Elmer Rice
Encyclopedia
Elmer Rice was an American playwright
. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
for his 1929 play, Street Scene
.
. After the failure of that revolution, he was given the choice of imprisonment or exile. He chose to emigrate to the United States where he became a successful businessman. He spent most of his retirement years living with the Rice family and developed a close relationship with his grandson Elmer. He was a staunch atheist and this may have influenced Rice himself, who refused to attend Hebrew school
or to have a Bar Mitzvah. A pacifist, he also decided that he would refuse to serve in the First World War if drafted but was not. Rice's father was an epileptic
and as a result, Elmer seldom invited friends home for fear that his father might have a seizure in their presence. The family always worried when he was late getting home, for fear that he had had an epileptic fit on the street and been taken to hospital, a not uncommon occurrence. Although he knew that his father loved him, he disliked his quarrelsome personality. He found him physically unappealing and disliked displays of affection from him, "for children are repelled by ugliness, and I found him ugly." His grandfather and his Uncle Will, both of whom boarded with the family, made up for what his father lacked. He spent much of his childhood reading and wrote, "Nothing in my life has been more helpful than the simple act of joining the library." He became an avid reader of plays and a keen theatregoer.
He did not complete high school due to his family's financial situation, brought on by his father's ill health, and he took a number of jobs before deciding to go to law school. This required first obtaining a high-school diploma which he did by taking the necessary examinations given by the New York State Board of Regents.
In spite of finding law school extremely boring and reading plays in class because they could be finished within two hours, he graduated from New York Law School
in 1912 and began a short-lived legal career. He was cynical about the legal profession and resigned in 1914. He was alarmed by the fact that when asked, all the attorneys in his office said that they would strive to have a client acquitted in a murder case, even if they knew he was guilty.
He turned to writing, and his first play, the melodramatic On Trial (1914), was the first American stage production to employ the flashback
technique of the screen. On Trial, a murder mystery, was a tremendous success and ran for 365 performances in its first run in New York. It then went on tour throughout the United States with three separate companies and was produced in Argentina, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Scotland and South Africa. At the age of twenty-one, it earned its author $100,000. Few of his later plays received as much acclaim. The play was adapted for the cinema three times - in 1917, 1928 and 1939.
(1923), which satirized the growing regimentation of man in the machine age through the life and death of the dull book-keeper, Mr. Zero.
Rice's next play, Street Scene
(1929), later the subject of an opera
by Kurt Weill
, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
for its realistic chronicle of life in the slums. The Left Bank (1931), described expatriation from America as an ineffectual escape from materialism, and Counsellor-at-Law (1931) drew a realistic picture of the legal profession for which Rice had been trained.
In April 1932, Rice and his son Robert took a trip to Europe, where they visited both Germany and the Soviet Union. While in Germany, Rice heard both Goebbels and Hitler give speeches, informing him first-hand about National Socialism. He later used some of this information in his writing. The depression of the 1930s inspired We, the People (1933), which Rice described as, "the misfortunes of a typical skilled workman and his family, helplessly engulfed in the tide of national adversity." The Reichstag fire trial was paralleled in Judgement Day (1934), and conflicting American and Soviet ideologies formed the subject of the conversation-piece Between Two Worlds (1934).
After the failure of these plays, Rice returned to Broadway in 1937 to write and direct for the Playwrights' Producing Company, which he helped to establish. Of his later plays, the most successful was the fantasy Dream Girl
(1945), in which an over-imaginative girl encounters unexpected romance in reality. Rice's last play was Cue for Passion (1958), a modern psycho-analytical variation of the Hamlet theme in which Diana Wynyard
played the Gertrude-like character, Grace Nicholson. Rice was the author of a controversial book on American drama, The Living Theatre (1960), and of an autobiography, Minority Report (1964).
Rice was the first director of the New York office of the Federal Theatre Project
, but resigned in 1936 to protest government censorship of the FTP's "Living Newspaper
", Ethiopia, about Mussolini's invasion of that country.
with whom he had three children, John, Judy and Paul, before their divorce in 1956. John was a brilliant student and lawyer who died in a swimming accident at age 40.
Elmer Rice lived for many years on a wooded estate on Long Ridge Road in Stamford, Connecticut
, until his death in Southampton
, England
, in 1967 while on a trip with third wife, Barbara. He had five children - Robert, Peggy, John, Judy and Paul.
in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
.
