Holiday (play)
Encyclopedia
Holiday is a 1928 play by Philip Barry
. It was adapted for film twice. First in 1930
, directed by Edward H. Griffith
with Ann Harding
, Mary Astor
, Edward Everett Horton
, Robert Ames
and Hedda Hopper
. It was filmed again in 1938
, directed by George Cukor
with Katharine Hepburn
, Cary Grant
, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres
, and Edward Everett Horton
, who reprised his role from the 1930 film.
. During the 10-day trip, they have fallen in love and are to be married. But there is one person who does not want the marriage this quickly: Johnny. His life's goal is "to retire early and work late."
After Johnny makes $25,000, he plans to go away and enjoy while he is still physically capable. The stock market being what it is in 1928, the stocks kept climbing and climbing. Johnny achieves his goal and announces his plans even as Julia's father is announcing the engagement. Julia is upset at his decision. She wants a proper house in town and a place in the country. Now the woman Johnny met and fell in love with at Lake Placid is gone and now there she is just as materialistic as her father.
(known as Plymouth Theatre at the time) and closed in June 1929, after 229 performances. It was directed by Arthur Hopkins
, set design by Robert Edmond Jones
, and costume design by Margaret Pemberton. The cast featured Beatrice Ames as Delia, Thaddeus Clancy as Seton Cram, Cameron Clemens as Henry, Rosalie Norman as Laura Cram, Monroe Owsley
as Ned Seton, Ben Smith as Johnny Case, J. Ascher Smith as Charles, Donald Ogden Stewart
as Nick Potter, Dorothy Tree
as Julia Seton, Walter Walker as Edward Seton, Barbara White as Susan Potter, and Hope Williams as Linda Seton.
The revival went up on December 3, 1995 at the Circle in the Square Theatre
and closed on January 14, 1996 after 50 performances. It was directed by David Warren, sets by Derek McLane
, costumes by Martin Pakledinaz
, lighting by Donald Holder
, sound and score by John Gromada
, and style/movement by Loyd Williamson. The cast featured Tony Goldwyn
as Johnny Case, Laura Linney
as Linda Seton, Kim Raver
as Julia Seton, Jim Oyster as Henry, Reese Madigan as Charles, Reg Rogers as Ned Seton, Tom Lacy as Edward Seton, Rod McLachlan as Seton Cram, Becca Lish as Laura Cram, Michael Countryman as Nick Potter, and Anne Lange as Susan Potter.
Philip Barry
Philip James Quinn Barry was an American playwright born in Rochester, New York.-Early life:Philip Barry was born on June 18, 1896 in Rochester, New York to James Corbett Barry and Mary Agnes Quinn Barry. James would die from appendicitis a year after Philip's birth, and his father's marble and...
. It was adapted for film twice. First in 1930
Holiday (1930 film)
Holiday is a 1930 romantic comedy film which tells the story of a young man who is torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family. It stars Ann Harding, Mary Astor, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Ames and Hedda Hopper...
, directed by Edward H. Griffith
Edward H. Griffith
Edward H. Griffith was an American motion picture director, screenwriter and producer. He directed 61 films from 1917 to 1946. He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia and began his career in motion pictures as a screenwriter in 1916, and advanced to the position of a director of two-reelers...
with Ann Harding
Ann Harding
Ann Harding was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress.-Early years:Born Dorothy Walton Gatley at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, to George G. Gatley and Elizabeth "Bessie" Crabb. The daughter of a career army officer, she traveled often during her early life...
, Mary Astor
Mary Astor
Mary Astor was an American actress. Most remembered for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart, Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s.She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost...
, Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. He is especially known for his work in the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.-Early life:Horton was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Isabella...
, Robert Ames
Robert Ames
Robert Downing Ames was an American stage and film actor whose career was cut short by his untimely death at age 42.-Birth:Robert Ames was born on March 23, 1889 at Hartford, Connecticut, wher his father, Louis Mason Ames, was employed as an accountant for an insurance company and his mother, Mary...
and Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
. It was filmed again in 1938
Holiday (1938 film)
Holiday is a 1938 is a film directed by George Cukor, a remake of the 1930 film of the same name. The film is a romantic comedy which tells the story of a man who has risen from humble beginnings only to be torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family...
, directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
with Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
, and Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. He is especially known for his work in the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.-Early life:Horton was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Isabella...
, who reprised his role from the 1930 film.
Plot
The story follows Johnny Case, who is a corporation lawyer on Wall Street. He has a lot of financial prospects, but not a lot of social background. Before the start of the play, Julia, the eldest daughter of the Seton family, has met with Johnny at Lake PlacidLake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
. During the 10-day trip, they have fallen in love and are to be married. But there is one person who does not want the marriage this quickly: Johnny. His life's goal is "to retire early and work late."
After Johnny makes $25,000, he plans to go away and enjoy while he is still physically capable. The stock market being what it is in 1928, the stocks kept climbing and climbing. Johnny achieves his goal and announces his plans even as Julia's father is announcing the engagement. Julia is upset at his decision. She wants a proper house in town and a place in the country. Now the woman Johnny met and fell in love with at Lake Placid is gone and now there she is just as materialistic as her father.
Productions
The original play went up on November 26, 1928 at the Gerald Schoenfeld TheatreGerald Schoenfeld Theatre
The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 236 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan named for Gerald Schoenfeld....
(known as Plymouth Theatre at the time) and closed in June 1929, after 229 performances. It was directed by Arthur Hopkins
Arthur Hopkins
Arthur Hopkins was a Broadway theater director and producer in the early twentieth century.Hopkins was born in Cleveland. He was the youngest of ten children born to a Welsh couple, David and Mary Jane Hopkins...
, set design by Robert Edmond Jones
Robert Edmond Jones
Robert Edmond Jones was an American scenic, lighting, and costume designer. He is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama. His designs sought to integrate the scenic elements into the storytelling instead of having them stand separate and indifferent from the play’s...
, and costume design by Margaret Pemberton. The cast featured Beatrice Ames as Delia, Thaddeus Clancy as Seton Cram, Cameron Clemens as Henry, Rosalie Norman as Laura Cram, Monroe Owsley
Monroe Owsley
Monroe Owsley was an American actor.Born in Atlanta, Georgia to aspiring actress Gertrude Owsley, he started taking acting classes when he was a teenager and made his Broadway debut in the 1920s. His film debut occurred in 1928 with The First Kiss, following with the character of young boy Ned in...
as Ned Seton, Ben Smith as Johnny Case, J. Ascher Smith as Charles, Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart was an American author and screenwriter.-Life:His hometown was Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University, where he became a brother to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity , in 1916 and was in the Naval Reserves in World War I.After the war he started to write and found...
as Nick Potter, Dorothy Tree
Dorothy Tree
Dorothy Tree was an American actress, voice teacher and writer. She appeared in a wide range of character roles in at least 49 motion pictures between 1927 and 1951....
as Julia Seton, Walter Walker as Edward Seton, Barbara White as Susan Potter, and Hope Williams as Linda Seton.
The revival went up on December 3, 1995 at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
and closed on January 14, 1996 after 50 performances. It was directed by David Warren, sets by Derek McLane
Derek McLane
Derek McLane is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and musical theatre). He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama....
, costumes by Martin Pakledinaz
Martin Pakledinaz
Martin Pakledinaz is an American costume designer for stage and film.He won his Tony Awards for designing the costumes of Thoroughly Modern Millie and the 2000 revival of Kiss Me Kate, which also earned him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design.He worked on the 1995 production of...
, lighting by Donald Holder
Donald Holder
Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera, and dance based in New York. He has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for The Lion King. He won a second Tony in...
, sound and score by John Gromada
John Gromada
John Gromada is a prolific, award-winning composer and sound designer. He is best known for his many scores for theatrical productions in New York on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres...
, and style/movement by Loyd Williamson. The cast featured Tony Goldwyn
Tony Goldwyn
Anthony Howard "Tony" Goldwyn is an American actor and director. He portrayed the villain Carl Bruner in Ghost, Colonel Bagley in The Last Samurai, and the voice of the title character of the Disney animated Tarzan.-Early life:...
as Johnny Case, Laura Linney
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
as Linda Seton, Kim Raver
Kim Raver
Kimberly Jayne "Kim" Raver is an American actress.She is best known for her numerous roles on TV: as Kim Zambrano on Third Watch, Audrey Raines on 24, Nico Reilly on Lipstick Jungle, and, most recently, Teddy Altman on Grey's Anatomy.-Personal life:Raver was raised in New York City by her mother,...
as Julia Seton, Jim Oyster as Henry, Reese Madigan as Charles, Reg Rogers as Ned Seton, Tom Lacy as Edward Seton, Rod McLachlan as Seton Cram, Becca Lish as Laura Cram, Michael Countryman as Nick Potter, and Anne Lange as Susan Potter.