Beggar on horseback
Beggar on Horseback is a 1924 theatrical comedy in two acts directed by George Simon Kaufman and Marc Connelly .
content
The piece is a parody of an expressionist proverb popular at the time: "Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride at a gallop" or "... he'll ride to hell / devil" ("... he will go to hell" or "to the devil", so to shame the horse, ride). It stood for the parable to give someone prosperity who is not worthy of him or to whom he does not fit (see also Parvenu ) and he will consequently destroy it. This phrase first appeared in Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy of 1621 (Section III, Memb. II).
The play, produced by Winthrop Ames (1870–1937), opposes the temptation to trade artistic talent for financial prosperity. The piece is loosely based on the German drama Hans Sonnenstuster's journey to hell. Cheerful dream game from 1911 by Paul Apel .
action
The focus is on Neil McRae, a poor young composer of classical music . Concerned about how hard he has to work odd jobs to stay afloat, his friends - a doctor who is visiting him and his neighbor, Cynthia Mason, in whom he has more than a passing interest - close to marrying the rich industrialist daughter Gladys Cady. Their father also prefers the light music from Tin Pan Alley . A music that McRae resolutely rejects. He comes into conflict with himself when he is offered the prospect of a very good income in industrial production if he only agrees to give up his "foolish" interest in classical music.
success
The Broadway production premiered on February 12, 1924 at the Broadhurst Theater and ran for 223 performances. The cast included actors such as Roland Young , Osgood Perkins , Spring Byington and Frederic Richard Sullivan . The play was staged again seven months later, on March 21, 1925, at the Shubert Theater and had 16 performances.
45 years later it came back on stage. This time there were initially 13 previews when it had its actual premiere on May 14, 1970 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (in Lincoln Center ). It ran 52 performances and had actors like Leonard Frey and Susan Watson in the cast.
Movie version
On August 24, 1925, Paramount Studios released a silent film of the same name. Directed by James Cruze and starred by Edward Everett Horton . Only three of the original seven film roles remain from the film.