''The Good Companions'' is a novel by the English author

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

. Written in 1929, it follows the fortunes of a concert party on a tour of England. It is Priestley's most famous novel and established him as a national figure. It won the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

and was adapted twice into film.

Plot summary

The novel is written in

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

style and opens with the middle-aged, discontented Jess Oakroyd in the fictional

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

town of Bruddersford. He opts to leave his family and seek adventure "on t'road". (Throughout the novel Priestley uses dialect for all non- RP speakers of English.) He heads south down the Great North Road. Intertwined with the story of Oakroyd's travels are those of Elizabeth Trant and Inigo Jollifant, two similarly malcontented individuals. Miss Trant is an upper-middle-class spinster and Jollifant is a teacher at a down-at-heel private school. All three ultimately encounter one another when a failing concert troupe ('The Dinky Doos') are disbanding as a result of their manager's running off with the takings. The independently wealthy Miss Trant, against the advice of her relatives, decides to refloat the troupe, now known as The Good Companions. Inigo plays piano and writes songs, Oakroyd is the odd-job man and the troupe has also been joined by Mr Morton Mitcham (a travelling banjo player and conjuror whom Inigo met earlier on his own odyssey). The other members of the troupe are comedian Jimmy Nunn, song-and-dance man Jerry Jerningham, singers Elsie Longstaff, Courtney (aka Joe) Brundit and Joe's wife (referred to as Mrs Joe) and singer-comedienne Susie Dean. The troupe have various adventures round the shires of middle England. After a sabotaged performance the troupe disband: Jerry marries Lady Partlit, a fan; Susie and Inigo become successful and famous in London; Miss Trant marries a long-lost sweetheart; Jess Oakroyd emigrates to Canada and the other performers carry on with their life on the road.

Literary significance and reception

''The Good Companions'' was an instant hit on publication but was not particularly well regarded by critics. Nevertheless it remained popular for more than forty years. It then fell out of favour, not only because the novel was written from a (rather old-fashioned) middle-class perspective but also because it dealt with a phenomenon (a travelling music hall troupe) that no longer existed. More recently there has been a reappraisal of this and other Priestley works: a new edition of ''The Good Companions'' appeared in October 2007 with a foreword by Dame

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

, accompanying a reappraisal of the various versions by

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ''The Dresser'' (for w ...

, André Previn and

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. Career Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his family ...

amongst others. In

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

's 1932 novel '' Stamboul Train'', Priestley is satirized as Quin Savory, author of ''The Great Gay Round'', the Cockney genius who usually remembered to drop his aitches.

Dramatic adaptations

1931 theatrical adaptation

Priestley collaborated with

Edward Knoblock Edward Knoblock (born Edward Gustavus Knoblauch; 7 April 1874 – 19 July 1945) was a playwright and novelist, originally American and later a naturalised British citizen. He wrote numerous plays, often at the rate of two or three a year, of whic ...

on a stage version of his novel, which opened at His Majesty's Theatre, London, on 14 May 1931. It ran for nine months, with Edward Chapman,

Edith Sharpe Edith Mary Sharpe (14 September 1894 – 6 June 1984) was a British actress. Born in Hackney, London. She married Alexander Francis Part in 1931 and had one child. She appeared in TV series such as Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars, Emergency Ward ...

and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

in the cast.

1933 film version

The first film version appeared hard on the heels of the play. Produced by Gaumont, it starred

as Ingo Jollifant, Jessie Matthews as Susie Dean and

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

as Jess Oakroyd.

1957 film version

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

remake was directed by

J. Lee Thompson John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was a British film director, active in London and Hollywood, best known for award-winning films such as ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'', ''Ice Cold in Alex'' and '' The Guns of Navarone'' along w ...

for Associated British Picture Corporation and starred

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

as Oakroyd, Celia Johnson as Miss Trant,

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell OBE (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo s ...

as Lady Partlit,

Janette Scott Thora Janette Scott (born 14 December 1938) is an English retired actress. Life and career Scott was born on 14 December 1938 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. She is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird and began her acting ca ...

as Susie Dean,

John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...

as Inigo Jollifant and Rachel Roberts as Elsie and Effie Longstaff. This version updates the narrative and music to the late 'fifties (with a score by Laurie Johnson) when touring shows were in decline. It did not replicate the success of the book and signified the end of the novel's popular success. It came to be typified by the contemporaneous

Angry Young Men The "angry young men" were a group of mostly working- and middle-class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. The group's leading figures included John Osborne and Kingsley Amis; other popular figures included Jo ...

of British stage and screen as the kind of unrealistic depiction of working-class Britain they were struggling to be free of.

