The Constant Nymph is a 1924 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Margaret Kennedy

Margaret Kennedy

Margaret Kennedy was an English novelist and playwright.-Family and education:Margaret Kennedy was born in Hyde Park Gate, London, the eldest of the four children of Charles Moore Kennedy , a barrister, and his wife Ellinor Edith Marwood...

. It tells how a teenage girl falls in love with a family friend, who eventually marries her cousin. The two girls show mutual jealousy over their common love for the man.

The novel was a best-seller after it was first published, becoming the first novel of a genre that might be called 'Bohemian'. A significant part of its success was due to its (for the time) shocking sexual content, describing, as it does, scenes of adolescent sexuality and noble savagery in the Austrian Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

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The novel was adapted into a play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 by Kennedy and Basil Dean

Basil Dean

Basil Herbert Dean CBE was an English actor, writer, film producer/director and theatrical producer/director....

.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Margaret Kennedy and Basil Dean adapted The Constant Nymph for a three act play that was published by Doubleday, Page and Company (Garden City, N.Y.) in 1926. A different, second edition of the play was published by William Heinemann (London) in 1926. The play was performed on the London stage in 1926 and featured Noel Coward

Noël Coward

Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

 and Edna Best.

The novel was first adapted as a 1928 silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 in 1928 by Adrian Brunel

Adrian Brunel

Adrian Brunel was an English film director and screenwriter. Brunel's directorial career started in the silent era, and reached its peak in the latter half of the 1920s...

 and Alma Reville

Alma Reville

Alma Reville, Lady Hitchcock was an English assistant director, screenwriter and editor. She was the second daughter of Edward and Lucy Reville....

 and directed by Brunel and Basil Dean. This version starred Ivor Novello

Ivor Novello

David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...

, Mabel Poulton

Mabel Poulton

Mabel Poulton was an English film actress, popular in Britain during the era of silent films.Born in London, England, Poulton was working as a stenographer and entered films by chance. Her first role in George Pearson's Nothing Else Matters was opposite Betty Balfour, who was also making her...

 and Benita Hume

Benita Hume

Benita Hume was an English film actress. She appeared in 44 films between 1925 and 1955.She was married to actor Ronald Colman from 1938 to his death in 1958; they were the parents of a daughter, Juliet...

.

It was adapted again in 1933 by Dorothy Farnum and directed by Dean. It featured Victoria Hopper

Victoria Hopper

Victoria Hopper was a Canadian-born British stage and film actress and singer.Hopper was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and raised in Dunston, Gateshead, England. She was popular during the 1930s. She was married from August 1934 until 1939 to Basil Dean, a British stage and film...

, Brian Aherne

Brian Aherne

Brian Aherne was a British actor of both stage and screen, who found success in Hollywood.-Early life and stage career:...

 and Leonora Corbett

Leonora Corbett

Leonora Corbett was a British film actress.On leaving school she studied art but later decided that she would prefer the stage. She made her debut at Cambridge and later appeared on the London stage before appearing on the screen, with Love on Wheels her film debut.-Selected filmography:* Love on...

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A third adaptation in 1943

The Constant Nymph (1943 film)

The Constant Nymph is a 1943 romantic drama film starring Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith, Brenda Marshall, Charles Coburn, Dame May Whitty and Peter Lorre...

 featured Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...

, Joan Fontaine

Joan Fontaine

Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....

 and Alexis Smith

Alexis Smith

Alexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...

. It was adapted by Kathryn Scola and directed by Edmund Goulding

Edmund Goulding

Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...

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