19:
83:
more chance to get a play accepted if I wrote a star part for an actress... I asked myself what sort of part would be most likely to tempt a leading lady.... The answer was obvious: the adventuress with a heart of gold; titled, for the sex is peculiarly susceptible to the glamour of romance; the charming spendthrift and the wanton of impeccable virtue; the clever manager who twists all and sundry round her little finger and the kindly and applauded wit....
234:
157:
into delight. It is to be feared, unfortunately, that this is not quite what Miss Ethel Irving’s interpretation is likely to do. Extremely intelligent and alert as she always is, but fearfully nervous, Miss Ethel Irving under-played nearly every scene, and seemed afraid of just the moments that she should have attacked....
254:
Paradine
Fouldes once had an affair with Lady Frederick. He has a long conversation with her about her possibly marrying Charles; saying "I'm going to play this game with my cards on the table," she replies "You're never so dangerous as when you pretend to be frank." Eventually Lady Frederick, saying
156:
is just a conventional, tricky comedy, not quite clever enough at its own game.... One fancies that Mr. Maugham’s real hope was that Lady
Frederick, as a buoyant, brilliant, large-hearted, impulsive Irishwoman, would, by sheer force of personality, carry everything before her and dazzle the audience
82:
I reflected upon the qualities which the managers demanded in a play: evidently a comedy, for the public wished to laugh; with as much drama as it would carry, for the public liked a thrill; with a little sentiment, for the public liked to feel good; and a happy ending. I realised that I should have
303:
The
Admiral has given Gerald a cheque for the money owed to Montgomerie; his gambling debts settled, Gerald can marry Rose. The Admiral asks Lady Frederick to marry him. When Montgomerie comes in for the money she owes him, she prevaricates, saying she has already sent it. Eventually Fouldes gives
284:
Charles tells Lady
Mereston and Fouldes that he knows of Fouldes' affair with Lady Frederick – he thinks she did not really love him. When Lady Mereston produces a letter written by Lady Frederick which seems to show that she was someone's mistress. Charles believes her explanation of the letter,
173:'.... Mr. Maugham is by nature not a comedy-writer: he has the mind dramatic.... Miss Ethel Irving, all mobility, impulse, emotion as the Irish widow, has never acted so well. She made the audience love Lady Frederick at first sight, she maintained the interest to the last moment...."
87:
The play was refused by many managers. Maugham wrote: "... it had in the third act a scene in which the heroine had to appear dishevelled, with no make-up on, and have her hair done while she arranged her face before the audience. No actress would look at it...."
299:
Charles arrives to hear Lady
Frederick's answer, and is shown to her dressing room. She has her hair done by her maid, and makes up her face: this is her answer, she says, to his proposal; if she married him, she would have to continue trying to appear youthful.
273:
Lady
Frederick has found that her creditor has sold the debt, and does not know who now has it; this increases her anxiety. Fouldes suggests getting out of debt by selling him the love-letters (produced in Act I).
277:
Lady
Frederick's dressmaker, to whom she owes money, comes in. Lady Frederick tells her she regards her as one of her best friends; flattered, the dressmaker refuses to accept the cheque she starts to write.
307:
Finally, Fouldes talks to Lady
Frederick. He is glad she burnt the letters, which, he says, she did in spite of being provoked by his sister Lady Mereston; he says they should get married, and she consents.
52:
In the play, Lady
Frederick is an Irish widow, seriously in debt; she must deal with suitors who have various motives for proposing marriage, and with the man with whom she once had an affair.
281:
Montgomerie talks to Lady
Frederick: it emerges that he has bought her debts. He says he wants to get into fashionable society; if she marries him, he will burn the bills and Gerald's IOU.
288:
Lady Frederick burns the love-letters (produced in Act I), so she never has the temptation to use them. She says she wants nothing to do with Charles. But Charles asks her to marry him.
316:
Maugham wrote that an American manager "asked me to write in some more epigrams. He said it wanted gingering up. I went away, and in two hours wrote as well as I could twenty-four."
35:, written early in his career. The play was first seen in London in 1907, and was very successful, running for 422 performances. The title role was played by
259:. She invites Paradine to burn them, but he declines, saying "It's not fair to take an advantage over me like that. You'd bind my hands with fetters."
251:
Lady Frederick tells the Admiral that her brother Gerald wants to marry his daughter Rose. The Admiral, knowing that Gerald is a gambler, disapproves.
248:
Lady Mereston wants her brother Paradine Fouldes to stop her son Charles's affair with Lady Frederick: she is 15 years his senior, and in debt.
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327:
Lady Mereston: "It's one of the injustices of fate that clothes only hang on a woman really well when she's lost every shred of reputation."