Other contributions
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
for his 1929 play, Street Scene
Street Scene (play)
Street Scene is a play by Elmer Rice that opened at the Playhouse Theatre in New York City on January 10, 1929 and ran for a total of 601 performances. The action of this ambitious, groundbreaking play takes place entirely on the front stoop of a New York City brownstone and in the adjacent street...
.
Early years
Rice was born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein at 127 East Ninetieth Street in New York City, New York. A few months later, in 1893, his parents moved to a large new flat on Madison Avenue. He was named (somewhat altered) after his two grandfathers, as was the custom at the time, but he disliked the name Elmer and the facetious comments it provoked. His younger brother, Lester, died when Elmer was about three, making him, in effect, an only child. Both he and his mother felt the loss deeply and he always missed his companion and playmate. His grandfather was a political activist in the Revolutions of 1848 in the German statesRevolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
. After the failure of that revolution, he was given the choice of imprisonment or exile. He chose to emigrate to the United States where he became a successful businessman. He spent most of his retirement years living with the Rice family and developed a close relationship with his grandson Elmer. He was a staunch atheist and this may have influenced Rice himself, who refused to attend Hebrew school
Hebrew school
Hebrew school can be either the Jewish equivalent of Sunday school - an educational regimen separate from secular education, focusing on topics of Jewish history and learning the Hebrew language, or a primary, secondary or college level educational institution where some or all of the classes are...
or to have a Bar Mitzvah. A pacifist, he also decided that he would refuse to serve in the First World War if drafted but was not. Rice's father was an epileptic
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
and as a result, Elmer seldom invited friends home for fear that his father might have a seizure in their presence. The family always worried when he was late getting home, for fear that he had had an epileptic fit on the street and been taken to hospital, a not uncommon occurrence. Although he knew that his father loved him, he disliked his quarrelsome personality. He found him physically unappealing and disliked displays of affection from him, "for children are repelled by ugliness, and I found him ugly." His grandfather and his Uncle Will, both of whom boarded with the family, made up for what his father lacked. He spent much of his childhood reading and wrote, "Nothing in my life has been more helpful than the simple act of joining the library." He became an avid reader of plays and a keen theatregoer.
He did not complete high school due to his family's financial situation, brought on by his father's ill health, and he took a number of jobs before deciding to go to law school. This required first obtaining a high-school diploma which he did by taking the necessary examinations given by the New York State Board of Regents.
In spite of finding law school extremely boring and reading plays in class because they could be finished within two hours, he graduated from New York Law School
New York Law School
New York Law School is a private law school in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. The school is located within four blocks of all major courts in Manhattan. In 2011, New York Law School...
in 1912 and began a short-lived legal career. He was cynical about the legal profession and resigned in 1914. He was alarmed by the fact that when asked, all the attorneys in his office said that they would strive to have a client acquitted in a murder case, even if they knew he was guilty.
He turned to writing, and his first play, the melodramatic On Trial (1914), was the first American stage production to employ the flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
technique of the screen. On Trial, a murder mystery, was a tremendous success and ran for 365 performances in its first run in New York. It then went on tour throughout the United States with three separate companies and was produced in Argentina, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Scotland and South Africa. At the age of twenty-one, it earned its author $100,000. Few of his later plays received as much acclaim. The play was adapted for the cinema three times - in 1917, 1928 and 1939.
Career
His next major contribution to the theatre was the expressionistic The Adding MachineThe Adding Machine
The Adding Machine is a 1923 play by Elmer Rice; it has been called "... a landmark of American Expressionism, reflecting the growing interest in this highly subjective and nonrealistic form of modern drama." The story focuses on Mr. Zero, an accountant at a large, faceless company. After 25 years...
(1923), which satirized the growing regimentation of man in the machine age through the life and death of the dull book-keeper, Mr. Zero.
Rice's next play, Street Scene
Street Scene (play)
Street Scene is a play by Elmer Rice that opened at the Playhouse Theatre in New York City on January 10, 1929 and ran for a total of 601 performances. The action of this ambitious, groundbreaking play takes place entirely on the front stoop of a New York City brownstone and in the adjacent street...
(1929), later the subject of an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
for its realistic chronicle of life in the slums. The Left Bank (1931), described expatriation from America as an ineffectual escape from materialism, and Counsellor-at-Law (1931) drew a realistic picture of the legal profession for which Rice had been trained.
