''The Butter and Egg Man'' is a 1925 play by

George S. Kaufman George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and other ...

, the only play he wrote without collaborating. It was a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

hit during the 1925–26 season at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and was named for Longacre Square, now known ...

. Adapted to film six times, it is still performed on stages today.

Synopsis

A 1920s slang term popularized by Texas Guinan, a butter-and-egg man is a traveling businessman eager to spend large amounts of money in the big city—someone wealthy and unwary. A souvenir booklet for the original production of ''The Butter and Egg Man'' devoted an entire page to the various claims of origin for the phrase. Peter Jones is a young man who arrives on Broadway from

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Coun ...

, hoping to invest $20,000 in a play and turn a profit sufficient to buy a local hotel back home. He is conned by Joe Lehman and Jack McClure into backing their play with a 49-percent stake. The play opens out-of-town in Syracuse and bombs. Lehman and McClure want out, and Jones buys them out, and revamps the play into a huge hit. Jones then sells back to them at a huge profit after learning of claims that the play was stolen, and returns home to get his hotel. Bordman, Gerald & Thomas S. Hischak
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
p. 103 (3d ed. 2004) Kaufman's comedy may be seen as a precursor to Mel Brooks' '' The Producers''.

Production

Produced by Crosby Gaige, ''The Butter and Egg Man'' opened at the

on September 23, 1925, and played for 243 performances.

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

directed the following cast: * Gregory Kelly as Peter Jones * Sylvia Field as Jane Weston *

Robert Middlemass Robert Middlemass (September 3, 1883 – September 10, 1949) was an American playwright and stage actor, and later character actor with over 100 film appearances, usually playing detectives or policemen.(13 Feb 1937)Mrs. Susan C. Middlemass ...

as Joe Lehman * Lucile Webster as Fanny Lehman * John A. Butler as Jack McClure *

Marion Barney Marion Barney (1879 - 1968) was an American character actress known for her long association with the radio programs of Elaine Sterne Carrington. A native of San Francisco, Barney attended the University of California, Berkeley, at the same time ...

as Mary Martin *

Tom Fadden Tom Fadden (January 6, 1895 – April 14, 1980) was an American actor. He performed on the legitimate stage, vaudeville, in films and on television during his long career. Early life Fadden was born in Bayard, Iowa, on January 6, 1895; his fathe ...

as A Waiter * Harry Neville as Cecil Benham * Harry Stubbs as Bernie Sampson * Eloise Stream as Peggy Marlowe * Puritan Townsend as Kitty Humphries * Denman Maley as Oscar Fritchie * George Alison as A.J. Patterson When the Broadway run of the play ended in April 1926, Gregory Kelly starred in its national tour. Kelly had a heart attack in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in February 1927, and the tour was abandoned. Kelly was transferred to a New York City sanitarium by his wife, actress Ruth Gordon, but he was unable to recover and died July 9, 1927, at age 36. The

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

premiere of ''The Butter and Egg Man'' took place August 27, 1927, at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ' ...

. Presented by an American company, the play was performed 31 times, closing on September 27, 1927.

reprised his Broadway role as Joe Lehman.Wearing, J.P
The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel
p. 535 (2014)

Revivals

Recent stagings of the play include Punch Line Theatre in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in 1982, and by the

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

Atlantic Theater Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their a ...

in 2002.Weber, Bruce (4 October 2002)
George S. Kaufman's Jet-Paced Solo Flight
''

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 ...

''Isherwood, Charles. (2 Oct 2002
Review: The Butter and Egg Man'', ''Variety''
/ref>

Reception

New York critics were unanimous in their praise for ''The Butter and Egg Man''. In his review of the play's premiere, Gilbert W. Gabriel wrote in '' The Sun'' that it was "the wittiest and liveliest jamboree of the behind-the-scenes ever distilled from the atmosphere of Broadway."Gabriel, Gilbert W. (24 Sept 1925)
The Drama's Dairy Godfather. Kaufman's "The Butter and Egg Man" Sells a Thousand Laughs at Our Theater's Expense
'' The Sun'', p. 24, col. 1

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and ...

wrote that "first nighters roared at the dialogue". "The audience nearly laughed itself to death", wrote John Anderson of '' The New York Evening Post''.

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio p ...

called the play "richly and continuously amusing". "If you like smart, funny, sentimental, satirical comedies, here is a chance to enjoy yourself", wrote Percy Hammond of the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

''.Crosby Gaige Introduces George S. Kaufman's New Comedy ''The Butter and Egg Man'' with Gregory Kelly (1925). Promotional brochure for the original production at the

, New York City.

Adaptations

''The Butter and Egg Man'' has been adapted for motion pictures six times:Goble, Alan
The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film
p. 252 (1992) (books lists six films based on the play: ''The Butter and Egg Man'' (1928), ''The Tenderfoot'' (1932), ''Hello Sweetheart'' (1937), ''Dance Charlie Dance'' (1937), ''Angel from Texas'' (1940), and ''Three Sailors and a Girl'' (1953) * It was first adapted for the screen in 1928 (with the same name), a silent film directed by Richard Wallace.Hall, Mordaunt (28 Aug 1928)
The Screen: The Worm That Turned
''

'' * The 1932 American comedy film '' The Tenderfoot'' is based on the play.Hall, Mordaunt (23 May 1932)
Joe E. Brown in a Boisterous Film Conception of the Stage Comedy, "The Butter and Egg Man."
''

'' * The 1935 British film ''

Hello, Sweetheart ''Hello, Sweetheart'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Claude Hulbert, Gregory Ratoff and Jane Carr. The film was made by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers at the company's Teddington Studios.Wood p.86 ...

'' is based on the play. * The 1937 American film ''

Dance Charlie Dance ''Dance Charlie Dance'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Crane Wilbur and William Jacobs, based on the play ''The Butter and Egg Man'' by George S. Kaufman, which opened on Broadway on September 23, 192 ...

'' is based on the play. * The 1940 American film ''

An Angel from Texas ''An Angel from Texas'' is a 1940 comedy film directed by Ray Enright and written by Fred Niblo Jr. and Bertram Millhauser. The film stars Eddie Albert, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. The film was released by Warn ...

'', which included

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in its cast, is based on the play.Crowther, Bosley (10 May 1940)
An Angel From Texas (Review)
''

'' * The 1953 musical film ''

Three Sailors and a Girl ''Three Sailors and a Girl'' is a 1953 Technicolor musical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play '' The Butter and Egg Man''. Ray Heindorf w ...

'' is based on the play P. G. Wodehouse adapted the play for his 1952 novel, ''

Barmy in Wonderland ''Barmy in Wonderland'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 21 April 1952 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 8 May 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, under the title ''Angel Cake''. ...

''.

References

External links

*Full text of
The Butter and Egg Man
' at HathiTrust Digital Library *

at Georgekaufman.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Butter and Egg Man, The Broadway plays 1925 plays American plays adapted into films Plays by George S. Kaufman