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262:
Captain Montgomerie asks Lady Frederick to marry him; Gerald later tells her that it was because he is in debt to Montgomerie.
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169:
It is not quite a lifelike comedy, nor is it free from the artifice and calculation which was customary in the days of the '
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98:
in London, had had an unexpected failure; needing a play during the time required to get another play ready, he accepted
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in 1902, after being refused by several managers, and had some success. He was unable to get his next play
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255:"you've not seen my cards yet," produces love-letters from Charles's late father to a singer at the
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Ethel Barrymore in 1908, when she was playing Lady Frederick in the original New York production.
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Fouldes: "The lover who's diffident is in a much worse way than the lover who protests."
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Fouldes: "There's no one so transparent as the person who thinks he's devilish deep."
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Fouldes: "Common report is an ass whose long ears only catch its own braying."
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182:
Principal members of the cast on 26 October 1907 at the Royal Court Theatre:
65:
39:. In New York it was first performed in 1908, with Lady Frederick played by
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Lady Frederick: "When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war."
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125:
In New York the play was first seen on 9 November 1908 at the
201:
Marchioness of Mereston (his sister, aged 40) – Beryl Faber
102:. It was first produced there on 26 October 1907, with
43:, who reprised her role in the play's film adaptation,
437:
Plays: Lady Frederick, The Explorer and A Man of Honor
78:
was written in 1903. Maugham wrote about its origins:
368:, volume 1. Heinemann, 1961. Preface, pages vii–xi.
204:Marquess of Mereston (her son Charles, aged 22) –
137:as Paradine Fouldes. It ran for 96 performances.
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476:
462:
296:The scene is Lady Frederick's dressing room.
192:Sir Gerald O'Mara (her brother, aged 26) –
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455:
366:The Collected Plays of W. Somerset Maugham
361:
359:
357:
355:
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304:Montgomerie a cheque to settle the debt.
106:as Lady Frederick. It transferred to the
378:
376:
374:
232:
210:Captain Montgomerie – Arthur Holmes-Gore
17:
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350:
450:
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140:
429:
241:The scene is a drawing-room of the
13:
389:Includes review by J. T. Grein in
198:Mr. Paradine Fouldes – C. M. Lowne
31:is a comedy by the British writer
14:
1290:
1274:British plays adapted into films
383:Anthony Curtis, John Whitehead.
177:
1110:Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.
387:. Routledge, 2013. Pages 68–70.
213:Admiral Carlisle – E. W. Garden
122:; it ran for 422 performances.
413:
396:
1:
422:, 28 October 1907. Quoted in
343:
1279:Plays by W. Somerset Maugham
857:Ten Novels and Their Authors
7:
311:
10:
1295:
426:Accessed 4 September 2016.
409:Internet Broadway Database
291:
285:that there was no affair.
243:Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo
223:
186:Lady Frederick Berolles –
55:
1240:
867:
832:
709:
670:
660:Creatures of Circumstance
611:
488:
270:The same scene as Act I.
265:
1102:The Hour Before the Dawn
228:
974:Strictly Unconventional
620:The Trembling of a Leaf
612:Short story collections
1248:Somerset Maugham Award
440:Library of Alexandria.
238:
216:Rose (his daughter) –
175:
159:
133:as Lady Frederick and
85:
64:, was produced by the
60:Maugham's first play,
23:
1086:The Moon and Sixpence
814:For Services Rendered
652:The Mixture as Before
529:The Moon and Sixpence
236:
167:
151:
80:
21:
1166:Miss Sadie Thompson
1062:The Vessel of Wrath
886:The Land of Promise
841:On a Chinese Screen
750:The Land of Promise
686:The Vessel of Wrath
482:W. Somerset Maugham
420:The Daily Chronicle
385:W. Somerset Maugham
147:The Daily Chronicle
96:Royal Court Theatre
33:W. Somerset Maugham
22:W. Somerset Maugham
628:The Casuarina Tree
393:, 27 October 1907.
239:
141:Critical reception
24:
1256:
1255:
1094:Christmas Holiday
1078:Too Many Husbands
1022:The Right to Live
990:The Narrow Corner
782:The Constant Wife
718:Loaves and Fishes
569:Christmas Holiday
553:The Narrow Corner
120:Haymarket Theatre
112:Criterion Theatre
70:Loaves and Fishes
1286:
1230:The Painted Veil
1206:The Razor's Edge
1198:Of Human Bondage
1126:Of Human Bondage
1118:The Razor's Edge
1014:The Painted Veil
1006:Of Human Bondage
966:Charming Sinners
806:The Bread-Winner
798:The Sacred Flame
585:The Razor's Edge
537:The Painted Veil
521:Of Human Bondage
471:
464:
457:
448:
447:
441:
433:
427:
424:Footlight Notes.
