Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter (play)
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''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' is an original stage comedy in three acts and four scenes by George Axelrod. After a try-out run at the
Plymouth Theatre Plymouth Theatre or Plymouth Theater may refer to: * Plymouth Theatre (Boston) * Plymouth Theatre (Worcester) * Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City, formerly the Plymouth Theatre * H Street Playhouse The H Street Playhouse was a black box ...
in Boston from 26 September 1955, it opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway on 13 October, starring Jayne Mansfield,
Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), ''King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...
and Orson Bean. Directed by the author and produced by
Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...
, it closed on 3 November 1956 after 444 performances. The play is a Faustian comedy about a fan magazine writer who sells his soul to the Devil (in the guise of a literary agent) to become a successful screenwriter. The character of Rita Marlowe (played by Jayne Mansfield) is a vapid blonde sex symbol, an exaggerated lampoon of Marilyn Monroe (who had starred the previous year in the film version of Axelrod's play '' The Seven Year Itch''). The surname Marlowe is an homage to 16th century playwright
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
, who wrote the 1604 drama ''
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'', the plot of which served as the inspiration for Axelrod's play. The 1957 film '' Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' utilized the title of the play and the character of Rita Marlowe (with Mansfield repeating her stage role) but little else. The story was changed to a satire on television advertising and
Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...
starred as Rockwell P. Hunter, a character who never appears in the play.


Production

George Axelrod's phenomenal success with the Broadway production of ''The Seven Year Itch'' had made him an overnight celebrity, a phenomenon he explored in his 1953 'comedy documentary' ''Confessions of a Nervous Man'', which was broadcast as part of the CBS-TV anthology series ''
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'', with Art Carney playing him. According to Axelrod's script, he was afraid to write a second play because its failure would make him an overnight has-been. But the Billy Wilder-directed film version of ''The Seven Year Itch'' had been so heavily rewritten in order to meet the standards of the
Hollywood Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
that Axelrod was inspired to write another play about an author's refusal to bow to Hollywood's low standards. Axelrod used the character of George MacCauley to illustrate the way many writers succumb to the lure of high pay and celebrity, while others like Michael Freeman (Axelrod's alter ego) remain true to themselves. Twentieth Century-Fox, the same studio that had altered his first play, then bought the film rights to ''Rock Hunter'' and threw out his entire story and all but one of his characters. Axelrod had originally intended to call his play ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hudson?'' but Hudson's agent, Henry Willson, threatened a lawsuit. After the play opened, Axelrod was vacationing in Jamaica and ran into Rock Hudson and his new wife,
Phyllis Gates Phyllis Lucille Gates (December 7, 1925 – January 4, 2006) was an American secretary and interior decorator, known for her three-year marriage to the actor Rock Hudson. The story of their marriage was depicted in the TV film ''Rock Hudson ...
, on their honeymoon. The three became friends and, when the Hudsons returned to New York, they attended a performance of the show at which Hudson's name was substituted for the fictitious Rock Hunter. After a year in Hollywood, Jayne Mansfield had played only bit parts in four movies when her agent arranged for her to audition for the role of Rita Marlowe, an all-too-obvious send-up of Marilyn Monroe. Her 40"-21"-35½" measurements and her one-of-a-kind comic twist on the dumb blonde stereotype quickly won her the role, and by opening night she found herself a fully fledged Broadway star, courted by many of the Hollywood studios that had previously ignored her. In February 1956, Orson Bean broke his arm in the fight scene with
William Thourlby William Leo Thourlby (January 22, 1924 – April 15, 2013) was an American actor, model and writer. He was known for his rugged, cowboy look, when he appeared as the face of the Marlboro Man campaign in the 1950s. This ad campaign was one of the 20t ...
and returned to the role with a cast on his arm. When the play moved from the Belasco Theatre to the more centrally located Shubert Theatre on 9 July,
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took over Bean's role. Carol Grace, who had twice married and divorced playwright William Saroyan, played Miss Logan ('A Secretary') in the Broadway production and understudied Jayne Mansfield. In August 1959 she would marry her ''Rock Hunter'' co-star Walter Matthau.
Tina Louise Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the las ...
, who also understudied Mansfield, played the small role of 'A Swimmer', a part that was deleted from the published script. According to columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, "Jayne Mansfield, Tina Louise and Carol Saroyan are all imitating Marilyn Monroe, probably by direction. It gets a bit repetitious in that department."
Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van Do ...
, who had turned down the Rita role for Broadway, turned it down again when the play subsequently reached the West Coast. Rita was played instead by Merry Anders and the production opened at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles on 21 May 1956. The play was popular on tour too;
Roxanne Arlen Roxanne Arlen (January 10, 1931 – February 22, 1989) was an American film and stage actress and model active in the 1950s and 1960s. Filmography Feature films *''The Loved One'' (1965) as Wispering Glades hostess *'' A House Is Not a Home'' (1 ...
, for example, played Rita in several US cities in 1956/57.


