Frederick Lonsdale (5 February 1881 – 4 April 1954) was a British playwright known for his librettos to several successful musicals early in the 20th century, including '' King of Cadonia'' (1908), '' The Balkan Princess'' (1910), ''
Betty
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...
'' (1915), ''
The Maid of the Mountains
''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham and ...
Madame Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
'' (1923). He also wrote comedy plays, including '' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney'' (1925) and '' On Approval'' (1927) and the murder melodrama '' But for the Grace of God'' (1946). Some of his plays and musicals were made into films, and he also wrote a few screenplays.
Personal life
Lonsdale was born Lionel Frederick Leonard in St Helier, Jersey, the son of Susan (née Belford) and John Henry Leonard, a tobacconist. He began as a private soldier and worked for the
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
. His daughters included his biographer Frances Donaldson and Angela Worthington (who was born illegitimately, through his relationship with Muriel Rose Morice), while his grandsons included the actors Edward and
James Fox
William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...
Frank Curzon produced the young Lonsdale's first work, the musical '' King of Cadonia'' (1908). Lonsdale's more substantial than usual dialogue for the show's Ruritanian comic opera plot won ''King of Cadonia'' fine notices and helped the musical to a long career. His next success was also for Curzon, '' The Balkan Princess'' (1910); this was little more than ''King of Cadonia'' with the sexes reversed, but it enjoyed a good London run, a long and wide provincial tour, and foreign productions.
Lonsdale's next success was five years later, for
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond.
Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...
, with ''
Betty
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...
'' (1915). Following Edwardes's death, he submitted to Edwardes' executor,
Robert Evett
Robert Evett (16 October 1874 – 15 January 1949) was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer. He was best known as a leading man in Edwardian musical comedies and later managed the George Edwardes theatrical empire.
In 1892, at ...
, a text that Curzon had rejected, ''
The Maid of the Mountains
''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham and ...
'' (1917; revived in 1920), which became one of the phenomenally successful wartime shows in London, establishing itself as a classic of the British musical stage.
Lonsdale continued to write some musicals after the war. He adapted
Booth Tarkington
Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitz ...
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...
) as a highly successful light opera and
Jean Gilbert
Jean Gilbert (11 February 1879 – 20 December 1942), born Max Winterfeld, was a German operetta composer and conductor.
Life and career
Gilbert was born in Hamburg into a family of musicians; his ancestors were cantors of the Jewish communi ...
The Lady of the Rose
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
Leo Fall
Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas.
Life
Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...
's ''
Madame Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
'' (1923). He also wrote the successful original book to the Parisian tale of '' The Street Singer'' (based on a 1912 film of the same name for Phyllis Dare (1924) and ''Lady Mary'' (1928).
He also began to write straight comedies, and his plays included ''
Aren't We All?
''Aren't We All?'' is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale.
At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch hi ...
Canaries Sometimes Sing
''Canaries Sometimes Sing'' is a 1931 British romantic comedy film, directed by Tom Walls. The film is a four-hander, starring Walls, Cathleen Nesbitt, Athole Stewart and Yvonne Arnaud. It is a screen version of the witty and sophisticated com ...
'' (1929) and ''
Let Them Eat Cake
"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "'", said to have been spoken in the 17th or 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread e ...
'' (a.k.a. ''Half a Loaf'') among others. In 1946 he had a further West End hit with the murder melodrama '' But for the Grace of God''. His last play, '' The Way Things Go'', was written in 1949, more than 40 years after his first stage work and five years before his death in London from a heart attack. It was staged in 1950 with a cast including
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor.
Initially achieving fame in the comedy '' Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this per ...
and
Glynis Johns
Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...
and ran for 155 performances in the West End.
Selected filmography
*''
The Fast Set
''The Fast Set'' is a 1924 American silent comedy-drama film directed by William C. deMille and starring Betty Compson. The film is based on the 1923 Broadway play, ''Spring Cleaning'', by Frederick Lonsdale.
Plot
As described in a review in a ...
Aren't We All?
''Aren't We All?'' is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale.
At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch hi ...
Tom Walls
Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...
(UK, 1930, based on the play '' On Approval'')
*''
Canaries Sometimes Sing
''Canaries Sometimes Sing'' is a 1931 British romantic comedy film, directed by Tom Walls. The film is a four-hander, starring Walls, Cathleen Nesbitt, Athole Stewart and Yvonne Arnaud. It is a screen version of the witty and sophisticated com ...
'', directed by
Tom Walls
Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...
(UK, 1931, based on the play ''
Canaries Sometimes Sing
''Canaries Sometimes Sing'' is a 1931 British romantic comedy film, directed by Tom Walls. The film is a four-hander, starring Walls, Cathleen Nesbitt, Athole Stewart and Yvonne Arnaud. It is a screen version of the witty and sophisticated com ...
'')
*''
Women Who Play
''Women Who Play'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Mary Newcomb, Benita Hume and George Barraud. It was produced by Walter Morosco and Alexander Korda and has a screenplay by Basil Mason and Gilbert Wakefie ...
'', directed by
Arthur Rosson
Arthur Henry Rosson (24 August 1886 – 17 June 1960) was an English film director. From 1917 to 1948, Rosson directed 61 feature films (including co-direction of '' Red River''). He also worked on many major films as a second unit director ...
Aren't We All?
''Aren't We All?'' is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale.
At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch hi ...
'', directed by Harry Lachman (UK, 1932, based on the play ''
Aren't We All?
''Aren't We All?'' is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale.
At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch hi ...
'')
*''
The Maid of the Mountains
''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham and ...
'', directed by
Lupino Lane
Henry William George Lupino (16 June 1892 – 10 November 1959) professionally Lupino Lane, was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family, which eventually included his cousin, the screenwriter/director/actr ...
(UK, 1933, based on the musical ''
The Maid of the Mountains
''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham and ...
Tom Walls
Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...
Richard Boleslawski
Richard Boleslawski (born Bolesław Ryszard Srzednicki; February 4, 1889 – January 17, 1937) was a Polish theatre and film director, actor and teacher of acting.
Biography
Richard Boleslawski was born Bolesław Ryszard Srzednicki on February ...
Clive Brook
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English film actor.
After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States ...
George Fitzmaurice
George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer.
Career
Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940, he directed ...
Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Zigler Leonard (October 7, 1889 – August 27, 1968) was an American film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter.
Biography
He was born in Chicago, Illinois. At one time, he was married to silent star Mae Murray with the two formin ...
, 1932)
* ''
Bad Subject
''Bad Subject'' ( it, Un cattivo soggetto) is a 1933 Italian comedy film directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia and starring Vittorio De Sica. It is a remake of '' The Devil to Pay!'' (1930).
Cast
* Vittorio De Sica as Willy
* Giuditta Rissone as ...
'' (dir.
Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia
Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (8 July 1894 – 4 January 1998) was an Italian film director whose career spanned from the 1930s to the mid-1960s. He mainly directed adventure pictures and popular comedies, including some starring Totò. His 1942 ...
The Private Life of Don Juan
''The Private Life of Don Juan'' is a 1934 British comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon and Benita Hume. At the age of 51, it was the final role of Fairbanks, who died five years later. Th ...
'' (dir.
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Aren't We all full text on internet archive Let them eat cake full text on internet archive The last of Mrs Cheney full text on gutenberg