{{Short description|Play by Walter Hackett}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} {{Infobox play | name = Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | writer = [[Walter Hackett]] | characters = | setting = | premiere = {{Start date|1921|07|19|df=yes}} | place = [[Criterion Theatre]] | orig_lang = English | subject = | genre = [[Comedy]] | web = }}
'''''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure''''' is a 1921 [[Play (theatre)|play]] written by [[Walter Hackett]]. It was a hit on the [[West End theatre|West End]], where it ran for 18 months, and also on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]], where it was performed under the title '''''Captain Applejack'''''. It has been adapted multiple times as a movie and also as a stage [[Musical theatre|musical]].
==Plot== Ambrose Applejohn is bored with his life in [[Cornwall]], where he lives with his ward, Poppy Faire. He decides to sell his country estate so he can find excitement elsewhere. Several strangers appear at his door, all claiming reasons to be there that have nothing to do with the sale. One woman says she is a Russian dancer trying to defect, and a man claims to be looking for her. A couple says their car has broken down. Applejohn assumes they are all really prospective buyers investigating his home.
That night Applejohn dreams he is a pirate, Captain Applejack. His visitors appear in the dream as his adversaries. The next day, he discovers that the visitors are thieves hunting for a [[treasure map]] hidden in the house. Applejohn and Faire overcome the criminals, and he decides that life in Cornwall is exciting enough after all.
==Productions== [[File:London Criterion Theatre 2007.jpg|thumb|The play debuted at London's [[Criterion Theatre]] in 1921.]] The play was [[Preview (theatre)|previewed]] at the [[Theatre Royal, Brighton]] on 11 July 1921, under the title ''Spanish Treasure''. After being retitled ''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure'', it made its [[West End theatre|West End]] debut at the [[Criterion Theatre]] on 19 July 1921. [[Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1858)|Charles Hawtrey]] produced and starred as Applejohn; [[Marion Lorne]] played Poppy Faire. The play continued at the Criterion over a year, until 19 August 1922, with 454 performances.<ref name="London107">{{cite book |title=The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |first=J. P. |last=Wearing |edition=2nd |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8108-9301-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5vFEAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 107]}}</ref> It then moved to the [[Savoy Theatre]] on the [[Strand, London|Strand]], opening there on 2 October 1922 and running until 27 January 1923, with 139 performances.<ref name="London184">{{cite book |title=The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |first=J. P. |last=Wearing |edition=2nd |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8108-9301-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5vFEAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 184]}}</ref>
While the West End production was still ongoing, a [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] production was launched, this time titled ''Captain Applejack''. [[Wallace Eddinger]] played Applejohn, with [[Phoebe Foster]] as Faire. [[Sam H. Harris]] produced. It opened on 30 December 1921 at the [[Cort Theatre]], where it ran for 195 performances, closing in June 1922.
In 1922 the play made its first appearance in [[Australia]], opening at the [[Criterion Theatre (Sydney)|Criterion Theatre]] in [[Sydney]] on 2 September 1922, with [[Lawrence Grossmith]] starring as Applejohn.<ref>{{cite news |title=''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure'' |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 September 1922 |page=5 |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16022727}}</ref>
==Cast and characters== The characters and cast from the West End and Broadway productions are given below: [[File:Charles Hawtrey 2163476538 bd65edb3dd o.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Black and white portrait of a white man standing in formal clothes.|[[Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1858)|Charles Hawtrey]] produced and starred in the West End production.]] [[File:Hilda Moore 1921.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Black and white portrait of a white woman wearing a fur-trimmed coat.|[[Hilda Moore]] played Anna Valeska in the West End production.]] {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |+ Cast of the West End and Broadway productions ! scope="col" | Character ! scope="col" | Criterion Theatre cast<ref name="London107" /> ! scope="col" | Savoy Theatre cast<ref name="London184" /> ! scope="col" | Cort Theatre cast<ref name="woollcott">{{cite news |title=The Play |first=Alexander |last=Woollcott |author-link=Alexander Woollcott |work=The New York Times |date=31 December 1921 |volume=71 |issue=23,352 |page=14 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/12/31/archives/the-play.html}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" |Ambrose Applejohn |[[Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1858)|Charles Hawtrey]]||Charles Hawtrey||[[Wallace Eddinger]] |- ! scope="row" |Poppy Faire |[[Marion Lorne]]||Marion Lorne||[[Phoebe Foster]] |- ! scope="row" |Horace Pengard |[[Edward Rigby]]||{{Plainlist| *Edward Rigby *Alec F. Thompson}} |[[Ferdinand Gottschalk]] |- ! scope="row" |Lush |Arthur Fayne||Arthur Fayne||John Gray |- ! scope="row" |Mrs. Pengard |[[Annie Esmond]]||Annie Esmond||[[Helen Lackaye]] |- ! scope="row" |Anna Valeska |[[Hilda Moore]]||Hilda Moore||[[Mary Nash (actress)|Mary Nash]] |- ! scope="row" |Ivan Borolsky |{{Plainlist| *[[Leslie Faber (actor)|Leslie Faber]] *Clifton Alderson}} |[[William Stack]]||[[Hamilton Revelle]] |- ! scope="row" |Dennett |{{Plainlist| *Wilson Blake *C. Fairlie}} |Wilson Blake||Walter F. Scott |- ! scope="row" |Johnny Jason |{{Plainlist| *H. V. Surrey *Austin Fairman}} |Austin Fairman||Harold Vermilye |- ! scope="row" |Mrs. Agatha Whatcombe |Mona Harrison||Mona Harrison||[[Marie Wainwright]] |- ! scope="row" |Marie |{{Plainlist| *Winifred McCarthy *[[Christine Rayner]]}} |Christine Rayner|| |- ! scope="row" |Palmer | || ||Maud Andrew |}
==Reception== A reviewer for ''[[The Spectator]]'' "thoroughly enjoyed" the play, despite criticizing it as "silly" and "loosely put together".<ref>{{cite news |title=''Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure'' at the Criterion Theatre |work=The Spectator |date=30 July 1921 |page=141 |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/30th-july-1921/17/ambrose-applejohns-adventure-at-the-criterion-thea}}</ref> In ''The New York Times'', [[Alexander Woollcott]] praised the play as a "droll and ingenious farce".<ref name="woollcott"/>
==Adaptations== In 1923, [[Louis B. Mayer]] produced an adaptation of the play as a [[silent film]], titled ''[[Strangers of the Night]]'', directed by [[Fred Niblo]], and which starred [[Matt Moore (actor)|Matt Moore]], [[Enid Bennett]], and [[Barbara La Marr]].
[[Warner Brothers]] produced a [[sound film]] adaptation, titled ''[[Captain Applejack]]'', in 1931. [[John Halliday (actor)|John Halliday]] and [[Mary Brian]] starred, with direction by [[Hobart Henley]].
In 1933, [[R. P. Weston]] and [[Bert Lee]] created a stage musical, ''[[He Wanted Adventure]]'', based on Hackett's play.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * The full text of ''[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b298635&view=1up&seq=7 Captain Applejack]'' at [[HathiTrust Digital Library]] * {{IBDB show|10442|Captain Applejack}}
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[[Category:1921 plays]] [[Category:Broadway plays]] [[Category:British comedy plays]] [[Category:English-language plays]] [[Category:British plays adapted into films]] [[Category:Plays by Walter Hackett]] [[Category:West End plays]] [[Category:Dreams in theatre]]