''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure'' is a 1921

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

written by Walter Hackett. It was a hit on the West End, where it ran for 18 months, and also on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, where it was performed under the title ''Captain Applejack''. It has been adapted multiple times as a movie and also as a stage

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

Plot

Ambrose Applejohn is bored with his life in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, where he lives with his ward, Poppy Faire. He decides to sell his country estate so he can find excitement elsewhere. Several strangers appear at his door, all claiming reasons to be there that have nothing to do with the sale. One woman says she is a Russian dancer trying to defect, and a man claims to be looking for her. A couple says their car has broken down. Applejohn assumes they are all really prospective buyers investigating his home. That night Applejohn dreams he is a pirate, Captain Applejack. His visitors appear in the dream as his adversaries. The next day, he discovers that the visitors are thieves hunting for a

treasure map A treasure map is a map that marks the location of buried treasure, a lost mine, a valuable secret or a hidden locale. More common in fiction than in reality, "pirate treasure maps" are often depicted in works of fiction as hand drawn and cont ...

hidden in the house. Applejohn and Faire overcome the criminals, and he decides that life in Cornwall is exciting enough after all.

Productions

The play was previewed at the

Theatre Royal, Brighton The Theatre Royal, Brighton is a theatre in Brighton, England presenting a range of West End and touring musicals and plays, along with performances of opera and ballet. History In 1806 the Prince of Wales (later George IV) gave Royal Assent fo ...

on 11 July 1921, under the title ''Spanish Treasure''. After being retitled ''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure'', it made its West End debut at the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development ...

on 19 July 1921. Charles Hawtrey produced and starred as Applejohn;

Marion Lorne Marion Lorne MacDougal or MacDougall (sources differ) (August 12, 1883 – May 9, 1968), known professionally as Marion Lorne, was an American actress of stage, film, and television. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne ...

played Poppy Faire. The play continued at the Criterion over a year, until 19 August 1922, with 454 performances. It then moved to the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

on the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, opening there on 2 October 1922 and running until 27 January 1923, with 139 performances. While the West End production was still ongoing, a

production was launched, this time titled ''Captain Applejack''.

Wallace Eddinger Wallace Eddinger (July 14, 1881/1883 – January 8, 1929) was an American stage actor. He started as a child actor, known as Wally Eddinger. As a child he played Cedric in ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' which starred female child sensation Elsie Le ...

played Applejohn, with

Phoebe Foster Phoebe Foster (born Angeline Egar; July 9, 1896 – June 1975) was an American theater and film actress. Career Foster studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began appearing on Broadway in 1914, starting with a production of Roi ...

as Faire. Sam H. Harris produced. It opened on 30 December 1921 at the

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...

, where it ran for 195 performances, closing in June 1922. In 1922 the play made its first appearance in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, opening at the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 2 September 1922, with

Lawrence Grossmith Lawrence Randall Grossmith (29 March 1877 – 21 February 1944) was an English actor, the son of the Gilbert and Sullivan performer George Grossmith and the brother of the actor-manager George Grossmith Jr. After establishing his career in Edw ...

starring as Applejohn.

Cast and characters

The characters and cast from the West End and Broadway productions are given below: Charles Hawtrey 2163476538 bd65edb3dd o

Reception

A reviewer for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' "thoroughly enjoyed" the play, despite criticizing it as "silly" and "loosely put together". In ''The New York Times'',

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio ...

praised the play as a "droll and ingenious farce".

Adaptations

In 1923,

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

produced an adaptation of the play as a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

, titled '' Strangers of the Night'', directed by

Fred Niblo Fred Niblo (born Frederick Liedtke; January 6, 1874 – November 11, 1948) was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer. Biography He was born Frederick Liedtke (several sources give "Frederico Nobile", apparently erroneously) in Yo ...

, and which starred Matt Moore,

Enid Bennett Enid Eulalie Bennett (15 July 1893 – 14 May 1969) was an Australian silent film actress, mostly active in American film. Early life Bennett was born on 15 July 1893 in York, Western Australia, the daughter of Nellie Mary Louise (''née'' Wa ...

, and

Barbara La Marr Barbara La Marr (born Reatha Dale Watson; July 28, 1896 – January 30, 1926) was an American film actress and screenwriter who appeared in twenty-seven films during her career between 1920 and 1926. La Marr was also noted by the medi ...

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

produced a

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

adaptation, titled ''

Captain Applejack ''Captain Applejack'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film, produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film was directed by Hobart Henley and stars John Halliday, Mary Brian, and Arthur Edmund Carewe.''Pictorial History of the Talkies' ...

'', in 1931. John Halliday and

Mary Brian Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, February 17, 1906 – December 30, 2002) was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films. Early life Brian was born in Corsicana, Texas, the daughter of Taurrence J. ...

starred, with direction by

Hobart Henley Hobart Henley (born Hess Manassah Henle; November 23, 1887 – May 22, 1964) was an American silent film actor, Film director, director, screenwriter and producer. He was involved in over 60 films either as an actor or director or both in his twen ...

. In 1933,

R. P. Weston Robert Patrick Weston ( Harris; 7 March 1878 – 6 November 1936) was an English songwriter. He was responsible for many successful songs and comic monologues between the 1900s and 1930s, mostly written in collaboration with other writers, notab ...

and

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

created a stage musical, '' He Wanted Adventure'', based on Hackett's play.

References

External links

* The full text of
Captain Applejack
' at

HathiTrust Digital Library HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

* {{IBDB show, 10442, Captain Applejack 1921 plays Broadway plays Comedy plays English-language plays British plays adapted into films Plays by Walter C. Hackett West End plays Dreams in theatre