Nils Asther and Kay Francis: in the dressing room

Nils Asther and Kay Francis acted together in two films, Storm at Daybreak (1933) and The Man Who Lost Himself (1941).

From Kay Francis: a passionate life and career by By Lynn Kear, John Rossman, McFarland, 2006

Career difficulties, in addition to marital problems, loomed over Kay in the summer... That same month [June 1933], Kay wrote about visiting Nils Asther in his MGM studio dressing room and having a kissing session. 

Kay had previously kissed Asther at a party about two weeks before. Quite handsome, Nils was gay, and though he was no doubt flattered, there was no chance of a full-blown romance. They had worked together on Storm at Daybreak, which was filmed in the spring of 1933.

Nils Asther and Kay Francis in The Man Who Lost Himself, 1941 

Waiting for a scene to be filmed, 1941

The Man Who Lost Himself (1941)

Nils Asther and Kay Francis on the set of The Man Who Lost Himself, 1941.

Kay Francis wears one of her many Vera West gowns throughout the picture.

Synopsis:

Malcolm Scott (Brian Aherne) is a wealthy, disliked man who escapes from an insane asylum. He meets John Evans (also Brian Aherne), his exact double, and persuades him to take his place to deal with the unpleasantness of his upcoming divorce. Meanwhile, Scott's wife, Adrienne (Kay Francis) already has a new boyfriend, Peter Ransome (Nils Asther).

This film was made during the Production Code and was subject to alteration. The censor objected to certain lovemaking scenes with Brian Aherne and Kay Frances, in which although they were playing husband and wife, Brian Aherne seemed to believe Kay Francis had been fooled into believing it was his double. This was enough to break the Code rule against adultery. Additional heavy-handed asides and winks to the camera had to be filmed, to show the husband assumed his wife was stringing him along all the time.

This was Nils Asther's first American film for seven years. That was with the film Storm at Daybreak, 1934, MGM, also with Kay Francis. 

Information:

Kay Francis Films

Turner Classic Movies

Storm at Daybreak (1933) - posters

Storm at Daybreak (1933) 

 In 1914, after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand by a Serb, a Hungarian soldier (Nils Asther) gets involved with the wife (Kay Francis) of a Serbian mayor of a Hungarian town (Walter Huston).

Walter Huston, Kay Francis and Nils Asther with Richard Boleslavsky, director

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