Abie's Irish Rose
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''Abie's Irish Rose'' is a popular comedy by
Anne Nichols Anne Nichols (November 26, 1891 – September 15, 1966) was an American playwright best known as the author of ''Abie's Irish Rose''. Biography Anne Nichols was born in obscure Dales Mill, in Wayne County, Georgia, Wayne County, Georgia (U.S. s ...
, which premiered in 1922. Initially a
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 Stre ...
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
, it has become familiar through repeated stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premise involves an
Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...
girl and a young
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish man who marry despite the objections of their families.


Theater and films

Although it initially received poor reviews—with the notable exception of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', which reviewed it favorably—the Broadway play was a commercial hit, running for 2,327 performances between May 23, 1922, and October 1, 1927. At the time, this was the longest run in Broadway theater history, surpassing the record 1,291 performances set by the
Winchell Smith Winchell Smith (5 April 1871 – 10 June 1933) was an American playwright, known for big hit works such as ''Brewster's Millions'' (1906) and '' Lightnin' '' (1918). Many of his plays were made into movies. He spent freely but left a large fortun ...
and Frank Bacon 1918 play, '' Lightnin'''. The show's touring company had a similarly long run and held the record for longest-running touring company for nearly 40 years, until that record was broken by '' Hello, Dolly!'' in the 1960s. The touring company's male lead was future Hollywood star
George Brent George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included ''Jezebel'' and ''Dark Victory ...
, in his first major role; the female lead was Peggy Parry. ''Abie's Irish Rose'' was revived on Broadway in 1937 and again, in an updated version, in 1954. The play inspired two films. The first, released in 1928, stars
Charles "Buddy" Rogers Charles Edward "Buddy" Rogers (August 13, 1904 – April 21, 1999) was an American film actor and musician. During the peak of his popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was publicized as "America's Boyfriend". Life and career Earl ...
and
Nancy Carroll Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...
, directed by
Victor Fleming Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were the historical drama ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an A ...
. A 1946 version stars Richard Norris and
Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', '' She Wore a Yellow Ribb ...
, directed by A. Edward Sutherland and produced by
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
. The 1946 film was severely criticized for being at best, outdated, and at worst defamatory. The premise was widely imitated, and Anne Nichols sued one imitator, Universal Pictures, which produced ''
The Cohens and Kellys ''The Cohens and Kellys'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Charles Murray, George Sidney, Kate Price, and Jason Robards Sr. The film is the first of the ''Cohens and Kellys'' film serials. The ...
'', a motion picture play about an Irish boy who marries a Jewish girl from feuding families. However, in ''
Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp. ''Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corporation'', 45 F.2d 119 ( 2d Cir. 1930), was a United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit case on copyright infringement by non-literal copying of a dramatic work. The Court held that copyright prote ...
'', the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...
found for the defendant, holding that
copyright protection A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, e ...
cannot be extended to the characteristics of
stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...
s in a story, whether it be a book, play or film.


Radio

A weekly
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
radio series, ''Abie's Irish Rose'', replaced ''Knickerbocker Playhouse'' and ran from January 24, 1942, through September 2, 1944. Faced with listener protests about its stereotyped ethnic portrayals, the radio series was cancelled in 1945. Nichols wrote the scripts. Axel Gruenbert and Joe Rines directed the cast, which starred Richard Bond, Sydney Smith,
Richard Coogan Richard Charles Potter Coogan (April 4, 1914 – March 12, 2014) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Captain Video in ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' from 1949 to 1950. Career Born in Madison, New Jersey, Coogan worked ...
and Clayton "Bud" Collyer as Abie Levy. Betty Winkler,
Mercedes McCambridge Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress". She won an Academy Award for Best Support ...
, Julie Stevens,
Bernard Gorcey Bernard Gorcey (born Baruch Ugorsky; 9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was an American actor. He began in Vaudeville, performed on Broadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski i ...
, and Marion Shockley portrayed Rosemary Levy. Solomon Levy was played by Alfred White, Charlie Cantor and
Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...
. Others in the radio cast include:
Charme Allen Charme Allen (born Charme Willa Wright,Knox, Charles Victor (April 20, 1935)"Charme Allen a Dependable Studio Theater Performer" ''The Buffalo News''. p. 19. November 19, 1890 – October 4, 1980)Wilson, Scott (2016)Resting Places: The Buri ...
(as Mrs. Mueller), Richard Gordon,
Roger DeKoven Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
and Martin Wolfson (Rabbi Samuels, aka Dr. Samuels), Walter Kinsella (Patrick Murphy),
Menasha Skulnik Menasha Skulnik (; May 15, 1890 – June 4, 1970) was an American actor, primarily known for his roles in Yiddish theater in New York City. Skulnik was also popular on radio, playing Uncle David on ''The Goldbergs (broadcast series), The Goldbergs ...
(Isaac Cohen), Anna Appel (Mrs. Cohen), Ann Thomas (Casey), Bill Adams (Father Whelan), Amanda Randolph (maid) and Dolores Gillenas (the Levys' twins). The announcer was Howard Petrie, and Joe Stopak provided the music. The opening theme music was "My Wild Irish Rose" by
Chauncey Olcott Chauncey Olcott, born John Chancellor Olcott and often spelled Chauncey Alcott (July 21, 1858 – March 18, 1932), was an American stage actor, songwriter and singer of Irish descent. Biography He was born in Buffalo, New York. His mother, Mar ...
.


