“[Kay Francis] was also a real live actress. From the beginning, despite an early tendency to scowl whenever she had to indicate anger, she was competent and emotionally honest. By 1933, Francis had put it all together both as an actress and a star. Too warm and matter-of-fact to be a blue blood, she played women from modest backgrounds who, all the same, were comfortable in the upper reaches of society. She was a vision of elegance, good nature, and intelligence-and she brought a natural authority to her roles as a professional woman.”

-Mick LaSalle, Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood