First performance 12 October 1925 Genre Drama | Date premiered October 12, 1925 | |
Characters Billy BirkmireHarryMazieMrs. CraigMrs. FrazierEugene FredericksEthel LandrethJoseph CatelleMiss AustenWalter CraigMrs. Harold Place premiered Morosco TheatreNew York City, New York Setting The Reception Room at the Home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Craig Similar Why Marry?, The Shrike, Miss Lulu Bett, They Knew What They Wanted, Abe Lincoln in Illinois | ||
Craig's Wife is a 1925 play written by American playwright George Kelly, uncle of actress and later Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly. It won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
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Production
Craig's Wife premiered on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on October 12, 1925 and closed on August 21, 1926 after 360 performances. Directed by playwright Kelly, the cast featured Chrystal Herne as Harriet Craig, Anne Sutherland (Miss Austen), Charles Trowbridge (Walter Craig), and Josephine Hull (Mrs. Frazie).
It was included in Burns Mantle's The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
The play received the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer committee wrote: "'Craig's Wife' has been selected by the jury on account of the dignity of its theme, the soundness of its construction, the excellence of its dialogue, and its effectiveness in the theater."
Adaptations
There have been at least three movies based on the play. The 1928 silent version was directed by William C. deMille, Cecil's brother, and starred Irene Rich in the title role. In 1936, Columbia Pictures made a film adaptation with Rosalind Russell as Harriet Craig. The 1950 film Harriet Craig, featuring Joan Crawford, was also based on the play.
A radio adaptation was produced by Cecil B. deMille on the Lux Radio Theatre in Hollywood in 1936. It featured Rosalind Russell and Herbert Marshall.
A radio adaptation was produced by Orson Welles' Campbell Playhouse on CBS Radio, airing on March 10, 1940, and featuring Welles as Walter Craig, and Ann Harding as Harriet Craig.