In April 1932, Rice and his son Robert took a trip to Europe, where they visited both Germany and the Soviet Union. While in Germany, Rice heard both Goebbels and Hitler give speeches, informing him first-hand about National Socialism. He later used some of this information in his writing. The depression of the 1930s inspired We, the People (1933), which Rice described as, "the misfortunes of a typical skilled workman and his family, helplessly engulfed in the tide of national adversity." The Reichstag fire trial was paralleled in Judgement Day (1934), and conflicting American and Soviet ideologies formed the subject of the conversation-piece Between Two Worlds (1934).
After the failure of these plays, Rice returned to Broadway in 1937 to write and direct for the Playwrights' Producing Company, which he helped to establish. Of his later plays, the most successful was the fantasy Dream Girl
Dream Girl (play)
Dream Girl is a play by Elmer Rice.At its core is Georgina Allerton, a young woman whose efforts to run a bookstore are undermined severely by her tendency to drift off into Walter Mitty-like flights of fancy on a regular basis...
(1945), in which an over-imaginative girl encounters unexpected romance in reality. Rice's last play was Cue for Passion (1958), a modern psycho-analytical variation of the Hamlet theme in which Diana Wynyard
Diana Wynyard
Diana Wynyard, CBE , whose birth name was Dorothy Isobel Cox, was an English stage and film actress.-Life and career:...
played the Gertrude-like character, Grace Nicholson. Rice was the author of a controversial book on American drama, The Living Theatre (1960), and of an autobiography, Minority Report (1964).
Rice was the first director of the New York office of the Federal Theatre Project
Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Theatre Project was a New Deal project to fund theatre and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration...
, but resigned in 1936 to protest government censorship of the FTP's "Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper is a term for a theatrical form presenting factual information on current events to a popular audience. Historically, Living Newspapers have also urged social action and reacted against naturalistic and realistic theatrical conventions in favor of the more direct, experimental...
", Ethiopia, about Mussolini's invasion of that country.
Personal life
Rice was married in 1915 to Hazel Levy, and had two children with her, Margaret and Robert. After his divorce in 1942, he married actress Betty FieldBetty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
with whom he had three children, John, Judy and Paul, before their divorce in 1956. John was a brilliant student and lawyer who died in a swimming accident at age 40.
Elmer Rice lived for many years on a wooded estate on Long Ridge Road in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, until his death in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1967 while on a trip with third wife, Barbara. He had five children - Robert, Peggy, John, Judy and Paul.
Film portrayal
Rice was portrayed by the actor Jon FavreauJon Favreau
Jonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers , Very Bad Things, and The Break-Up. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man and its sequel, and Cowboys & Aliens...
in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a 1994 film scripted by writer/director Alan Rudolph and former Washington Star reporter Randy Sue Coburn...
.
Stage productions
- A Defection from Grace (1913) with Frank Harris (unpublished)
- The Seventh Commandment (1913) with Frank Harris (unpublished)
- The Passing of Chow-Chow (1913) (one act) (published in 1925)
- On Trial (1914) with Frank Harris
- The Iron Cross (1917)
- The Home of the Free (1918)
- For the Defense (1919)
- It is the Law (1922)
- The Adding MachineThe Adding MachineThe Adding Machine is a 1923 play by Elmer Rice; it has been called "... a landmark of American Expressionism, reflecting the growing interest in this highly subjective and nonrealistic form of modern drama." The story focuses on Mr. Zero, an accountant at a large, faceless company. After 25 years...
(1923) - The Mongrel (1924) from a novel by Hermann BahrHermann BahrHermann Bahr was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic.-Biography:Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied Philosophy, Law, Economics and Philology in Vienna, Czernowitz and Berlin. During a prolonged stay in Paris he discovered his interest in literature and art...
(adaptation) - The Sidewalks of New York (1925) (Unpublished, published in 1934 as Three Plays Without Words)
- Is He Guilty? (1927)
- Wake Up, Jonathan (with Hatcher HughesHatcher HughesHatcher Hughes was an American playwright who lived in Grover, NC, as featured in the book Images of America. He was on the teaching staff of Columbia University from 1912 onward...
, 1928) - The Gay White Way (1928)
- Close Harmony (with Dorothy ParkerDorothy ParkerDorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
, 1929) - Cock Robin (1929) (co-author: Philip BarryPhilip BarryPhilip 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...
) - Street SceneStreet Scene (play)Street Scene is a play by Elmer Rice that opened at the Playhouse Theatre in New York City on January 10, 1929 and ran for a total of 601 performances. The action of this ambitious, groundbreaking play takes place entirely on the front stoop of a New York City brownstone and in the adjacent street...
