 Original Old Radio on the Web since 1992 Now with over 100,000 CDs and cassettes sold. SHOW HISTORY FOR Abie's Irish Rose  Home - Menu Abie's Irish Rose is a Broadway comedy play by Anne Nichols about an Irish Catholic girl who marries a young Jewish man, over the objections of both of their families. Although initially receiving poor reviews, the play was a commercial hit, running for 2,327 performances between May 23, 1922 and October 1, 1927, one of the longest runs in the theatre up to that date.[1] The show's touring company had a similarly long run and held the record for longest running touring company for nearly 40 years until the record was broken by Hello, Dolly! in the 1960s. The touring company's male lead was played by a young George Brent. This was the future Hollywood actor's first major role. The play has been filmed twice -- in 1928 with Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Nancy Carroll, directed by Victor Fleming, and in 1946 with Richard Norris and Joanne Dru, directed by A. Edward Sutherland. It inspired the weekly NBC radio program, Abie's Irish Rose, which ran from January 24, 1942 through September 2, 1944. Joe Rines directed the cast that starred Richard Bond, Sydney Smith, Richard Coogan and Clayton "Bud" Collyer as Abie Levy. Betty Winkler, Mercedes McCambridge, Julie Stevens and Marion Shockley portrayed Rosemary Levy. Solomon Levy was played by Alfred White, Charlie Cantor and Alan Reed. Others in the cast: Walter Kinsella (as Patrick Murphy), Menasha Skulnik (Isaac Cohen), Anna Appel (Mrs. Cohen), Ann Thomas (Casey), Bill Adams (Father Whelan), Amanda Randolph (maid) and Dolores Gillenas (the Levys' twins). The announcer was Howard Petrie, and Joe Stopak provided the music. The opening theme music was "My Wild Irish Rose" by Chauncey Olcott. The basic premise of the play was extensively copied, and Anne Nichols sued one imitator, Universal Studios, which had produced The Cohens and the Kellys, a film based on a play about an Irish boy who marries a Jewish girl from feuding families. However, in Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corporation, 45 F.2d 119 (2d Cir. 1930), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found for the defendant, holding that copyright protection cannot be extended to the characteristics of stock characters in a story, whether it be a book, play or film. (http://en.wikipedia.org).  Original Old Radio P.O. Box 522 Berea, KY 40403-0522 Email: darryl@originaloldradio.com Webpage Design Darryl Hawkins Radio Programs In Public Domain |