Louder, Please (play)

Last updated

Louder, Please
Written by Norman Krasna
Date premiered12 November 1931
Place premieredNew York
Original languageEnglish
Subjectcomedy
SettingPublicity Offices of Criterion Pictures, Hollywood

Louder, Please is a play by Norman Krasna, the first of Krasna's plays to be produced on Broadway. It was heavily influenced by The Front Page and also Five Star Final . He wrote it while working as a press agent at Warner Bros. and many of the characters were rumored to be based on real people. [1] Krasna admitted the lead was based on publicity man Hubert Voight and other characters were based on Warners cameraman Buddy Longworth, Bernie Williams and Jack Warner. [2]

Contents

The original production was directed by George Abbott and starred Lee Tracy. [3] [4]

The New York Times said "the entertainment spurts out of the direction rather than the play. [5]

It was successful enough for Krasna to be hired as a writer for Columbia Pictures. [6] That studio bought the film rights by March 1932. [7] The film was never made. In March 1962 Edward Buzzell bought the film rights. Again it was not made. [8]

Plot

Publicity men fake the disappearance of a film star who is "lost at sea". [9]

References

  1. ↑ MUSICAL TO OPEN TODAY AT WARNERS: Los Angeles Times 28 Sep 1933: 11
  2. ↑ Characters From Real Life Basis for "Louder Please" Los Angeles Times 15 Oct 1933: A7.
  3. ↑ BROUN PLANS TO GIVE NEW INTIMATE REVUE New York Times 25 Sep 1931: 34.
  4. ↑ THE THEATRE: Hollywood Satire Wall Street Journal 19 Nov 1931: 4.
  5. ↑ THE PLAY: Slandering the Movies Again. Pasquinade of Opera. By J. BROOKS ATKINSON. New York Times 13 Nov 1931: 26.
  6. ↑ Patrick McGilligan, "Norman Krasna", Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age, California Press p 217
  7. ↑ Political Satires Newest Plan of Hollywood Film Producers Los Angeles Times 16 Mar 1932: A9.
  8. ↑ Rights Secured Los Angeles Times (1 Mar 1963: C13.
  9. ↑ "Louder, Please".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.