A Little Bit of Fluff is a British farce written by Walter W. Ellis which was first staged in 1915 and went on to have a long original run.[1] Starring Ernest Thesiger, it ran at the Criterion Theatre, London, between 1915–1918, for a total of 1241 performances.[2]
Original production
The play opened at the Criterion Theatre on October 27, 1915, with the following cast: [3]
- Ernest Thesiger as Bertrand Tully
- George Desmond as John Ayers
- Marjorie Maxwell as Pamela
- Ruby Miller as Maimie
- Stanley Lathbury as Trippett
- Alfred Drayton as Dr. Bigland
- Violet Gould as Ursula
- Lilian Talbot as Aunt Hannah
- Dulcie Greatwich as Chalmers
Critical reception
Writing of the original production, The Annual Register described the play as "a really first-rate farce", and the performance of Ernest Thesiger (playing the comic hero), as "wonderful".[2]
Other productions
The play, with Stanley Lathbury from the London cast, opened on Broadway in August 1916 at the 39th Street Theatre, but closed after only 17 performances.[4] It was revived in London at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1923, with Thesiger reprising his role as Tully; and at the Ambassadors once more, in 1943.[5][6]
Adaptations
The play was twice turned into films during the silent era. A 1919 film A Little Bit of Fluff, again with Thesiger, Stanley Lathbury and Alfred Drayton, directed by Kenelm Foss; and the 1928 film A Little Bit of Fluff which featured Betty Balfour, the most popular British actress of the day, and Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's elder half-brother.[7][8][9]
References
- ^ Low p.149
- ^ a b ""A Little Bit of Fluff"Ernest Thesiger as Bertram TullyWest Pier, BrightonOctober 11Criterion Theatre, LondonOctober 27, 1915 - ?, 19181241 perf". ernestthesiger.org.
- ^ "Theatre collections: record view - Special Collections & Archives - University of Kent". www.kent.ac.uk.
- ^ League, The Broadway. "A Little Bit of Fluff – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
- ^ Slide, Anthony (13 March 1998). Eccentrics of Comedy. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810835344 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Production of A Little Bit of Fluff - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
- ^ Low, Rachael (13 September 2013). History of British Film (Volume 4): The History of the British Film 1918 - 1929. Routledge. ISBN 9781136206344 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Little Bit of Fluff, A (1928) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Balfour, Betty (1903-1978) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk.
Bibliography
- Low, Rachael. History of the British Film, 1918-1929. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.
External links
- A Little Bit of Fluff at the Internet Broadway Database
A Little Bit of Fluff public domain audiobook at LibriVox
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