A Gentleman from Mississippi | |
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Written by | Harrison Rhodes and Thomas A. Wise |
Date premiered | 28 September 1908 (Broadway) |
Place premiered | Bijou Theatre |
Original language | English |
Subject | Political corruption |
Genre | Comedy |
Setting | Washington, D.C. |
A Gentleman from Mississippi is a 1908 comedic play by Harrison Rhodes and Thomas A. Wise. [1] It was popular when released, debuting on Broadway on September 28, 1908, and playing for 407 performances at the Bijou Theatre, and on the roof garden of the New Amsterdam Theatre during the summer of 1909. Douglas Fairbanks played the leading role of Bud Haines. [2]
Receiving positive reviews from the critics, [3] [4] [5] [6] it was produced by William A. Brady and Joseph R. Grismer, and was one of the "major hits of its day." [7] [8] U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt saw the play shortly before its Broadway debut at a Washington warm-up performance at the National Theatre, and proclaimed it a "perfectly corking play. Bully! A ripper!" [9] [10] [11] Roosevelt's successor, William Howard Taft, also later saw and approved of the play, and was featured in some of the play's advertising. [12]
It was adapted into a novel based on the play's success, [13] and the play traveled widely after closing on Broadway, where actor Burr McIntosh returned from the stage after a long break to take over for Wise. [14]
The play was also made into a silent film in 1914, where Wise reprised his role, and a young Evelyn Brent was also in the cast. [15] A plan to make another film based on the play in 1936 was never completed. [16]
Harrison and Rhodes also collaborated on a second play, An Old New Yorker (1911).
The play's setting is Washington, D.C., where corrupt Senators are attempting to profit off a planned naval base in Mississippi. William Langdon (played by Wise), the junior senator from Mississippi, decides to fight the scheme, assisted by his private secretary Bud Haines (played by Fairbanks). [6]
Charles Warren Fairbanks was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice presidential nominee in the 1916 presidential election. Had the Republican ticket been elected, Fairbanks would have become the third vice president to multiple presidents, after George Clinton and John C. Calhoun.
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The 1908 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois on June 16 to June 19, 1908. It convened to nominate successors to President Theodore Roosevelt and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks.
The 1904 Republican National Convention was held in the Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on June 21 to June 23, 1904.
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The Bijou Theatre was a former Broadway theater in New York City that opened in 1878 as Theatre Brighton and was demolished in 1915. It also served as an opera house and silent movie venue throughout its history.
Marie Pavey, also known as E. Marie Pavey, was an American stage actress and vaudeville performer who had an active career in the United States during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Trained as an actress in Chicago, she began her career in that city in 1900. In her early career she toured widely in vaudeville as a stage partner to Bert Coote.