Stage Plays of the 30's & 40's

[JP147]

I'm really interested in the stage plays of the 30's & 40's. Many of which were regularly made into movies, hence my posting this thread here.

Does anyone know of any lesser known plays of this period? Or any companies that put them on? Anyone seen any productions?

I'm thinking of the likes of Sidney Kingsley and Elmer Rice.

 

[Bugsy]

Perhaps you can get a catalogue of plays from a publisher like Samuel French which is very complete. That might have what you're looking for.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Look at magazines and newspapers of the era and see what their theatre critics were talking about.

 

[dhermann1]

IBDB.COM

Try www.ibdb.com The Internet Broadway Data Base. It has everything going back over a century. It even has some listings as far back as the 1850's. But it has every detail of 20th century plays, including cast, producer, director, author, theater, opening and closing nights, ets. It doesn't have synopses, but it's a great start. But be careful, it's highly addictive. You start off looking at all the plays Bert Lahr was in, then branch off to somebody from his first show in 1928, then the next thing you know you've looked at the career of somebody you never heard of who was in something with Lillian Russell in 1893, then . . . you get the picture.

 

[JP147]

Good idea. Thanks. Hadn't thought of that. Am looking for out of print stuff as well though but they may be able to help me out there too.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Look for a series of books edited by New York Daily News theatre critic Burns Mantle, "Best Plays Of (Year)." These were published annually from the thirties thru the fifties, and included condensations of all the year's most important Broadway dramas, illustrated with photos of the original productions. A very useful guide to what was onstage when, and they're very easy to find in most any good secondhand bookshop.

There were plenty of good movie adaptations of stage shows -- the 1937 Goldwyn production of Kingsley's "Dead End" was superb, as was the 1934 MGM adaptation of "Men In White," produced while the show was still running on Broadway.

My own favorite Broadway adaption is a 1942 film called "The Male Animal," adapted from the 1940 James Thurber/Elliot Nugent stage comedy/drama. Excellent cast, headed by Henry Fonda and Olivia DeHavilland, and a gutsy treatment of issues of academic free speech, which were just as controversial then as they are today.

 

[JP147]

'The Male Animal' sounds really interesting. Thanks Lizzie. Just the type of recommendation I was hoping for. I'll hunt a copy down.