''The River'' is a 1925 play by the British writer

Patrick Hastings Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings (17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was an English barrister and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General. He was educated at Charterhou ...

. It is set in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, where two

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

hunters are in love with the same woman. It ran for 53 performances in the West End, initially at

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...

before transferring to the Lyric Theatre. The cast included

Owen Nares Owen Ramsay Nares (11 August 1888 – 30 July 1943) was an English stage and film actor. Besides his acting career, he was the author of ''Myself, and Some Others'' (1925). Early life Educated at Reading School, Nares was encouraged by his mo ...

Clifford Mollison Clifford Lely Mollison (30 March 1897 – 4 June 1986) was a British stage, film and television actor. He made his stage debut in 1913. He was married to the actress Avril Wheatley. His younger brother was the actor Henry Mollison. Mollison ac ...

Jessie Winter Jessie Winter (1886–1971) was a British stage actress, known for her roles in the West End.Fells p.192 She also appeared in six films between 1917 and 1938. She was married to Austin Melford. Filmography * ''Mary Girl'' (1917) * ''Goodbye'' ...

Helen Ferrers Helen Ferrers (1869–1943), born Helen Finney, was a British stage and film actress. Personal life Helen Finney was born in Cookham in Berkshire, the daughter of a London coal merchant and the younger sister of the actress May Fortescue ( ...

and Leslie Faber.

Film adaptation

In 1927 it was adapted into an American silent film ''

The Notorious Lady ''The Notorious Lady'' is a surviving 1927 American silent drama film produced by Sam E. Rork and distributed by First National Pictures. It was directed by veteran director King Baggot and starred Barbara Bedford and Lewis Stone. The film wa ...

'' by

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

studio

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

, starring Barbara Bedford and

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular '' Andy ...

.Goble p.210

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Wearing, J. P. ''The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1925 plays Plays by Patrick Hastings British plays adapted into films Plays set in Africa West End plays {{1920s-play-stub