1974 stage musical

On 11 July 1974 a musical adaptation, directed by

Braham Murray Braham Sydney Murray, OBE (12 February 1943 – 25 July 2018) was an English theatre director. In 1976, he was one of five founding Artistic Directors of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, and the longest-serving (he retired in 2012). Ear ...

with a libretto by

, music by André Previn and lyrics by Johnny Mercer (in his last show) opened at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

in London – the same venue as the stage play more than forty years earlier (having had its world premiere at the Palace Theatre in Manchester). The cast included

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

as Oakroyd,

as Miss Trant and

Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 13 December 1943) is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in '' Evita'', before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take T ...

as Susie Dean. It was revived in 2000 at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco. In October 2001 it was performed at the

York Theatre York Theatre is an off-Broadway theatre company based in East Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In its 50th year, York Theatre is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each seas ...

in New York City as part of the York's ‘Musicals in Mufti’ reading series.

1980 TV version

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

series appeared in 1980, adapted by

. It starred

Judy Cornwell Judy Valerie Cornwell (born 22 February 1940) is an English actress and writer best known for her role as Daisy in the successful British sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995). She also played Anya Claus in '' Santa Claus: The Movie' ...

as Elizabeth Trant and John Stratton as Jess Oakroyd. (Music composed by David Fanshawe. Executive Producer – David Cunliffe, Producer – Leonard Lewis, Directors – Leonard Lewis and Bill Hays.1980 TV version

IMDB.com IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

website. Retrieved on 10 March 2008.)

1995 stage musical

Peter Cheeseman Peter Barrie Cheeseman, CBE (27 January 1932, Cowplain, Hampshire – 27 April 2010, Stoke-on-Trent) was a British theatre director who is credited with having pioneered "theatre in the round". Early life His father's work as a Naval Commun ...

commissioned Bob Eaton (Book and Lyrics) and Sayan Kent (Book and Music) to write a new stage musical version for the

New Vic Theatre The New Vic Theatre is a purpose-built theatre in the round in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The theatre opened in 1986, replacing a converted cinema, the Victoria Theatre in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent. History In the early 1960s, Stephen J ...

, Newcastle Under Lyme. It was directed by Bob Eaton. It has since been performed at the Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, in 2002, directed by Ian Forrest, the

New Wolsey Theatre The New Wolsey Theatre is an award-winning producing theatre with a café & bar in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a midsized regional theatre, having a seating capacity of 400. History It replaced The Arts Theatre, the town's much loved and respecte ...

, Ipswich, in 2003 directed by Peter Rowe and in 1998 it was the 40th Anniversary production at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, where Bob Eaton was Artistic Director (1996 to 2003).

2009 stage musical

The

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. ...

produced an all-new musical version at the Bristol Old Vic Studio in November 2009. Directed by the school's Artistic Director, Sue Wilson, it featured a new script and score by Malcolm McKee, design by Sue Mayes and choreography by Gail Gordon.

Radio adaptations

In 1994

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

broadcast an adaptation featuring

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

as Jess Oakroyd and

Hannah Gordon Hannah Campbell Grant Gordon
Film reference website (born 9 April 1941) is a Scottish actress and presenter ...

as Miss Trant. On 4, 11 and 18 August 2002

broadcast a three-part dramatisation of Priestley's novel by Eric Pringle, with Helen Longworth as Suzie Dean, Philip Jackson as Jess Oakroyd, Jemma Churchill as Elizabeth Trant and Nicholas Boulton as Inigo Jolliphant. The production was directed by Claire Grove and was rebroadcast on

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...

from 25 to 27 May 2010.

broadcast a 90-minute adaptation by John Retallack on 24 February 2018, directed by David Hunter and featuring

Ralph Ineson Ralph Michael Ineson (; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling, Yorkshire-accented voice, his most notable roles include William in '' The Witch'', Dagmer Cleftjaw in ''Game of Thrones'', Amycus Ca ...

as Jess Oakroyd,

Fenella Woolgar Fenella Justine Therese Woolgar (born 4 August 1969) is an English film, theatre, television and radio actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''Bright Young Things'' (2003) and '' Judy'' (2019). She is also well known for appearing i ...

as Miss Trant, Roy Hudd as Jimmy Nunn, Oliver Gomm as Inigo Jollifant and Isabella Inchbald as Susie Dean.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Companions, The 1929 British novels British novels adapted into plays British novels adapted into television shows Novels adapted into radio programs Novels by J. B. Priestley Picaresque novels Heinemann (publisher) books British novels adapted into films