A Birthday Tribute to Florence Rice

Lovely actress Florence Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 14, 1907.

Rice's father was well-known sports columnist Grantland Rice. Florence made her way to Broadway in the mid '20s and eventually on to Hollywood.

Rice appeared in films for a decade beginning in 1934. She worked at MGM in the second half of the '30s, costarring regularly with Robert Young and Dennis O'Keefe.

One of her films with Young was NAVY BLUE AND GOLD (1937), which also starred James Stewart.

She was Myrna Loy's sister in DOUBLE WEDDING (1937); another photo of her in this gown appears further down in the post.

Rice appeared most enjoyably opposite Melvyn Douglas as husband and wife sleuths Joel and Garda Sloane in FAST COMPANY (1938). This MGM series was a fun oddity, with three different sets of actors playing the Sloanes; the other pairings were Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell, and Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern.

Starring with Mary Howard, Ann Rutherford, and Una Merkel in the enjoyable "B" film FOUR GIRLS IN WHITE (1939):

With Walter Pidgeon in one of his Nick Carter mysteries, PHANTOM RAIDERS (1940):

I've been able to learn relatively little about Rice's life, although a 2014 post at Obscure Actresses sheds some light. Rice was married four times; the last marriage, to Fred Butler, was a happy union which lasted from 1946 until her passing in 1974.

Florence Rice died in Honolulu on February 23, 1974, at the age of 67. Her ashes were said to have been scattered at Waikiki Beach.

Florence Rice's star shone fairly briefly, but she brightened numerous films of the era, and I'm always happy to see her name in a film's opening credits.

Florence Rice movies reviewed at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: WOMEN ARE TROUBLE (1936), THE LONGEST NIGHT (1936), MARRIED BEFORE BREAKFAST (1937) (also here), UNDER COVER OF NIGHT (1937), MAN OF THE PEOPLE (1937), NAVY BLUE AND GOLD (1937), DOUBLE WEDDING (1937), SWEETHEARTS (1938), FAST COMPANY (1938), FOUR GIRLS IN WHITE (1939), THE KID FROM TEXAS (1939), PHANTOM RAIDERS (1940), BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940 (1940), MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY (1941), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942).

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