417:
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391:The Sunday Times
380:
369:
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163:The Sunday Times
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1214:Up at the Villa
1182:The Seventh Sin
1174:The Beachcomber
863:
828:
705:
700:The Unconquered
693:The Lotus Eater
666:
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577:Up at the Villa
497:Liza of Lambeth
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206:W. Graham Brown
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131:Ethel Barrymore
108:Garrick Theatre
62:A Man of Honour
58:
41:Ethel Barrymore
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849:The Summing Up
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171:well-made play
161:A reviewer in
154:Lady Frederick
145:A reviewer in
142:
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129:; it featured
127:Hudson Theatre
100:Lady Frederick
76:Lady Frederick
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28:Lady Frederick
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1038:The Tenth Man
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671:Short stories
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545:Cakes and Ale
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178:Original cast
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66:Stage Society
63:
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1100:
1092:
1084:
1076:
1068:
1060:
1054:Another Dawn
1052:
1046:Isle of Fury
1044:
1036:
1030:Secret Agent
1028:
1020:
1012:
1004:
996:
988:
980:
972:
964:
956:
948:
942:The Magician
940:
934:The Canadian
932:
924:
918:East of Suez
916:
908:
902:The Divorcée
900:
892:
884:
878:The Explorer
876:
855:
847:
839:
820:
812:
804:
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788:
780:
772:
764:
756:
748:
740:
732:
725:
724:
716:
658:
650:
642:
634:
626:
618:
599:
593:Then and Now
591:
583:
575:
567:
559:
551:
543:
535:
527:
519:
513:The Magician
511:
505:Mrs Craddock
503:
495:
436:
431:
419:
415:
403:
398:
390:
384:
365:
318:
315:
306:
302:
298:
295:
287:
283:
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276:
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269:
261:
253:
250:
247:
240:
194:Edmund Breon
188:Ethel Irving
181:
168:
162:
160:
153:
152:
146:
144:
124:
104:Ethel Irving
99:
90:
86:
81:
75:
74:
69:
61:
59:
51:
46:The Divorcee
44:
37:Ethel Irving
27:
26:
25:
15:
1222:Being Julia
998:Our Betters
869:Adaptations
833:Non-fiction
758:Our Betters
135:Bruce McRae
116:New Theatre
92:Otho Stuart
1269:1907 plays
1263:Categories
1070:The Letter
958:The Letter
926:The Circle
910:Jack Straw
790:The Letter
774:The Circle
344:References
319:Among the
72:produced.
94:, at the
742:Penelope
636:Ashenden
601:Catalina
321:epigrams
312:Epigrams
118:and the
1241:Related
1142:Quartet
822:Sheppey
644:Ah King
561:Theatre
407:at the
292:Act III
224:Summary
165:wrote:
149:wrote:
56:History
1233:(2006)
1225:(2004)
1217:(2000)
1209:(1984)
1201:(1964)
1193:(1962)
1185:(1957)
1177:(1954)
1169:(1953)
1161:(1951)
1158:Encore
1153:(1950)
1145:(1948)
1137:(1947)
1129:(1946)
1121:(1946)
1113:(1946)
1105:(1944)
1097:(1944)
1089:(1942)
1081:(1940)
1073:(1940)
1065:(1938)
1057:(1937)
1049:(1936)
1041:(1936)
1033:(1936)
1025:(1935)
1017:(1934)
1009:(1934)
1001:(1933)
993:(1933)
985:(1932)
977:(1930)
969:(1929)
961:(1929)
953:(1928)
945:(1926)
937:(1926)
929:(1925)
921:(1925)
913:(1920)
905:(1919)
897:(1917)
889:(1917)
881:(1915)
860:(1954)
852:(1938)
844:(1922)
825:(1933)
817:(1932)
809:(1930)
801:(1928)
793:(1927)
785:(1926)
777:(1921)
769:(1919)
761:(1917)
753:(1913)
745:(1909)
737:(1909)
729:(1907)
721:(1902)
663:(1947)
655:(1940)
647:(1933)
639:(1928)
631:(1926)
623:(1921)
604:(1948)
596:(1946)
588:(1944)
580:(1941)
572:(1939)
564:(1937)
556:(1932)
548:(1930)
540:(1925)
532:(1919)
524:(1915)
516:(1908)
508:(1902)
500:(1897)
489:Novels
266:Act II
114:, the
110:, the
894:Smith
734:Smith
710:Plays
478:Works
229:Act I
1150:Trio
982:Rain
679:Rain
480:by
1265::
373:^
352:^
245:.
49:.
702:"
698:"
695:"
691:"
688:"
684:"
681:"
677:"
470:e
463:t
456:v
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