The Fall of Eve is a play written in 1925 by Anita Loos and John Emerson. It was originally titled Aren't Men Brutes, but the title was changed in April 1925. [1] It began an out-of-town tryout run in Stamford Connecticut on May 8. The original cast included Ruth Gordon, Reginald Mason, Claude King, Cora Witherspoon, and Diantha Pattison. [2] It followed that with performances at the Belasco Theatre in Washington D. C., [3] [4] After the D.C. show, the show went on hiatus, expecting to resume in the fall. [5]
On August 24, the show opened out of town at the Savoy Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey, for a one-week run, prior to its Broadway premiere. [6] [7] It opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on August 31, 1925. [8] The opening night cast included Gordon, King, Mason, Pattison, and Witherspoon, from the original cast, as well as Albert Albertson, Alonzo Fenderson, Doris Kemper, and Nadine Winstan. [9] The play closed the week of October 24, after a run of 48 performances. [9] [10]
The play received mixed reviews. Burns Mantle of the Daily News gave it a favorable review, saying it was a "pertinent comedy", and the Gordon "scores another palpable hit". [11] However, Alexander Woollcott of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave the play a poor review, saying it was "a dull, daffy and dimly distasteful drama." [12] Similarly, Arthur Pollock of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle also gave the play a terrible review, predicting that its run on Broadway would not be a long one. [13]