What do you do when your lover sells you into the sex trade? If you are Kay Francis, you become ‘Spot White’ and learn how to use men to gain freedom. In Mandalay, from 1934, directed by Michael Curtiz, Kay Francis becomes ‘Spot White’ and develops coping strategies to survive the fate Ricardo Cortez consigned her to in the beginning, all while wearing exquisite designs by Orry-Kelly. A bad penny always turns up, and sure enough, she crosses paths with her inconstant lover. Ricardo Cortez receives his comeuppance, but this episode is spoiler-free. I finish with an excerpt from 'Kay Francis ‘I Can’t Wait to Be Forgotten’: Her Life on Film and Stage' by Scott O’Brien, which summarises the awful treatment she received from Warner Brothers at the end of her contract.

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