''Two Blind Mice'' was a 1949 comedy play by

Samuel and Bella Spewack Bella (25 March 1899 – 27 April 1990) and Samuel Spewack (16 September 1899 – 14 October 1971) were a writing team. Samuel, who also directed many of their plays, was born in Bachmut, Ukraine. He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York ...

. The play ran on Broadway at the

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 48th Street (Manhattan), West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater ...

for 157 performances, from March 2, 1949 to July 16, 1949, and thereafter had a lengthy provincial tour. The play starred

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in 1929 as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy '' Ninotchka'' ( ...

as Tommy Thurston, newspaper reporter and was produced by

Archer King Archer King (February 27, 1917, New York City, New York – July 19, 2012, New York City) was an American theatrical agent, producer and actor. King acted in the Broadway productions ''Summer Night'' and ''Stop Press'' in 1939. These were follow ...

and Harrison Woodhull. The play was selected as one of the best plays of 1948-1949, with an excerpted version published in "The Burns Mantle Best Plays of 1948-1949."

Plot

The plot revolves around the Office of Medicinal Herbs, a fictitious U.S. government bureau abolished by Congress four years before the setting of the play. Its two elderly officials have refused to accept the closing – they feel it is their lives' work – and they keep it running quietly. Deprived of funding, they make ends meet by renting out rooms and running a parking lot on the front lawn. To avoid problems with what remains of the government, they never answer the phone. (fee for article) Thurston discovers the office and sets out to aid the workers. Through an elaborate series of practical jokes, he involves the Armed Forces and the State Department, eventually winning the day for the elderly ladies. In the process, he also wins back his former wife.

Production

The opening night, March 2, 1949, saw the audience enjoy the production. However,

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...

, the critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', gave it a lukewarm review, and later in March criticized the Spewacks for wasting an intriguing setup by turning it over to Thurston, whom Atkinson dubbed "an adolescent journalistic prankster who has nothing to give anybody except impudence, irresponsibility and show clichés". (fee for article) The play closed July 16, 1949, and its two mascots, white mice, were put up for adoption. (fee for article) In his autobiography, Douglas laid the blame for the play's failure to run more than four and a half months on Broadway on Samuel Spewack's insistence on not only writing, but also directing the play. The show began a tour throughout the eastern half of the United States and into Canada in early 1950, after adjustments in the show insisted upon by Douglas were made, and ran throughout the year. The show kept Douglas away from California during his wife

Helen Gahagan Douglas Helen Gahagan Douglas (born Helen Mary Gahagan; November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and politician. Gahagan Douglas's acting career included success on Broadway theatre, Broadway, as a touring opera singer, and in Hollyw ...

's run for United States Senate against

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, a campaign which proved extremely nasty.

Notes

{{Samuel and Bella Spewack 1949 plays Broadway plays