Sailor Beware! (play)
Sailor Beware! is a comic play by
of London on 16 February 1955 and ran for 1,231 performances.The play depicts the successful attempt by a young sailor to curb the tyrannical ways of his prospective mother-in-law. It was the first London appearance by Peggy Mount, who achieved immediate celebrity in the role of the domineering Mrs Hornett. The play spawned a film adaptation and a stage sequel, and has been revived on several occasions.
History
The co-author,
The Daily Mirror called "The toast of the town … the actress London is raving about".[4] Tessie O'Shea replaced Mount towards the end of the run. The play ran at the Strand until 22 February 1958, a total of 1,231 performances.[5]
Plot
The Hornett household is dominated by Emma, the tyrannical wife of Henry, sister-in-law of Edie, and mother of Shirley.
Able Seaman Albert Tuffnell is in love with Shirley, but he views the prospect of marrying into her family with concern. He is an orphan and has never known home life. He decides to shock Mrs Hornett into recognising how badly she behaves to other people. By pretending to jilt Shirley on their wedding morning he sets off a chain of events that lead family, neighbours and even the vicar to tell Emma what they think of her. She is duly chastened and all ends happily, though not without a hint that Shirley has the potential to become as formidable a wife as her mother has been.[6][7]
Original London cast
- Edie Hornett – Ann Wilton
- Emma Hornett – Peggy Mount
- Mrs Lack – Myrette Morven
- Henry Hornettt – Cyril Smith
- Albert Tufnell, AB – Richard Coleman
- Carnoustie Bligh, AB – James Copeland
- Daphne Pink – Jean Burgess
- Shirley Hornett – Sheila Shand Gibbs
- The Rev Oliver Purefoy – Anthony Marlow
Reception
The notices for the play were good, and those for the cast – particularly for Mount – still better. The Times called the comedy "simple but successful".
Later versions
The play was adapted for the cinema under the
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 1991 with Jane Freeman as Emma and Colin Hurley as Albert.[13] A 1992–93 tour of Britain starred Jane Freeman and Kathy Staff.[14]
Notes
- ^ "Philip King", Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 19 April 2002 (subscription required)
- ^ Hayward, Anthony "Obituary: Richard Coleman", The Independent, 14 February 2009, pp. 50–51
- ^ "Richard Coleman – Lives online", The Times, 20 January 2009, p. 60
- ^ Whitcombe, Noel. "The Toast of the Town", The Daily Mirror, 19 February 1955, p. 2
- ^ Gaye, p. 1537
- ^ a b c d "Strand Theatre – 'Sailor Beware'", The Times, 17 February 1955, p. 12
- ^ a b Trewin, J C. "The World of the Theatre", The Illustrated London News, 5 March 1955, p. 416
- ^ a b Tynan, Kenneth. "Versatility", The Observer, 20 February 1955, p. 13
- ^ Hope-Wallace, Philip. "'Sailor Beware!' – A Successful Comedy at the Strand", The Manchester Guardian, 17 February 1955, p. 5
- ^ "Sailor Beware", British Film Institute, retrieved 13 September 2015
- ^ "Return of the Hornetts", The Times, 25 February 1960, p. 4
- ^ "Theatres", The Times, 27 June 1961, p. 2
- ^ Nightingale, Benedict. "Mount scaled with true wit", The Times, 21 May 1991, p. 18
- ^ "On release", The Guardian, 23 October 1993, p. C4
References
- Gaye, Freda, ed. (1967). Who's Who in the Theatre (fourteenth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. OCLC 5997224.