Plot

Nichols' original Broadway play has the couple meeting in France during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The young man is a wounded soldier and the girl a nurse who tended him. The priest and the rabbi from the wedding are veterans of the same war, and recognize one another from their time in the service. The rest of the plot was summarized by Judge
Learned Hand Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 a ...
in his opinion on the copyright lawsuit filed by Nichols: :''"Abie's Irish Rose'' presents a Jewish family living in prosperous circumstances in New York. The father, a widower, is in business as a merchant, in which his son and only child helps him. The boy has philandered with young women, who to his father's great disgust have always been Gentiles, for he is obsessed with a passion that his daughter-in-law shall be an orthodox Jew. When the play opens the son, who has been courting a young Irish Catholic girl, has already married her secretly before a Protestant minister, and concerned about how to soften the blow for his father securing a favorable reception for his bride, while concealing her faith and race. To accomplish this he introduces her to his father as a Jewish girl in whom he is interested and conceals the fact that they are already married. The girl somewhat reluctantly agrees to the plan; the father takes the bait, becomes infatuated with the girl, insists that they must marry. He assumes they will because it's the father's idea. He calls in a rabbi, and prepares for the wedding according to the Jewish rite. :Meanwhile the girl's father, also a widower who lives in California and is as intense in his own religious antagonism as the Jew, has been called to New York, supposing that his daughter is to marry an Irishman and a Catholic. Accompanied by a priest, he arrives at the house at the moment when the marriage is being celebrated, so too late to prevent it, and the two fathers, each infuriated by the proposed union of his child to a heretic, fall into unseemly and grotesque antics. The priest and the rabbi become friendly, exchange trite sentiments about religion, and agree that the match is good. Apparently out of abundant caution, the priest celebrates the marriage for a third time, while the girl's father is inveigled away. The second act closes with each father, still outraged, seeking to find some way by which the union, thus trebly insured, may be dissolved. :The last act takes place about a year later, the young couple having meanwhile been abjured by each father, and left to their own resources. They have had twins, a boy and a girl, but their fathers know no more than that a child has been born. At Christmas each, led by his craving to see his grandchild, goes separately to the young folks' home, where they encounter each other, each laden with gifts, one for a boy, the other for a girl. After some slapstick comedy, depending upon the insistence of each that he is right about the sex of the grandchild, they become reconciled when they learn the truth, and that each child is to bear the given name of a grandparent. The curtain falls as the fathers are exchanging amenities, and the Jew giving evidence of an abatement in the strictness of his orthodoxy." There have been some variations of the plot, as to setting, or how the characters meet, in later versions of the play or in adaptations for film.


Critical response

Although the play was a tremendous popular success, it was almost universally loathed by the critics.
Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, newspaper columnist and actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays ...
, then the theatre critic for ''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine, nursed a particular hatred for it. Part of Benchley's job was to write capsule reviews each week. He described ''Abie's Irish Rose'' variously as "Something Awful", "Just about as low as good clean fun can get", "Showing that the Jews and the Irish crack equally old jokes", "The comic spirit of 1876", "People laugh at this every night, which explains why democracy can never be a success", "Will the Marines never come?" and finally "Hebrews 13:8," a Biblical passage that reads, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” He also held a contest for an outsider to contribute the capsule review, which
Harpo Marx Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico, Harp ...
won with "No worse than a bad cold." In a generally favorable review, the ''New York Times'' noted the positive audience response, and closed with: “Personally, we hope to be present at little Rebecca Rachel and Patrick Joseph Levy's second birthday, if not their Hudson-Fulton centennial.” Writing in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' about the 1937 revival,
Wolcott Gibbs Wolcott Gibbs (March 15, 1902 – August 16, 1958) was an American editor, humorist, theatre critic, playwright and writer of short stories, who worked for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1927 until his death. He is notable for his 1936 parody ...
said that "it had, in fact, the rather eerie quality of a repeated nightmare; the one, perhaps, in which I always find myself in an old well, thick with bats, and can't get out." The Anti-Defamation League protested the use of Jewish stereotypes in the 1946 film version, claiming it "will reinforce, if it does not actually create, greater doubt and keener misconceptions, as well as outright prejudice." Reflecting on the play's message of social tolerance,
Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
wrote about the 1954 revival, "What was a comic strip joke in 1922 is a serious problem today. Every now and then ''Abie's Irish Rose'' strikes a sensitive chord. For good will is in shorter supply now than it was thirty-two years ago." Contemporary scholar Jordan Schildcrout reads ''Abie's Irish Rose'' in relation to rising anxieties about immigration during the 1920s, as well as to current events such as the establishment of the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
(1921), the
British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...
(1922), and the restrictive
Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from every count ...
. He writes, "In an era when anti-Jewish and anti-Irish sentiments were prominent, the play's representation of ethnic pride might have empowered audiences, while also offering them a happy fantasy of belonging and becoming increasingly 'American,' and therefore not subject to the old prejudices and ethnic rivalries."


