Kay had little to no more interest with Hollywood, and the contract that she signed with Monogram Pictures was nonexclusive, so she could return to the stage if she wanted to, and she did. Monogram was definitely smaller than even the average B movie studio, but Kay enjoyed producing her own films there, but the low budgets didn’t allow for much creative freedom. While the three final films of her career, all made for Monogram, have often been cited as her worst, even they weren’t as bad as her final Warner Brothers movies, especially King of the Underworld (1939) and Always in My Heart (1942). Divorce, completed and released in 1945, was the first. Costarring Bruce Cabot, the film served as a religious-like sermon against the rising divorce rates across America. In fact, the tagline for the film was, “It’s America’s Most Shameful Scandal!”

In the film, Kay played Diane Carter, a frequently divorced woman who sets her sites on a married man. Today, the film almost seems like it was produced by the Catholic Church, and it’s a bit ironic to think that Kay Francis, of all people, was the film’s star. The next Monogram feature was Allotment Wives (1946), a cheap, noir-like feature which was a not-so-hot imitation of Joan Crawford’s stellar comeback in Mildred Pierce (1945). But the film was interesting because of Kay’s performance, and the rarity of her Monogram features. None of the three movies she made for the studio have appeared on television or video, and can only be found on bootleg DVD. The final Monogram feature, and Kay’s final film, was Wife Wanted (1946). It was a sad end to her career, a cheap noir in which she played a character more like herself: A faded movie star on the way out of Hollywood for good.

By this point, Kay Francis has virtually disappeared from the Hollywood social scene, and it must have been somewhat devastating to realize that her film career had reached its limits. While her Monogram features were moderately successful, she felt no more reason to go on trying to revive a parade that had long since passed her by. But at lest she tried, one can’t take that away from her, and Kay had never cared that much about Hollywood, but loved her stage work, which is where she focused her career. She appeared in late 1940s revivals of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and Let Us Be Gay, both of which had been hugely successful early talkies with Norma Shearer. She then appeared in a stage productions of State of the Union and Theatre to great success.

Into the 1950s, Kay worked considerably less, but she had no reason to hunt for jobs, she had retired a millionaire. But there were rumors that Kay would return to the stage, as one reporter wrote, “The Broadway success of Roz Russell and Bette Davis has one time movie star Kay Francis in a mood to be in a main stem show this fall. She is wanted for ‘Las Vegas’ –a musical! Sam Coslow did the tunes –and with her velvety voice Kay should do okay.” Nothing ever came of it, and Kay gave her last acting performance in a small revival of Theatre.

Though Kay never remained bitter about the Warner fall-out, it was clear Jack did. When she contacted him about appearing in The Helen Morgan Story (1957), he coldly rejected her. However, it was Kay who was asked to appear as Lana Turner’s mother in the 1966 production of Madame X, but by that time her health had gone into serious decline; she turned the part down.

During her final years Kay was mostly a recluse, largely because of battle with cancer which would eventually claim her life. Kay was one of the sad few which had outlived their own glamorous decade. She spent her final years watching her fellow contemporaries still trying to hold onto the public which had largely abandoned them. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis became the stars of lower than low-budget horror movies. Olivia deHavilland was taking any job offer which came her way. Ann Sothern was the voice of an automobile on My Mother, the Car. Kay Francis died of cancer on August 16, 1968. There were a few small film tributes in her honor, but she had died largely forgotten.

What little had remained of Kay Francis’ memory had all but diminished by the late 1980s. Out of her Warner Brothers features, only Wonder Bar (1934) was released on VHS, and as an Al Jolson film, not Kay’s, though her name had been top billed in the original theatrical release. From her Paramount features, only Raffles (1930) made it to video, and as a Ronald Colman feature. There were no biographies written about her, but she was included in the book Ginger, Loretta, and Irene Who?, which was released in the late 1970s and celebrated former Hollywood legends. While Kay was a subject of the book, the author portrayed a gloomy, Sunset Boulevard image of Kay which was far from the truth. According to the author, Kay remained bitter over what happened from Warner Brothers, and became reclusive, drunk, and full of self-pity. In fact, Kay loved working on the stage, never really cared for Hollywood, and was not that bitter at all because of what Jack and Harry Warner did to her career. The biggest regret of her life was the abortions she had, and the fact that she never became a real mother.

Many claim that Kay Francis got her wish when she said, “I just can’t wait to be forgotten.” But from a modern viewpoint, most misinterpret what she really meant. It is obvious she just wanted the Warner Brothers torture to end, not to be totally dismissed by critics as someone who ‘wasn’t good enough to begin with.’ Kay Francis was a capable actress, with looks that no one has resembled. Stars like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo avoided social gatherings to give that alluring, mysterious image. But Kay Francis was the only one who could give interviews, be photographed by the paparazzi, and maintain an active social life while still being alluring to men who found her utterly exotic.

1994 was the turning point for Classic Hollywood. Within months of Turner Classic Movies’ debut, the channel began regularly scheduling Kay Francis films which hadn’t been seen for decades, most of which since their initial release. She was one of many stars go receive a total revival with public interest in her. In 2006, two Kay Francis biographies, both excellently detailed, were released to fans who craved to learn more about the true Queen of Warner Brothers. Mick LaSalle’s Complicated Women revaluated Kay’s work from a positive perspective. But Kay Francis still needs to be rediscovered by the public which she’s seriously lost. She was a damn good actress, not too beautiful but original. There have been others who remind us of Dietrich, Garbo, Crawford, Monroe, but there has been no one who can compare with Kay Francis.