Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure | |
---|---|
Written by | Walter Hackett |
Date premiered | 19 July 1921 |
Place premiered | Criterion Theatre |
Original language | English |
Genre | Comedy |
Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure is a 1921 play written by Walter Hackett. It was a hit on the West End, where it ran for 18 months, and also on Broadway, where it was performed under the title Captain Applejack. It has been adapted multiple times as a movie and also as a stage musical.
Ambrose Applejohn is bored with his life in Cornwall, where he lives with his ward, Poppy Faire. He decides to sell his country estate so he can find excitement elsewhere. Several strangers appear at his door, all claiming reasons to be there that have nothing to do with the sale. One woman says she is a Russian dancer trying to defect, and a man claims to be looking for her. A couple says their car has broken down. Applejohn assumes they are all really prospective buyers investigating his home.
That night Applejohn dreams he is a pirate, Captain Applejack. His visitors appear in the dream as his adversaries. The next day, he discovers that the visitors are thieves hunting for a treasure map hidden in the house. Applejohn and Faire overcome the criminals, and he decides that life in Cornwall is exciting enough after all.
The play was previewed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton on 11 July 1921, under the title Spanish Treasure. After being retitled Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure, it made its West End debut at the Criterion Theatre on 19 July 1921. Charles Hawtrey produced and starred as Applejohn; Marion Lorne played Poppy Faire. The play continued at the Criterion over a year, until 19 August 1922, with 454 performances. [1] It then moved to the Savoy Theatre on the Strand, opening there on 2 October 1922 and running until 27 January 1923, with 139 performances. [2]
While the West End production was still ongoing, a Broadway production was launched, this time titled Captain Applejack. Wallace Eddinger played Applejohn, with Phoebe Foster as Faire. Sam H. Harris produced. It opened on 30 December 1921 at the Cort Theatre, where it ran for 195 performances, closing in June 1922.
In 1922 the play made its first appearance in Australia, opening at the Criterion Theatre in Sydney on 2 September 1922, with Lawrence Grossmith starring as Applejohn. [3]
The characters and cast from the West End and Broadway productions are given below:
Character | Criterion Theatre cast [1] | Savoy Theatre cast [2] | Cort Theatre cast [4] |
---|---|---|---|
Ambrose Applejohn | Charles Hawtrey | Charles Hawtrey | Wallace Eddinger |
Poppy Faire | Marion Lorne | Marion Lorne | Phoebe Foster |
Horace Pengard | Edward Rigby |
| Ferdinand Gottschalk |
Lush | Arthur Fayne | Arthur Fayne | John Gray |
Mrs. Pengard | Annie Esmond | Annie Esmond | Helen Lackaye |
Anna Valeska | Hilda Moore | Hilda Moore | Mary Nash |
Ivan Borolsky |
| William Stack | Hamilton Revelle |
Dennett |
| Wilson Blake | Walter F. Scott |
Johnny Jason |
| Austin Fairman | Harold Vermilye |
Mrs. Agatha Whatcombe | Mona Harrison | Mona Harrison | Marie Wainwright |
Marie |
| Christine Rayner | |
Palmer | Maud Andrew |
A reviewer for The Spectator "thoroughly enjoyed" the play, despite criticizing it as "silly" and "loosely put together". [5] In The New York Times, Alexander Woollcott praised the play as a "droll and ingenious farce". [4]
In 1923, Louis B. Mayer produced an adaptation of the play as a silent film, titled Strangers of the Night , directed by Fred Niblo, and which starred Matt Moore, Enid Bennett, and Barbara La Marr.
Warner Brothers produced a sound film adaptation, titled Captain Applejack , in 1931. John Halliday and Mary Brian starred, with direction by Hobart Henley.
In 1933, R. P. Weston and Bert Lee created a stage musical, He Wanted Adventure , based on Hackett's play.
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Marion Lorne MacDougal or MacDougall, known professionally as Marion Lorne, was an American actress of stage, film, and television. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne made her first film in 1951, and for the remainder of her life played small roles in films and television. Her recurring role as Aunt Clara in the comedy series Bewitched, between 1964 and her death in 1968, brought her widespread recognition, and she was posthumously awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
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Strangers of the Night is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Fred Niblo. It was produced by Louis B. Mayer and released through Metro Pictures.
Walter C. Hackett was an American-British playwright.
Lawrence du Garde Peach, who wrote under the name L. du Garde Peach, was an English author and playwright for radio, stage, and screen. He is probably best remembered as the author of over thirty works in the Adventure from History series of non-fiction books for children which was published by Ladybird Books between 1957 and his death in 1974. It was the largest series Ladybird produced, and remained in print until 1986.
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The Bat is a three-act play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood that was first produced by Lincoln Wagenhals and Collin Kemper in 1920. The story combines elements of mystery and comedy as Cornelia Van Gorder and guests spend a stormy night at her rented summer home, searching for stolen money they believe is hidden in the house, while they are stalked by a masked criminal known as "the Bat". The Bat's identity is revealed at the end of the final act.
Captain Applejack is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film, produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film was directed by Hobart Henley and stars John Halliday, Mary Brian, Kay Strozzi and Arthur Edmund Carewe. The film was based on a 1921 play of the same name, starring Wallace Eddinger and written by Walter C. Hackett. The play had previously been filmed as a silent film in 1923 under the title of Strangers of the Night.
Phoebe Foster was an American theater and film actress.
Hetta Bartlett was an English stage and film actress whose career spanned both the West End and Broadway.
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