''Power Without Glory'' is a 1947 crime play by the British writer

Michael Clayton Hutton Michael Clayton Hutton was a British author and playwright notable for several plays that appeared in the West End during the post-Second World War era. He died in 1953 at the age of thirty three. He was reportedly suffering from depression when ...

. It first appeared at the New Lindsey Theatre in

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before transferring to the

Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. From 1989 until 2023 the theatre hosted the long running play '' The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by aut ...

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's West End where it ran for 73 performances between 5 April and 7 June 1947. The West End cast included

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this period ...

Maureen Pryor Maureen St John Pook (23 May 1922 – 5 May 1977), known professionally as Maureen Pryor, was an Irish-born English character actress who made stage, film, and television appearances. ''The Encyclopaedia of British Film'' noted, "she never playe ...

Beatrice Varley Beatrice Evelyn Varley (11 July 1896 – 4 July 1964) was an English actress who appeared in television and film roles between 1936 and 1964. She made her screen debut in the 1936 film ''Tomorrow We Live'' and began to portray a variety of ...

and

Dandy Nichols Dandy Nichols (born Daisy Sander; 21 May 1907 – 6 February 1986) was an English actress best known for her role as Else Garnett, the long-suffering wife of the character Alf Garnett, in the BBC sitcom '' Till Death Us Do Part''. Early l ...

. It was filmed by the

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the same year with the original cast. His appearance in the play brought Bogarde to the attention of filmmakers. Both he and More would go on to become

stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

of the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

. It was staged at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the It ...

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in early 1948 with a different cast, lasting for 31 performances.https://playbill.com/production/power-without-glory-booth-theatre-vault-0000001768

Synopsis

In the East End Cliff, the younger son of a

shopkeeper A shopkeeper is a retail merchant or tradesman; one who owns or operates a small store or shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as such. At larger companies, a shopkeeper is usually referred t ...

, murders his pregnant girlfriend. His family members attempt to shield him from the law for varying reasons.

References

Bibliography

* Hesse, Beatrix. ''The English Crime Play in the Twentieth Century''. Springer, 2015. * Hinxman, Margaret & D'Arcy, Susan. ''The Films of Dirk Bogarde''. Literary Services and Production, 1974. * Wearing, J. P. ''The London Stage 1940–1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1947 plays West End plays Plays set in London Plays by Michael Clayton Hutton {{1940s-play-stub