Oops, I mean Gretchen, not Barb. Sorry! -- s
Sent from my iPad
On Jan 13, 2013, at 7:36 PM, "Gretchen Sharlow" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hey People, there's a paper here for the Elmira Conference..... See you in August!
> ---- John Davis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> *Daddy Long-legs *was the basis of several films beginning in the silent
>> era, one with Mary Pickford, including a Fred Astaire musical in the
>> fifties. I didb't know the Mark Twain connection.
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 3:46 PM, Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Editing a biography of actor Ruth Chatterton, I ran across a dmention of
>>> Mark Twain's niece, Jean Webster. Apparently, actor/producer Henry Miller
>>> had picked up a copy of Webster's popular book Daddy Long-Legs at a
>>> newsstand and contacted the authorh about adapting it for the stage in
>>> 1914.
>>>
>>>
>>> The book has some comments on Webster, stressing Jean Webster combined
>>> writing with social activism. "The story was inspired by her work on
>>> behalf
>>> of orphans. She drew her material from monthly visits to orphanages in New
>>> England."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Variety praised, "Daddy Long-Legs is a full-grown comedy in which the
>>> author
>>> has blended a laugh and a tear in almost every line."[i]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Apparently, the play was quite a success for several years and perhaps
>>> helped pave the way for the sufferage movement. Never heard of it
>>> before-anyone know more?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dr. Wesley Britton
>>>
>>> Co-host, Dave White Presents
>>>
>>> www.audioentertainment.org/dwp
>>>
>>> Spywise website
>>>
>>> www.spywise.net
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _____
>>>
>>> [i] Review of Daddy Long-Legs, Variety, February 27, 1914
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> John H. Davis, Ph.D.
>> Professor of English
>> Department of Language and Literature
>> Chowan University
>> Murfreesboro, North Carolina 27855
>
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