The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' It was popular when released, debuting on Broadway on September 28, 1908, and playing for 407 performances at the Bijou Theatre, and on the roof garden of the
New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built fro ...
during the summer of 1909.
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' it was produced by William A. Brady and Joseph R. Grismer, and was one of the "major hits of its day."Bordman, Gerald & Thomas S. Hischak The Oxford Companion to American Theatre p. 256 (2004)(23 April 1909) A Find Old Gentleman ''The Long Islander'' ("has proven one of the most successful plays producued in New York city this season. It has been running...for the past nine months and is playing to capacity houses at every performance.") U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, also later saw and approved of the play, and was featured in some of the play's advertising.Flyer ("How President Taft Laughed at the Comedy") (c. 1909)
It was adapted into a novel based on the play's success,(12 June 1909) Books for Summer Reading ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' and the play traveled widely after closing on Broadway, where actor
Burr McIntosh
William Burr McIntosh (August 21, 1862 – April 28, 1942) was an American lecturer, photographer, film studio owner, silent film actor, author, publisher of ''The'' ''Burr McIntosh Monthly'',(22 November 1913) Burr McIntosh before the camera ''The Moving Picture World''
The play was also made into a silent film in 1914, where Wise reprised his role, and a young
Evelyn Brent
Evelyn Brent (born Mary Elizabeth Riggs; October 20, 1895 – June 4, 1975) was an American film and stage actress.
Early life
Brent was born in Tampa, Florida, and known as Betty. When she was age 10, her mother Eleanor (née. Warner) died, ...
was also in the cast.(10 February 1915) A Gentleman from Mississippi ''Fairmont West Virginian'' (background to writing of play, and Wise's interest in film role) A plan to make another film based on the play in 1936 was never completed.(7 April 1936) Screen Notes ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
Harrison and Rhodes also collaborated on a second play, ''
An Old New Yorker
An, AN, aN, or an may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Airlinair (IATA airline code AN)
* Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy
* AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey
* Anime North, a Canadian ...
'' (1911).
Plot
The play's setting is Washington, D.C., where corrupt Senators are attempting to profit off a planned naval base in Mississippi. William Langdon (played by Wise), the junior senator from Mississippi, decides to fight the scheme, assisted by his private secretary Bud Haines (played by Fairbanks).
Original Broadway cast
* Thomas A. Wise as William A. Langdon
* W.J. Brady as Horatio Peabody
* Hal De Forrest as James Stevens
* Ernest Baxter as Chares Norton
* Stanhope Wheatcroft as Randolph Langdon
*
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
as "Bud" Haines
* Harry Stubbs as Dick Cullen
* Frederick Bock as Colonel Beverly Stoneman
* E.H. Bender as Clerk at International Hotel
* Charles Chappelle as Colonel J.D. Telfer
* M.W. Rale as Signore Caracioli
* Donald Mackintire as a Bridegroom
* Henry Gibson as a Porter
* Charles Johnson as a Bellboy
* Harriet Worthington as Carolina Langdon
* Lola May as Hope Georgia Langdon
* Agnes De Lane as Amelia Butterworth
* Karen Nielsen as Mme. Des Aretins
* Sallie Livingston as a Bride(30 September 1908) "A Gentleman from Mississippi" Pleases Large Audience '' New York Tribune'', p. 7.