Play review – “Lady in Danger” by Max Afford

A rare Australian play to enjoy a run on Broadway, even if it was a very short one. Unlike other works from Australian playwrights like Oscar Asche and Alec Coppel, this hit Broadway direct from the Australian stage. It had been produced by the Independent Theatre in 1942 before being mounted by JC Williamsons.

It's a fun, solid little mystery about a married couple living in London; the husband is a journalist whose been blackballed because of offending a well-connected politician, the wife is writing a mystery novel. When the politician turns up dead they are drawn into the mystery. Other characters include the doctor next door, an alcoholic journalist (here alcoholism is treated for laughs) and his sophisticated wife, some cops and a Nazi killer. There are some funny lines and the story works pretty well.

In 1942 a story about a woman uncovering a nest of Nazi sympathisers probably would have had a lot more freshness - most Hollywood films in that year had that as a subplot. But by 1944 it had become old hat which might be why the story didn't take. (I would have thought it could have been turned into a good B movie but no, alas).