Mandalay: Kay Francis Is Trying Her Best

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school melodrama where the dresses are huge and the emotions are even bigger, you’ll dig this. People who get annoyed by plot holes or characters making questionable life choices to keep the story moving should probably steer clear. It’s not exactly a masterpiece, but it’s got that specific, dusty charm of 1930s studio films.

Kay Francis is the whole show here. She plays Tanya, and she manages to look bored and devastated at the exact same time. It’s a neat trick.

The Setup

She starts out in a club, looking tired of everyone’s nonsense. Then she’s on a steamer ship. There’s a lot of staring out at the ocean, which is a classic move for characters who have regrets. The lighting in these scenes is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

You can tell the director really wanted the audience to focus on her face, especially during the moody, dimly lit segments. Sometimes it works, sometimes she just looks like she’s waiting for the catering table to open.

Odd Little Moments

• The dialogue is snappy in a way that feels like it was written on a napkin five minutes before filming.
• There’s a scene involving a steamer trunk that lasts way too long.
• The extras in the background of the club scenes seem like they’re having a better time than the actual leads.
• I kept thinking about how different this feels compared to something like The Sign of Four; the pacing is just totally different.

It’s not trying to teach you a lesson or be a meditation on anything. It just wants to get from the nightclub to the boat to the finale without losing too many audience members along the way.

Also, the ending. I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say it resolves things in the most convenient way possible. It’s almost funny how quickly everything wraps up once they realize they’re running out of reel. 📽️

If you’ve seen Two Against the World, you’ll recognize that familiar studio gloss that makes every room look like a stage set. It’s fake, but it’s comforting fake.

Basically, don't overthink it. Just watch Kay Francis be miserable in expensive clothes for an hour. It's fine. It's more than fine, actually.