Cultural references

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bo ...
expressed the feeling of many in the theater world in these lines for "Manhattan": "Our future babies we'll take to ''Abie's Irish Rose''—I hope they'll live to see it close." The play was popular enough for its title to be referenced in a pun in the Marx Brothers film ''
Animal Crackers An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker (food), cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and sli ...
'', in the lyrics of the
Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...
song "Ace in the Hole", the
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...
song "I'm Still Here", and the song "The Legacy" from the musical ''
On the Twentieth Century ''On the Twentieth Century'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Based partly on the 1932 play '' Twentieth Century'' and its 1934 film adaptation, the musical is part operetta, part farce ...
''.


Thematic legacy

''Abie's Irish Rose'' prefigured the comedy of
Stiller and Meara Stiller and Meara were a husband-and-wife Double act, comedy team made up of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara that was popular primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. The duo made frequent appearances on television variety shows such as ''The Ed Sullivan S ...
(
Jerry Stiller Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American comedian and actor. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 20 ...
and
Anne Meara Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American comedian and actress. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer Ben S ...
), a husband-and-wife comedy team popular in the 1960s and 1970s who often spiked their routines with references to their different backgrounds (Stiller was Jewish; Meara was of an Irish Catholic background but converted to Judaism later during their marriage). The play also provided the central premise for the 1972–1973 television series ''
Bridget Loves Bernie ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to March 3, 1973. The series, created by Bernard Slade, depicted an interfaith marriage between a Catholic woman and a Jewish man. It stars Meredith Baxte ...
'' (
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
), starring
Meredith Baxter Meredith Ann Baxter (born June 21, 1947) is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles on the CBS sitcom ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' (1972–1973), ABC drama series ''Family'' (1976–1980) and the NBC sitcom ''Family Ties'' (1982 ...
and
David Birney David Edwin Birney (April 23, 1939 – April 27, 2022) was an American actor and director whose career included performances in both contemporary and classical roles in theatre, film, and television. He is noted for having played the title role ...
(who later married in real life) in a socio-economic reversal of ''Abie's Irish Rose:'' Birney plays struggling young Jewish cab driver/aspiring playwright Bernie Steinberg, whose parents run a modest family delicatessen, and Baxter plays Bridget Fitzgerald, the Irish Catholic daughter of wealthy parents, who falls in love with and elopes with Steinberg to the disappointment of both sets of parents. (Both actors were Protestant.) The show was attacked by a broad range of Jewish groups for allegedly promoting inter-faith marriage, and it was cancelled at the end of its first season, despite being the fifth-highest-rated series of the 1972–1973 year on USA broadcast television. Two decades later, with social attitudes changing in the U.S., CBS ran another television series, ''
Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...
'' (1991–1993), the quasi-autobiographical childhood memoir of its Jewish creator,
Gary David Goldberg Gary David Goldberg (June 25, 1944 – June 22, 2013) was an American writer and producer for television and film. Goldberg was best known for his work on '' Family Ties'' (1982–89), '' Spin City'' (1996–2002), and his semi-autobiographical te ...
. It features a continuing romance between two teenage characters, a Jewish boy and an Irish Catholic girl. It ran two seasons, and the sixth (two-part) episode of the first season, titled ''War of the Worlds'', explores the tensions of this inter-faith relationship in its fictional mid-1950s Brooklyn setting. Goldberg previously created another quasi-autobiographical television series, ''
Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...
'', inspired by his adult life, in which the female lead, the alter-ego of his real-life Irish Catholic partner, is portrayed by Meredith Baxter, the actress who starred in the ill-fated ''Bridget Loves Bernie''.


See also

* ''
The Cohens and Kellys ''The Cohens and Kellys'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Charles Murray, George Sidney, Kate Price, and Jason Robards Sr. The film is the first of the ''Cohens and Kellys'' film serials. The ...
''


References


External links

* *
''Abie's Irish Rose'' on Way Back When

The Glowing Dial: ''Abie's Irish Rose'' (January 13, 1943)1923 Playbill
for the play's performance at the Republic Theater in New York
82 Years Ago: ''Abie’s Irish Rose''
{{s-end 1922 plays 1940s American radio programs American comedy radio programs Broadway plays Jewish comedy and humor American plays adapted into films NBC radio programs Plays set in New York City Religious comedy and humour Interfaith romance in fiction