buxtonhill Review of The Feminine Touch

The Feminine Touch (1941)

Better than most Kay Francis films, but...

[7/10 · 3 February 2010]

...that doesn't mean it was much good though an improvement over most of her movies at Warners. Some witty dialogue, due quite likely to Ogden Nash's contribution. The story is nonsense and entirely predictable. The premise that any commercial house would want to publish Don Ameche's book is preposterous, and Ameche himself is uninteresting on-screen (as always). Like some of the other commentators, I didn't get the movie's fascination with beards. What was that all about? Kay Francis and Rosalind Russell were playing the wrong roles. Russell should have done better as the wisecracking assistant and Francis as the put-upon wife. Seemed odd. Maybe Metro was trying to re-shape Russell's image. And what was with that immense hat Kay Francis wore in one scene, perhaps the night club scene? It looked several large bats had been sacrificed for it. She could wear anything with aplomb, but that hat was near the far margin, even for her. The "gowns by Adrian", though tailored and stylish enough, were nothing like the flattering Orry-Kelly numbers from her Warners days.