The Fake is a 1924 play by the British writer

Frederick Lonsdale Frederick Lonsdale (5 February 1881 – 4 April 1954) was a British playwright known for his librettos to several successful musicals early in the 20th century, including '' King of Cadonia'' (1908), ''The Balkan Princess'' (1910), ''Betty'' (1 ...

. It was staged at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in the West End with a cast that included

Godfrey Tearle Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle (12 October 1884 – 9 June 1953) was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential British gentleman on stage and in both British and US films. Biography Born in New York City and brought up in Britain, he was t ...

Franklyn Bellamy Franklyn Bellamy (7 March 1886 in Kuala Lumpur – 15 February 1961 in Bodmin) was an English stage and film actor. In 1924 he appeared in Frederick Lonsdale's melodrama '' The Fake'' in the West End. Partial filmography * '' For Her People'' ...

and

Allan Jeayes Allan John Jeayes (19 January 1885 – 20 September 1963) was an English stage and film actor. Jeayes was born in London Borough of Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, the son of Isaac Herbert Jeayes, archivist and Assistant Keeper of Manuscript ...

. Unlike most of his successful plays, generally

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

-like comedies, this was intended as a serious drama although it contains a

happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protagon ...

. It ran for 211 performances. When the play transferred to

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 ...

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

was originally cast as the female lead, but was replaced by

Frieda Inescort Frieda Inescort (born Frieda Wrightman, 29 June 1901 – 26 February 1976) was a Scottish-born actress best known for creating the role of Sorel Bliss in Noël Coward's play ''Hay Fever'' on Broadway. She also played the shingled lady in Joh ...

.Dick p.25

Film adaptation

In 1927 it was turned into a British

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 ...

'' The Fake'' directed by

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed ...

and starring Henry Edwards,

Elga Brink Elisabeth Margarete Biermann (née Brink, born Frey; 2 April 1905 – 28 October 1985), known professionally as Elga Brink, was a German film actress. Brink rose to prominence in the early 1920s, when she starred in many silent films. Her last sil ...

Juliette Compton Juliette Compton (May 3, 1899 – March 19, 1989) was an American actress whose career began in the silent film era and concluded with ''That Hamilton Woman'' in 1941. Career Compton was born in Columbus, Georgia, on May 3, 1899. She was a ...

and

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Mile ...

References

Bibliography

* Dick, Bernard F. ''Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty''. University Press of Mississippi, 2008. * Donaldson, Frances. ''Freddy Lonsdale''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011. Plays by Frederick Lonsdale 1924 plays British plays adapted into films Plays set in London West End plays {{UK-theat-stub