Motion Picture.
"I give myself an hour on the front of me, an hour on the back and a half hour on each side. Then I feel like a little pig which has been well roasted on a revolving spit." She had a solarium built for isolated pleasure. It was enclosed, at the rear of her house. She was in there, revolving, when Franchot arrived for their afternoon culture session. When he was announced by the butler, Joan called out and asked if he would be a dear and fetch her bottle of special suntan oil ("mineral oil, mixed with spring water, a little cologne, and one drop of iodine"). Franchot brought the bottle and knocked on the door. On cue, it swung open, to reveal his hostess, gloriously tanned, glistening from every pore, and completely nude. She said nothing. Her eyes were closed. She lay on her back listening to his labored breathing. Then, with perfect timing, she arched one leg, opened her eyes, smiled at Tone, and murmured, "Shut the door, darling, and do my back."
Franchot did not emerge from the solarium until nightfall, the neighbors noted.
Not too long after this Crawford had Tone's M-G-M contract extended and renegotiated by her agent, Michael E. Levee. She got him a raise and a bonus of twenty-five thousand dollars, which enabled the actor to move from his bachelor digs in Santa Monica to a more fashionable, convenient residence, close to her in Brentwood. "Their backyards almost touch," said Louella Parsons, who rhapsodized over the decoration of Franchot's house. "In the bedroom," said Parsons, "the chic bedspread of white glazed chintz is set off with red tassels." All of the interiors were designed by William Haines, with a large assist from Joan. "Her touch," said Franchot proudly, "is everywhere." "At the moment, Franchot is Crawford's enthusiasm," said Samuel Richard Mook in
Picture Play.
'And when Joan develops a fondness for a person, said person might as well resign himself to doing nothing else until the fondness has abated—as it always does. She simply smothers you."
Crawford told Jerry Asher that she had no plans to marry Tone. "I do not believe in marriage for two people living in Hollywood," she said. She believed in marriage "the modern way," she told reporter Jimmie Fidler. "You
can
have your cake and eat it. If you nibble at the edges it lasts longer."
Her liberated philosophy would soon be changed, by Bette Davis.
In September 1935 Franchot Tone had just returned to Los Angeles from location shooting on
Mutiny on the Bounty
when he was told by M-G-M that he was being loaned to Warner Bros. to play opposite Bette Davis in
Dangerous.
There was no record of Tone's immediate reaction to this news, except for a column quote a few weeks later in which the actor said that Bette was "a tip-top player to work with." Bette was also complimentary to Tone. "He was a most charming, attractive, top-drawer guy. He really was," she said. During the filming she confessed to Joan Blondell that she had fallen hard for the New York actor. "I was on the lot doing a picture when Bette came to see me, all soft and dewy-eyed, which was
not
her usual manner, believe me. She was in love, she told me, with her leading man, Franchot Tone. I was amused. I thought she was kidding. After all, she was married to that sweet guy, Ham, the musician. And, furthermore, I didn't think she went in
The Girl from Missouri,
the star from Kansas City decided it was time to put her territorial brand on the cultured Eastern actor.
On the day she seduced him, Joan was indulging in her latest passion—sunbathing. "The best sun is between twelve and two," she told the readers of
Motion Picture.
"I give myself an hour on the front of me, an hour on the back and a half hour on each side. Then I feel like a little pig which has been well roasted on a revolving spit." She had a solarium built for isolated pleasure. It was enclosed, at the rear of her house. She was in there, revolving, when Franchot arrived for their afternoon culture session. When he was announced by the butler, Joan called out and asked if he would be a dear and fetch her bottle of special suntan oil ("mineral oil, mixed with spring water, a little cologne, and one drop of iodine"). Franchot brought the bottle and knocked on the door. On cue, it swung open, to reveal his hostess, gloriously tanned, glistening from every pore, and completely nude. She said nothing. Her eyes were closed. She lay on her back listening to his labored breathing. Then, with perfect timing, she arched one leg, opened her eyes, smiled at Tone, and murmured, "Shut the door, darling, and do my back."
Franchot did not emerge from the solarium until nightfall, the neighbors noted.
Not too long after this Crawford had Tone's M-G-M contract extended and renegotiated by her agent, Michael E. Levee. She got him a raise and a bonus of twenty-five thousand dollars, which enabled the actor to move from his bachelor digs in Santa Monica to a more fashionable, convenient residence, close to her in Brentwood. "Their backyards almost touch," said Louella Parsons, who rhapsodized over the decoration of Franchot's house. "In the bedroom," said Parsons, "the chic bedspread of white glazed chintz is set off with red tassels." All of the interiors were designed by William Haines, with a large assist from Joan. "Her touch," said Franchot proudly, "is everywhere." "At the moment, Franchot is Crawford's enthusiasm," said Samuel Richard Mook in
Picture Play.
'And when Joan develops a fondness for a person, said person might as well resign himself to doing nothing else until the fondness has abated—as it always does. She simply smothers you."
Crawford told Jerry Asher that she had no plans to marry Tone. "I do not believe in marriage for two people living in Hollywood," she said. She believed in marriage "the modern way," she told reporter Jimmie Fidler. "You
can
have your cake and eat it. If you nibble at the edges it lasts longer."
Her liberated philosophy would soon be changed, by Bette Davis.
In September 1935 Franchot Tone had just returned to Los Angeles from location shooting on
Mutiny on the Bounty
when he was told by M-G-M that he was being loaned to Warner Bros. to play opposite Bette Davis in
Dangerous.
There was no record of Tone's immediate reaction to this news, except for a column quote a few weeks later in which the actor said that Bette was "a tip-top player to work with." Bette was also complimentary to Tone. "He was a most charming, attractive, top-drawer guy. He really was," she said. During the filming she confessed to Joan Blondell that she had fallen hard for the New York actor. "I was on the lot doing a picture when Bette came to see me, all soft and dewy-eyed, which was
not
her usual manner, believe me. She was in love, she told me, with her leading man, Franchot Tone. I was amused. I thought she was kidding. After all, she was married to that sweet guy, Ham, the musician. And, furthermore, I didn't think she went in
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