''The Midshipmaid'' is a 1931 British

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endin ...

Ian Hay Major General John Hay Beith, CBE MC (17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), was a British schoolmaster and soldier, but is best remembered as a novelist, playwright, essayist, and historian who wrote under the pen name Ian Hay. After rea ...

and Stephen King-Hall, which ran for 227 performances at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was ...

in London's West End. The following year Hay wrote a novel based on the play.

Original cast

*Able Seaman Pook - A.W. Baskcomb *Bandmaster Tappett -

Roger Maxwell Roger Francis Hamilton Maxwell (born 21 March 1941) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party. Early life Maxwell was born in South Canterbury. He obtained his tertiary education at Li ...

*Celia Newbiggin -

Jane Baxter Jane Baxter (9 September 1909 – 13 September 1996) was a British actress. Her stage career spanned half a century, and she appeared in a number of films and in television. Early life Baxter was born as Feodora Kathleen Alice Forde in Bremen, ...

*Commander ffosbery - Basil Foster *Cora Golightly - Marjorie Playfair *Corporal of Marines/Leading Torpedoman Huggins - Henry Thompson *Dora Golightly - Kathleen Kelly *Guest - Nancy Russell *Instructor Lt. Commander Tomkinson - Peter Mather *Lady Mildred Martyn -

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

*Lord Chinley - Terence Downing *Lt. Commander Valentine - Charlton Morton *Lt. Kingsford - Edward Harben *Lucy - Ivy des Voeux *Major Spink -

Michael Shepley Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith (29 September 1907 – 28 September 1961), known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. Shepl ...

*Marine Bundy - S. Victor Stanley *Marine Robbins - D.J. Williams *Marine Smith - Albert Arlen *Midshipman Golightly - Humphrey Morton *Sick Bay Attendant Slingsby/Leading Stoker Hammond - Oliver Gordon *Sir Percy Newbiggin - Clive Currie

Film adaptation

In 1932 it was made into a film of the same title by

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

, starring Jessie Matthews and

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in t ...

.Goble p.212

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1931 plays Plays by Ian Hay Plays by Stephen King-Hall British plays adapted into films Comedy plays West End plays {{1930s-play-stub