French_Without_Tears
French Without Tears
1936 play by Terence Rattigan
French Without Tears is a comic play written by a 25-year-old Terence Rattigan in 1936.
| French Without Tears | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Terence Rattigan |
| Date premiered | 1936 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
![](./File:"French_Without_Tears".jpg){kind=link}
It takes place in a cram school for adults needing to acquire French for business reasons. Scattered throughout are Franglais phrases and schoolboy misunderstandings of the French language.
The play was inspired by a 1933 visit to a village called Marxzell in the Black Forest, where young English gentlemen went to cram German.
The play was a success on its London debut, establishing Rattigan as a dramatist. A critic thought it "gay, witty, thoroughly contemporary ... with a touch of lovable truth behind all its satire."[1]
It ran for over 1,000 performances in London, and over 100 in New York.[2] It also established Rex Harrison as a major star.
The play, directed by Harold French, opened on 6 November 1936 at the Criterion Theatre, London, with the following cast:[3]
- Alan Howard - Rex Harrison
- Brian Curtis - Guy Middleton
- Commander Bill Rogers - Roland Culver
- Diana Lake - Kay Hammond
- Jacqueline Maingot - Jessica Tandy
- Kenneth Lake - Trevor Howard
- Kit Neilan - Robert Flemyng
- Lord Heybrook - William Dear
- Marianne/t/o Jacqueline Maingot - Yvonne Andre
- Monsieur Maingot - Percy Walsh
A film version, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland, was released in 1940.[4] In 1960 Rattigan himself refashioned the work as the musical Joie de Vivre but it was not a success.[5]
A television production was featured in the Saturday Playhouse TV series on 7 June 1958, with Denholm Elliott, Elvi Hale, Colin Broadley, Nicholas Parsons, and Andrew Irvine[6] and another in the BBC's Play of the Month series on 16 May 1976, starring Nigel Havers, Anthony Andrews and David Robb.[7]
A radio version directed by Gerry Jones was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 25 December 1986, repeated on 14 May 1989 and 20 July 1992.[8]
- "Terence Rattigan". terencerattigan.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- "Production of French Without Tears - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
- "French without Tears". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
- Wright, Adrian (2012). West End Broadway : the Golden Age of American musical in London. Woodbridge, England: Boydell & Brewer. p. 163. ISBN 9781843837916.
- Saturday Playhouse; Episode 12: French Without Tears (7 June 1958), IMDb.com. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- Play of the Month; French Without Tears (16 May 1976), bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
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