Synopsis

Fan magazine writer George MacCauley visits Hollywood's reigning sex goddess Rita Marlowe in her swank New York hotel and confesses that this is only his second interview, the first having been titled 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?' Arriving moments later is the hottest new playwright in town, Michael Freeman (author of 'No Hiding Place Down Here'), quickly followed by literary agent Irving 'Sneaky' LaSalle (inspired by real-life agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar) and Hollywood mogul Harry Kaye, who is apoplectic about having paid $350,000 for the rights to Mike's play. LaSalle tries to convince the playwright to sign with his agency and write a second play, but Mike is reluctant to write what might be a flop. George, left alone with LaSalle, is persuaded to sign up instead. LaSalle's fee for each of his services is the usual ten per cent, but what George doesn't realise is that he'll be selling off pieces of his soul in ever-increasing increments. George's first wish is for a million dollars; he gets it. Then, when he fantasises about having a woman like Rita Marlowe love him, the suddenly love-struck Rita re-enters and Act One ends with George carrying her into the bedroom. In Act Two, the scene shifts to the Hollywood office of Rita Marlowe Productions, where Mike flirts with Rita's pert secretary, Miss Logan. George has learned that Rita's not-yet-divorced husband, football star Bronk Brannigan, is none too happy about her new relationship. Worse, George has been engaged to write his first screenplay, an adaptation of Mike's psychological drama about a prostitute and a psychiatrist, and after four weeks he still has no idea how to go about it. With an all-important story conference due any minute, LaSalle increases his hold on George by giving him the requisite 'inspiration' to satisfy the increasingly impatient Harry. In Act Three, a year has gone by and George has won an Oscar. When Bronk shows up and begins to pummel George, LaSalle (exacting another ten per cent) enables George to get the better of Bronk; in fact, George tosses the astonished athlete through a window in a shower of broken glass. Soon afterwards, however, George decides he must get out of town before LaSalle takes complete control of him on reaching the full 100 per cent. His penultimate wish is to give Mike a ready-made Pulitzer Prize-winning play, but Mike suddenly realises that he could never pass off as his own a play he didn't write. When LaSalle reappears, George selflessly releases Rita from his control and Mike convinces LaSalle to take him on as a client instead, even agreeing to start with the 90 per cent share already pledged. When LaSalle grabs the offer, Mike explains that it was a bad trade, because he's completely happy with his life and has no intention of selling off the remaining ten per cent. LaSalle petulantly grabs George's Oscar and departs. As the play ends, Mike and George are on their way back to New York, Mike not forgetting to grab his typewriter on the way out.


Film version

Studio head Buddy Adler purchased the rights to the play to get Mansfield out of her stage contract, even though he didn't believe that the play would make a good movie.
Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director. He was best kn ...
had seen Mansfield's screen test for '' The Wayward Bus'' and wanted her for his film version of Garson Kanin's novel ''Do Re Mi'' (which would become the comedy '' The Girl Can't Help It''). Tashlin's solution was to throw out all of Axelrod's play and create a new comedy about the world of television advertising, using only the character of sex goddess Rita Marlowe (Mansfield). All the other characters in the movie version of ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' were created by Tashlin, including his new leading man, Rockwell P Hunter (Tony Randall). To prepare for her role in the film (and for her new seven-year contract with Fox), Mansfield studied with Karl Malden at the
Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded ...
. "I'm studying dancing, singing and dramatic acting," she told columnist Louella Parsons. "20th has promised to build me as one of their important stars."''Kingsport Times'' (Kingsport, TN), 4 May 1956, Louella Parsons column


Script variations

In the Broadway production, Act III Scene 2 was played on the terrace of Michael Freeman's bungalow at the
Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Cinema of the ...
. This scene was rewritten for the Samuel French acting edition to appear in Rita's office, thus eliminating one set and three characters seen on Broadway: a Bellman, a Swimmer and a Chauffeur. The Broadway version of the script (minus the character of the Swimmer) was published in hardbound by Random House in March 1956 and in paperback by
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in August 1957. This version is missing the opening of Act III Scene 1 that appears in the acting edition, in which Mike and Miss Logan watch the Oscar night celebrations on TV prior to the entrance of Rita and George. The acting edition, prepared after the film version had been made, also replaces a reference to M-G-M chief
Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...
with a name-check for Fox chief Buddy Adler, producer of the film.


Original Broadway cast

*Rita Marlowe - Jayne Mansfield *A masseur - Lew Gallo *George MacCauley - Orson Bean *Michael Freeman -
Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), ''King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...
*Irving LaSalle - Martin Gabel *Harry Kaye - Harry Clark *A secretary (Miss Logan) - Carol Grace *Bronk Brannigan -
William Thourlby William Leo Thourlby (January 22, 1924 – April 15, 2013) was an American actor, model and writer. He was known for his rugged, cowboy look, when he appeared as the face of the Marlboro Man campaign in the 1950s. This ad campaign was one of the 20t ...
*A bellman -
David Sheiner David S. Sheiner (born January 13, 1928) is an American actor. He appeared on Broadway, but is best known for his supporting roles in several films and television series. He started his career in television in 1952, but he was most successful f ...
*A swimmer -
Tina Louise Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the las ...
*A chauffeur - Michael Tolan


References

These are all syndicated columns, printed in many newspapers:


External links

* * *
Interview with George Axelrod
{{DEFAULTSORT:Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Play) Plays by George Axelrod 1955 plays Works based on the Faust legend Broadway plays Comedy plays