(1929) won the Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
(also directed) - The Subway (1929)
- See Naples and Die (1930) (also directed)
- The Left Bank (1931) (also produced and directed)
- Counsellor-at-Law (1931) (also produced and directed)
- The House in Blind Alley: A Play in Three Acts (1932)
- We, The People (1933) (also produced and directed)
- Three Plays Without Words (1934) (one act)
- Landscape With Figures
- Rus in Urbe
- Exterior
- The Home of the Free 1934 (one act)
- Judgment Day (1934) (also produced and directed)
- Two Plays (1935)
- Between Two Worlds (also produced and directed)
- Not for ChildrenNot for ChildrenNot for Children is a 1934 play by Elmer Rice. It was premiered in 1935 at the Fortune Theatre in the West End of London. The work was performed for the first time on Broadway on February 13, 1951 at the Coronet Theatre; closing four days later after only seven performances. Incidental music was...
- Black Sheep (1938) (also produced and directed)
- American Landscape (1938) (also directed)
- Two On an Island (1940) with incidental musicIncidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
by Kurt WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
(also directed) - Flight tio the West (1941) (also directed)
- The Talley Method (1941) (also produced and directed)
- A New Life (1944)
- Dream GirlDream Girl (play)Dream Girl is a play by Elmer Rice.At its core is Georgina Allerton, a young woman whose efforts to run a bookstore are undermined severely by her tendency to drift off into Walter Mitty-like flights of fancy on a regular basis...
(1946) (also directed) - The Grand Tour (1952) (also directed)
- The Winner (1954) (also directed)
- Cue for Passion (1959) (also directed)
- Love Among the Ruins (1963) (Originally copyrighted in 1951)
- Court of Last Resort (1965)
Novels
- On Trial (1915) (novelization of the play)
- Papa Looks for Something (1926) (unpublished)
- A Voyage to Purilia (1930), a novel, J.J. Little and Ives Co., New York. Serialized in the New Yorker in 1929.
- Imperial City (1937) Coward-McCann Inc., New York
- The Show Must Go On (1949) Viking Press, New York
Non-fiction
- "The Playwright as Director," Theatre Arts Monthly 13 (may, 1929): pp. 355–360
- "Organized Charity Turns Censor," Nation 132 (June 10, 1931) pp. 628–630
- "The Joys of Pessimism," Forum 86 (July 1931) pp. 33–35
- "Sex in the Modern Theatre," Harper's 164 (May 1932) pp. 665–673
- "Theatre Alliance: A Cooperative Repertory Project," Theatre Arts Monthly 19 (June 1935) pp. 427–430
- "The Supreme Freedom" (1949) (pamphlet)
- "Conformity in the Arts" (1953) (pamphlet)
- "Entertainment in the Age of McCarthy," New Republic 176 (April 13, 1953) pp. 14–17
- The Living Theatre (1959) Harper & Bros (Essays on world theatre.)
- Minority Report (1964) an autobiography, Simon & Schuster, New York
- "Author! Author!" American Heritage 16 (April 1965) pp 46–49, 84-86
Selected filmography
Play adaptions- 1917: On Trial
- 1922: For the Defense
- 1924: It is the Law
- 1928: On Trial
- 1930: Oh, Sailor behave
- 1931: Street Scene
- 1933: Counsellor at Law
- 1939: On Trial
- 1948: Dream Girl
- 1969: The Adding Machine
Other contributions
- 1921: Doubling for Romeo (scenario)
- 1922: Rent Free (scenario)
- 1942: Holiday InnHoliday Inn (film)Holiday Inn is a 1942 American musical film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, with music by Irving Berlin. The film has twelve songs written expressly for the film, the most notable being "White Christmas"...
(adaptation)
External links
- Elmer Rice at answers.comAnswers.comAnswers.com is an Internet-based knowledge exchange, which includes WikiAnswers, ReferenceAnswers, VideoAnswers, and five international language Q&A communities. The Answers.com domain name was purchased by Bill Gross and Henrik Jones at idealab in 1996. The domain name was acquired by NetShepard...
- http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=2363
Further reading
- Robert Hogan (1965) The Independence of Elmer Rice, Twayne Publishers Inc., New York, ISBN 0809301776
- Frank Durham (1970) Elmer Rice, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois, ISBN 080570616X