Wanted to read this after listening to the radio version, which seems to have been reasonably faithful – although the characters of the middle aged brother (a good actor who is a bit lazy and getting on) and his not-very-talented wife were reduced, for time presumably. Reading the full length bit I was struck how small that part of Tony Cavendish was – the John Barrymore part. He just sort of waltzes in being pursued by creditors then waltzes out again (the Theatre Guild version added a section of Tony overseas).
The guts of the drama is given to Julie Cavendish, a middle aged great actor, Tony’s sister (I can’t remember if she was divorced or widowed), mother of young Gwen who is about to go into the family business; she’s worried about Gwen marrying a non actor, and is attracted to the idea of wedding an old beau who wants her to give up the stage and live in rustic splendour in South America. Pressure comes from her mother, another old time actor.
Like other Kaufman-Ferber plays famous for their comedy, Dinner at Eight and Stage Door, this some effective serious moments, notably the death of the mother at the end (on stage, no less). It’s interesting from a feminist point of view – when Gwen wants to give up her career for marriage her mother and grandmother can’t believe it, but later on mum encourages her to do just that… but later Gwen goes back to the stage.
This isn’t as good as the later Ferber-Kaufman plays – it takes too long to get going (so much business involving servants which doesn’t pay off), there isn’t enough story, and they miss an opportunity with the Tony Cavendish character. But it’s still entertaining and you could imagine would be fun to watch with the right people cast as the Cavendishes.
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