''What Happened to Jones'' is an 1897 farce by

George Broadhurst George Howells Broadhurst (June 3, 1866 – January 31, 1952) was an Anglo-American theatre owner/manager, director, producer and playwright. His plays were most popular from the late 1890s into the 1920s. Biography Broadhurst was born in Wal ...

. It was his first successful play and remained popular for many years, and was also adapted into three silent films.(1 February 1952)
G. Broadhurst, 85, Playwright, Dead, Author of 'Wrong Mr. Wright,' 'A Fool and His Money' and Many Other Hit Shows
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', p. 21, col. 1.

Production

''What Happened to Jones'' was Broadhurst's second play to be staged, after the flop of his first play, ''The Speculator'' (1896). Broadhurst had to become his own producer, with funding from his brother Thomas, as he could find no one else to take it on. After four warmup performances in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

,(17 August 1897)
What Happened to Jones
''New Haven Morning Journal and Courier''(23 August 1897)
Hyperion Theatre
''New Haven Morning Journal and Courier''(24 August 1897)
What Happened to Jones - A Sketch of the Plot of the New Play Which Comes Here This Week
''New Haven Morning Journal and Courier''(27 August 1897)
Hyperion Theatre - What Happened to Jones (review)
''New Haven Morning Journal and Courier'' the play debuted on Broadway at the

Manhattan Theatre The Manhattan Theatre was located at 102 West 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, directly across from Greeley Square at Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street. The 1,100-seat theatre opened in 1875 as the Eagle Theatre, and was renamed the ...

on August 30, 1897.(29 August 1897)
Theatres
''

'', p. 8(31 August 1897)
New Theatrical Bills (review)
''

''(29 August 1897)
What Happened to Jones
''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

''(31 August 1897)
New Theatrical Matter (review)
''The Sun''(31 August 1897)
The Drama (review)
''New York Tribune'' It moved to the Bijou Theatre on October 4,Advertisements
''New York Tribune'' (theatre advertisements show ''Jones'' as playing last week at the Manhattan, to be followed by ''The First Born'' on October 5; the Bijou shows it is wrapping Broadhurst's ''The Wrong Mrs. Right'', with ''Jones'' starting on October 4) playing thru November 13,(5 October 1897)
Bijou Theatre
''New York Tribune''(13 November 1897)
Advertisement
''New York Tribune'', p. 8 last column (advertisement for Bijou announces it is last night of the play; to by followed by ''The Swell Miss Fitzwell'' starring

May Irwin May Irwin (born Georgina May Campbell; June 27, 1862 – October 22, 1938) was an actress, singer and star of vaudeville. Originally from Canada, she and her sister Flo Irwin found theater work after their father died. She was known for her per ...

) and after a week off, played Thanksgiving week at the Grand Opera House.(21 November 1897)
Notes of the Stage
''New York Tribune'' That total run was just under 100 performances. The company then took it on tour.(1 January 1898)
English's - What Happened To Jones
''Indianapolis Journal''(4 February 1898)
At the Theatre
''The Morning News'' (Savannah, GA) A largely new cast returned to New York at the Bijou in February 1898.(22 February 1898)
Half a Dozen New Plays
''The Sun'' It had its London debut at The Strand on April 9, 1898, Scott, Clement
The Drama of Yesterday & To-day, Volume 2
p. 554 (1899)(13 August 1898)
What Happened to Jones (review)
''Country Life Illustrated'', p. 189 and enjoyed a long run of 383 performances, and was the last success of John S. Clarke as manager of the Strand.
ArthurLloyd.co.uk, Retrieved 8 December 2020 Charles Arnold starred in this production, and then successfully took it abroad, including to Australia and South Africa.(15 May 1900)
The Theatre Brought Home
''Australian Pastoralists' Review'', p. 172Wearing, J. P
The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel
pp. 387-88 (2d ed. 2014) In 1915, ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism (investigative journ ...

'' magazine noted Broadhurst's and Arnold's success with the play, that ''Jones'' was still being played by stock houses some 18 years after its debut, and could be revived successfully on Broadway if Broadhurst was not so focused on new plays.Richardson, Anna Steese (December 1915)
What's the Use of Being Good?
''

'', p. 9 In 2000, the

Metropolitan Playhouse The Metropolitan Playhouse is a resident producing theater in New York City's East Village. Founded in 1992, the theater is devoted to presenting plays that explore American culture and history, including seldom-produced, "lost" American plays an ...

in New York mounted a revised version of the play with updated dialogue.Graeber, Laurel (18 February 2000)
Family Fare
''

Reception

The critical reviews of the play were lukewarm at best, but acknowledged that audiences were laughing heartily throughout. '' The Sun'' wrote that "there was nothing ingeniously novel in the design of the piece, nor any particularly bright wit or unctuous humor," but it "should not be underrated as a farce of the uproarious kind. It made its first New York audience laugh a great deal." ''

'' found it "an exceedingly artificial piece in which the artifice is plainly apparent from first to last to the critical playgoer, who finds in it some really funny passages, and many others which are almost depressing in spite of the hard labor of the performers." Of George C. Boniface, Jr.'s performance as Jones, the ''Times'' said he "has a droll and quizzical personality, but he has been too busily employed in Mr. Hoyt's farces and comic opera to learn to act."

Broadway cast

* George C. Boniface, Jr. as Jones * George Ober at Ebenezer Goodly * R.F. Cotton at Rev. Anthony Goodly * William Bernard as Richard Heatherly *

Frank Currier Frank Currier (September 4, 1857 – April 22, 1928) was an American film and stage actor and director of the silent era. Career Similar to Theodore Roberts, Kate Lester, Ida Waterman, and William H. Crane, Currier had a long and successfu ...

as William Bigbee * J.W. Cope as Thomas Holder * Phyllis McKee Rankin as Matilda Goodly * Mrs. Eberle as Alvina Starlight * Anna Belmont as Cissy *

Kathryn Osterman Kathryn Osterman (May 5, 1883 – August 29, 1956) was an American comic vaudeville actress on stage and in silent films. Early life Kathryn Osterman was born in Toledo, Ohio, one of the six daughters of M. D. Osterman and Margarete O'Connor Ost ...

as Marjorie * Rose Stuart as Minerva * Pearl Andrews as Helma

Adaptations

The play was adapted to silent films in 1915, 1920, and 1926. The 1915 film was directed by and starred

Fred Mace Fred Mace (August 22, 1878 – February 21, 1917) was a comedic actor during the silent era in the United States. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1909 and 1916. Mace worked for Mack Sennett at Keystone Studios. Shortly after he left, ...

as Jones. The 1920 version starred

Bryant Washburn Franklin Bryant Washburn III (April 28, 1889 – April 30, 1963) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 370 films between 1911 and 1947. Washburn's parents were Franklin Bryant Washburn II and Metha Catherine Johnson Washburn. He a ...

. The 1926 film was directed by

William A. Seiter William Alfred Seiter (June 10, 1890 – July 26, 1964) was an American film director. Life and career Seiter was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Senne ...

and starred Reginald Denny.

References

External links

*
Full text of play
(Samuel French, 1910), via archive.org {{What Happened to Jones 1897 plays