''WOMEN ARE LIKE THAT'' (1937) Directed by Stanley Logan. Starring Kay Francis, Pat O'Brien, Ralph Forbes, Melville Cooper, Thurston Hall, Grant Mitchell. Written by Albert H.Z. Carr for the Saturday Evening Post and was originally titled Return from Limbo. Claire Landin (Kay Francis) is a beautiful, wealthy, highly desirable woman in this comic melodrama. She's so desirable in fact, that when the film opens Claire is whisked away from her own imminent wedding to Martin Brush (Ralph Forbes) -- wearing her white wedding gown and all -- by the man Willie Landin (Pat O'Brien) who suddenly realizes he can't live without her. Willie and Claire marry, and appear to be the ideal couple: good-looking, privileged, and utterly enraptured with each other. That is until Claire's father Cladius King (Thurston Hall) absconds to Europe, squandering the fortune of the advertising firm where both Willie and Martin also work. Claire's first foray into the business world is a smashing success and a boon to her husband's struggling company. But she also incurs Willie's wrath. Her husband is threatened by his wife's venture into business and the feeling that he is being upstaged by her success. He sees Claire's actions as a personal affront and runs off on a drunken, whirlwind world tour to escape what he apparently sees as his wife's emasculating power. While Willie flees the humiliation of having a working wife, Claire rises in the business world, becoming a role model to other career women. Eventually, Claire and Willie become business rivals. But, as was typical for the time when a happy union was privileged above all, Women Are Like That concludes with the status quo affirmed. wedding dresses for big bust
In 1937 Francis was named the sixth most popular female star with a weekly pay upwards of $5,000 to match that status. Though at one time tagged "The Queen of Warner Bros." her stint at the studio eventually disintegrated into enmity and conflict when Francis felt she was not getting the roles she deserved. Francis launched her definitive legal battle with Warner Bros. during the production of Women Are Like That, anxious to end her contract with the studio. But her previous film also directed by Stanley Logan, First Lady (1937) did not help Francis's case. First Lady had been a critical and box office bust. It also signaled a real downturn in Francis's career. Compounding that downward slide, Women Are Like That was unfortunately not the big success Francis would need to buoy her career. Variety, in fact, called it "another disappointment for Kay Francis," an unfortunately dismissive assessment of a film whose good humor and a fair amount of charm are carried on the back of Ms. Francis. Orry-Kelly remembered Kay fondly. He said of her, “In the beginning, she was very reserved but well-mannered and knew exactly what she wanted. I designed simple unadorned evening gowns in velvet, chiffon, and crepes for One-Way Passage. And I introduced what was the forerunner of the shirtmaker dress for the evening. At first, only those with sensitive taste were impressed. Luckily, Kay was the essence of good taste''.