Merton of the Movies (play)

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Merton of the Movies is a 1922 satirical comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. It was adapted from the novel of the same name.

The play, a satire of the film industry, follows Merton Gill, a store clerk who dreams of being a movie star. He saves his small salary and (having studied acting via correspondence school) goes to Hollywood to haunt casting offices. He is befriended by Flips, a stuntwoman. Gill gets a part as an extra, but his appearance is a disaster. But Flips notes that Gill has an uncanny resemblance to matinée idol Harold Parmalee and gets her pal Jeff Baird (modeled on Mack Sennett) to star Gill in spoofs of Parmalee, where Gill's earnest overacting draws unintended laughs. But Gill, who is dedicated to serious drama, can't be let in on the joke. [1] [2]

Merton of the Movies opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on November 13, 1922. The title role was played by Glenn Hunter, Florence Nash played Flips Montague, and John Webster played Jeff Baird. Hugh Ford staged the play. Heywood Broun called it "The most amusing show of the season" while The New York Times declared it "A delight in every way", and the production was a considerable success, running for 392 performances and closing on October 20, 1923. [3] [4] [5]

Merton of the Movies has been revived on a few occasions. A 1974 production at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis starred Michael Moriarty. [1] A production was staged in 1977 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. [6] John Rando directed a 1998 production at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. [1] A 1990 production in Austin was staged at the John Henry Faulk Living Theatre. [7]

Playbill in 2013 selected Merton of the Movies as one of the five best plays about Hollywood. [2]

The play (rather than the novel) was used as the basis for the 1924 silent film Merton of the Movies in which Glenn Hunter reprised his Broadway role. [8] It was also the basis for the 1947 version, Merton of the Movies , starring Red Skelton.

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Merton of the Movies is a comic novel by Harry Leon Wilson. It was adapted into a stage play and three films. Wilson, a writer and novelist, wrote the book after a brief stint in Hollywood. Merton of the Movies was published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1919 and published as a book in 1922. Thomas Hischak described Merton of the Movies as a "light-hearted romp" with characters "cartoonish but endearing". According to American novelist Gertrude Stein, Merton of the Movies is "the best description of America that has ever been done". The novel sold millions of copies and has been adapted to other media several times.

<i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> (2018 play) Play by Aaron Sorkin

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 2018 play based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin. It opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on December 13, 2018. The play opened in London's West End at the Gielgud Theatre in March 2022. The show follows the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in 1930s Alabama, as he defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. Varying from the book, the play has Atticus as the protagonist, not his daughter Scout, allowing his character to change throughout the show. During development the show was involved in two legal disputes, the first with the Lee estate over the faithfulness of the play to the original book, and the second was due to exclusivity to the rights with productions using an earlier script by Christopher Sergel. During opening week, the production garnered more than $1.5 million in box office sales and reviews by publications such as the New York Times, LA Times and AMNY were positive but not without criticism.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Anne Kaufmann Schneider and Laurence Maslon (2013). "Merton of the Movies (1922)". Georges S. Kaufman. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Robert Simonson (May 10, 2013). "Playbill Picks: The Five Greatest Plays About Hollywood". Playbill. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Merton of the Movies". IBDb (Internet Broadway Database). Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Merton of the Movies". Playbill. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Merton of the Movies". Samuel French. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ Jack Holland (1999). "Merton of the Movies". Curtain Up. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  7. ↑ Robi Polgar (June 30, 2000). "Merton of the Movies: Gone Soft". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  8. ↑ Hischak, Thomas S. (2012). American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations. McFarland. p. 144. ISBN   978-0786468423 . Retrieved February 20, 2017.
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