''The Farmer's Wife'' is a

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

play by the British writer

Eden Phillpotts Eden Phillpotts (4 November 1862 – 29 December 1960) was an English author, poet and dramatist. He was born in Mount Abu, India, was educated in Plymouth, Devon, and worked as an insurance officer for ten years before studying for the stage ...

, based on the scenario of his novel ''Widecombe Fair'' (1913). It was first staged in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in 1916. Its London premiere was at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

in 1924. By 1926 when

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

went on tour in the lead role, the play had already been performed 1,300 times.

Synopsis

After his wife dies, a farmer goes through an elaborate attempt to persuade one of his various female neighbours to marry him without realising that the ideal woman is already working as his housekeeper.

Adaptations

Film

The source novel was itself made into a separate film in 1928, directed by Norman Walker. The play was twice adapted to film: the 1928 silent film ''

The Farmer's Wife ''The Farmer's Wife'' is a 1928 British silent romantic comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis and Gordon Harker. It is adapted from a 1916 play of the same name by British novelist, poet an ...

'', directed by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

and starring

Jameson Thomas Jameson Thomas (born Thomas Roland Jameson; 24 March 1888 – 10 January 1939) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939. Biography He was born in St George Hanover Square, London. On the stage from ...

and

Lillian Hall-Davis Lillian Hall-Davis (23 June 1898 – 25 October 1933) was an English actress during the silent film era, featured in major roles in English film and a number of German, French and Italian films. Born Lilian Hall Davis, the daughter of a London ...

, and the 1941 sound film ''

'', directed by

Leslie Arliss Leslie Arliss (6 October 1901 – 30 December 1987) was an English screenwriter and film director, director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as ''The Man in Grey'' and ''The Wicked Lady'' during ...

and starring

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance (Sheldon play), Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he c ...

and

Patricia Roc Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as '' Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and ''The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she on ...

Television

Two versions of the play were made for UK television: in 1955, adapted and directed by Owen Reed, and in 1959, directed by Patrick Dromgoole as part of the ''

Saturday Playhouse ''Saturday Playhouse'' was a 60-minute UK anthology television series produced by and airing on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 4 January 1958 until 1 April 1961. There were sixty-eight episodes, among them adaptations of the pla ...

'' series.

Radio

In 1934, a recording for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

was adapted and produced by Cyril Wood.

Stage

''The Farmer's Wife'' was adapted into a 1951

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 ...

musical entitled '' Courtin' Time'' with a creative team including lyricist

Jack Lawrence Jack Lawrence may refer to: * Jack Lawrence (songwriter) (1912–2009), American songwriter * Jack Lawrence (artist) (born 1975), British comic book artist and animator * Jack Lawrence (bluegrass) (born 1953), American bluegrass guitarist * Jack Law ...

, composer Don Walker, and writer

William Roos William Roos may refer to: * William Roos (artist) (1808–1878), Welsh artist and engraver * William Roos (writer) (1911–1987), American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter See also * William de Ros (disambiguation), a series of English ...

References

Works cited

* Coleman, Terry. ''Olivier: The Authorised Biography''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005. * Williams, Gordon. ''British Theatre in the Great War: A Revaluation''. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003.

External links

* 1916 plays British plays adapted into films Plays set in England West End plays Works by Eden Phillpotts {{1910s-play-stub