''Goodness, How Sad'' is a play written by the British actor
Robert Morley, which was first performed in 1937. The work was strongly influenced by Morley's affection for provincial theatre.
[Richards p.175]
Synopsis
A British-born
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, ...
idol returns to a small
seaside town where he had once worked as a struggling actor. The visit awakens nostalgic feelings, and he is cast in a play at the local theatre where nobody recognises him as a famous star. After falling in love with his leading lady, he slowly begins to realise that his attempts to recreate the past are doomed to failure.
Film adaptation
In 1939 the play was
adapted into a film directed by
Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to:
* Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician
* Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer
* Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...
at
Ealing Studios. Renamed as ''Return to Yesterday'' the film starred
Clive Brook as the Hollywood star and
Anna Lee as the aspiring young actress he falls in love with. The film had a slightly troubled production, and wasn't released until March 1940.
References
Bibliography
* Richards, Jeffrey. ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929-1939''. I.B. Tauris, 2000.
1937 plays
British plays adapted into films
Plays set in England
{{1930s-play-stub