Editing Franchot Tone (section)

=== 1940–1949: The Universal, Columbia & Paramount combination ===
[[File:Phantom-Lady-2.jpg|right|thumb|Tone and [[Ella Raines]] in ''Phantom Lady'' (1944); an early noir and villainous role for him]][[File:I Love Trouble (1948) 1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Janis Carter]], [[Janet Blair]] and Tone in ''I Love Trouble'' (1948)]]
Tone signed a contract with Universal, starring in his first Western there, ''[[Trail of the Vigilantes]]'' (1940), where he more than earns his spurs alongside the likes of [[Broderick Crawford]] and [[Andy Devine]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/07/archives/the-screen.html|title=The Screen|date=December 7, 1940|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was soon back supporting female stars though, making ''[[Nice Girl?]]'' (1941) with [[Deanna Durbin]].

Tone also signed a multi-picture deal with Columbia, where he made two films with [[Joan Bennett]], ''[[She Knew All the Answers]]'' (1941) and ''[[The Wife Takes a Flyer]]'' (1942).

Back at Universal he was top billed in ''[[This Woman Is Mine]]'' (1941). Tone went to Paramount to star in ''[[Five Graves to Cairo]]'' (1942), a [[World War II]] espionage story directed by [[Billy Wilder]].

He also returned to MGM to star in ''[[Pilot No. 5]]'' (1943) then it was back to Universal for ''[[His Butler's Sister]]'' (1943) with Durbin.

Tone made two more films at Paramount, ''[[True to Life (film)|True to Life]]'' (1943) with [[Mary Martin]] and ''[[The Hour Before the Dawn]]'' (1944) with [[Veronica Lake]]. He had one of his best roles in Universal's ''[[Phantom Lady (film)|Phantom Lady]]'' (1944) directed by [[Robert Siodmak]], an early [[film noir]] picture and a villainous part for Tone.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLWdNXcu76cC&q=mgm+1930+franchot+tone&pg=PA310|title=Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood|last=Backer|first=Ron|date=August 1, 2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9018-9}}</ref> Also impressive was his performance in ''[[Dark Waters (1944 film)|Dark Waters]]'' (1944) with [[Merle Oberon]] for [[Benedict Bogeaus]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/22/archives/the-screen-dark-waters-a-thriller.html|title=THE SCREEN; ' Dark Waters' a Thriller|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|date=November 22, 1944|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 23, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

He continued his stage career by performing on Broadway in ''Hope for the Best'' (1945) with [[Jane Wyatt]]; the production ran for a little more than three months.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiQaAAAAYAAJ&q=Franchot+Tone|title=Current Biography Yearbook|date=1954|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|language=en}}</ref>

At Universal Tone did ''[[That Night with You]]'' (1945) with [[Susanna Foster]] and ''[[Because of Him]]'' (1946) with Durbin.

Tone made ''[[Lost Honeymoon]]'' (1947) at [[Eagle-Lion Films|Eagle-Lion Studios]] and ''[[Honeymoon (1947 film)|Honeymoon]]'' (1947) with [[Shirley Temple]]. While at Columbia he had roles in ''[[Her Husband's Affairs]]'' (1947) with [[Lucille Ball]], and ''[[I Love Trouble (1947 film)|I Love Trouble]]'' (1947), then ''[[Every Girl Should Be Married]]'' (1948) reteamed with Grant at RKO. He had the lead as an assistant D.A. looking for the murderer of a journalist while being distracted by a beauty played by then wife Jean Wallace in the film noir thriller, ''[[Jigsaw (1949 film)|Jigsaw]]'' (1949).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789/page/712 712]|quote=franchot tone jigsaw.|title=Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide|last1=Maltin|first1=Leonard|last2=Sader|first2=Luke|last3=Clark|first3=Mike|date=2008|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-452-28978-9|language=en}}</ref> He then had a supporting part as a murder victim in ''[[Without Honor (1949 film)|Without Honor]]'' (1949), a noir film co-starring [[Laraine Day]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEWeCQAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+without+honor&pg=PA473|title=Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959|last=Keaney|first=Michael F.|date=May 20, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9155-1|language=en}}</ref>