''The Girl on the Boat'' is a novel by

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

. It first appeared in 1921 as a serial in the ''

Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...

'' in the United States under the title ''Three Men and a Maid''. It was first published as a book in the United States on April 26, 1922, by George H. Doran, New York, and as '' The Girl on the Boat'' in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, on June 15, 1922.McIlvaine, E.; Sherby, L.S.; and Heineman, J.H. (1990) ''P.G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist''. New York: James H. Heineman, pp. 39-40. .

Plot

The "maid" of the title is red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennett, and the three men are: * Bream Mortimer, a long-time and long-suffering suitor of Billie; * Eustace Hignett, a shy poet who is cowed by his domineering mother but secretly engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale; * Sam Marlowe, Eustace's dashing cousin, who falls in love with Billie "at first sight". The four of them find themselves together on a White Star ocean liner called the ''Atlantic'', sailing for England. Also on board is a capable young woman, Jane Hubbard, who is in love with Eustace. Wodehousian funny stuff ensues, with happy endings for all except Bream Mortimer.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation was made in 1962, starring

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

as Sam Marlowe,

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in ''Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

as Eustace Hignett,

Philip Locke Roy James "Philip" Locke (29 March 192819 April 2004) was an English actor who had roles in film and television. He is perhaps best known for his part in the James Bond film '' Thunderball'' as Largo's personal assistant and chief henchman, Var ...

as Bream Mortimer, and

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

as Billie Bennett. It was directed by Henry Kaplan. The screenplay was adapted from Wodehouse's novel by Reuben Ship. Some scenes from the novel (e.g., Sam Marlowe's blackface performance at the ship's concert) were not included in the film. The romance between Eustace and Jane Hubbard (played by Sheila Hancock) was also altered; Eustace stands up to his domineering mother in the film but not in the book.

References

External links

The Russian Wodehouse Society's page
with numerous book covers and a list of characters
Free eBook of ''The Girl on the Boat''
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

Free eBook of ''Three Men and a Maid''
at

* and * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girl on the Boat, The Novels by P. G. Wodehouse English novels 1922 British novels Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Woman's Home Companion Herbert Jenkins books American novels adapted into films British novels adapted into films British comedy novels