''Miss Mabel'' is a 1948 stage play by R. C. Sherriff. It has been adapted for television at least five times. The original production premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Brighton The Theatre Royal is a theatre in Brighton, East Sussex, England presenting a range of West End and touring musicals and plays, along with performances of opera and ballet. History In 1806, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) gave Royal Assen ...

before transferring to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's West End where it ran for 180 performances between 23 November 1948 and 30 April 1949, initially at the

Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 ...

before switching to the Strand Theatre. The West End cast included Richard Warner,

Clive Morton Clive Morton (16 March 1904 – 24 September 1975) was an English actor. Best known for playing upper class Englishmen, he made many screen appearances, especially on television. Career In 1955, Morton appeared in Laurence Olivier's film vers ...

and

Mary Jerrold Mary Jerrold (4 December 1877 – 3 March 1955) was an English actress. She was married to actor Hubert Harben, and mother of actress Joan Harben and celebrity chef Philip Harben. She made her London stage debut as Prudence Dering in ''Mary Pen ...

Adaptations

1950 version

A live version aired as part of British anthology series BBC ''

Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, ...

'' in 1950. Cast included

, Richard Warner, W. E. Holloway, Josephine Middleton, Herbert C. Walton, Anne West, Ronald Marriott, Rowland Winterton and Anthony Farmer. It was performed on 26 March 1950 with a repeat performance on 29 March 1950. Both performances are lost, as the live broadcasts were not recorded.

1953 version

A live version aired in 1953 as part of American anthology series ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...

'' on NBC. Cast included

Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian film, TV and voice actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films '' Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detecti ...

Malcolm Keen Malcolm Keen (8 August 1887 – 30 January 1970) (born Malcolm Knee; he later changed his surname to Keen) was an English actor of stage, film and television. He was sometimes credited as Malcolm Keane.Estelle Winwood Estelle Winwood (born Estelle Ruth Goodwin, 24 January 1883 – 20 June 1984) was an English actress who moved to the United States mid-career and became celebrated for her wit and longevity, starring in film and TV roles until her nineties. E ...

and

Frederick Worlock Frederick Worlock (December 14, 1886 – August 1, 1973) was a British-American actor. He is known for his work in various films during the 1940s and 1950s, and as the voice of Horace in ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961) and again uncre ...

1956 version

A version aired in 1956 as part of American anthology series ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vi ...

'' on CBS. Cast included Irene Anders,

Anthony Eustrel Anthony Eustrel (12 October 1902 – 2 July 1979) was an English actor. Biography Eustrel made guest appearances on television programs such as '' Perry Mason'', '' Maverick'', ''Peter Gunn'', '' 77 Sunset Strip'', ''My Favorite Martian'', ...

, Ruth Hammond, Terrence Kilburn,

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the First World ...

, J. Pat O'Malley, Richard Peel,

Roland Winters Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz; November 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 287. was an Ame ...

and

1958 Australian TV version

A version aired in 1958 on Australian television directed by Paul O'Loughlin. It broadcast live from Sydney on 23 April 1958 and was the television debut of Minnie Love, who was a noted stage entertainer. Originally broadcast live in Sydney,

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

("telerecording") was made of the broadcast and later shown in Melbourne on 14 May. It went for 65 minutes. It is not known if the kinescope recording still exists.

Premise

An old lady has an unpleasant twin who recently died.

Cast

Minnie Love Minnie Love (1888 – 2 August 1967) was an English-born actress, producer, comedian and singer. Biography Love was born as ''Minnie Maude Pearce-Monks'', in Bristol, England, United Kingdom, the niece of Lilly Earnest the later named Lady Ma ...

as Miss Mabel * Walter Pym as the lawyer * Charles Tasman as the vicar * Ida Newton as Miss Wilson * Geoffrey King as the doctor *

John Bluthal John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his care ...

as the Gardener * Lewis Fiander as Peter * Derani Scarr as Mary *

Peter Owen Peter Owen may refer to: * Peter Owen (make-up artist), Oscar-winning make-up artist * Peter Owen (publisher) (1927–2016), British publisher * Peter Owen Publishers, a London-based publisher founded in 1951 * Peter Owen (actor) in '' Miss Mabel'' ...

as the Inspector.

Production

Love said she was enthusiastic about live television because it was so close to theatre.

Reception

''The Age'' said Love gave "an outstanding performance" which "inspired the cast".

1980 version

A version aired in 1980 as part of French television series ''

Au théâtre ce soir Au, AU, au or a.u. may refer to: Science and technology Computing * .au, the internet country code for Australia * Au file format, Sun Microsystems' audio format * Audio Units, a system level plug-in architecture from Apple Computer * Adobe Audit ...

''. Cast included Jandeline,

Annick Alane Annick Alane (5 September 1925 – 28 October 2019) was a French film, television, and theatre actress from Carnac. Filmography *1957: ''Les Truands'' (directed by Carlo Rim) *1965: ''Les Pieds dans le plâtre'' (directed by Jacques Fabbri an ...

, Vannick Le Poulain, Brigitte Winstel, Jean-Pierre Delage,

Jacques Dynam Jacques Dynam (30 December 1923 – 11 November 2004) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1942 and 2004, among which the ''Fantomas'' saga. Selected filmography * ''La symphonie fantastique'' (1942) - (uncre ...

Robert Le Béal The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, Jean Barney,

Bernard Lanneau Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

, Edward Sanderson, and Bernard Durand.

References

Bibliography

* Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.