The Drunkard
Encyclopedia
The Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved is an American temperance play first performed in 1844. A drama in five acts, it was perhaps the most popular play produced in the United States before the dramatization of Uncle Tom's Cabin
in the 1850s. In New York City, P.T. Barnum presented it at his American Museum
in a run of over 100 performances. It was among the first of the American temperance plays, and remained the most popular of them until it was eclipsed in 1858 by T. S. Arthur
's Ten Nights in a Bar-Room.
The primary writer of the play was William H. Smith, who also directed and starred in the original production in Boston in the 1844–45 season. Smith was the stage manager at Moses Kimball
's Boston Museum
and a recovered alcoholic. An anonymous collaborator, believed to have been Unitarian
minister John Pierpont
, co-wrote the script.
In the 20th century, the dated melodrama of Smith's play made it a target of parody. In 1934, a production of The Drunkard was featured to comic effect in the W. C. Fields
film The Old Fashioned Way
. The following year, James Murray
and Clara Kimball Young
starred in a film called The Drunkard, a comedy-drama in which two theatrical producers present the play as a farce with their needy relatives in the cast. In 1940, Buster Keaton
starred in another film parody, The Villain Still Pursued Her.
A version of the play adapted by Richard Mansfield Dickinson has been performed every Saturday night beginning in 1953 at the Spotlight Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma
.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
in the 1850s. In New York City, P.T. Barnum presented it at his American Museum
American Museum
The American Museum in Britain is based at Claverton Manor, near Bath, England, in a house, designed by Jeffry Wyatville and built in the 1820s on the site of a manor bought by Ralph Allen in 1758...
in a run of over 100 performances. It was among the first of the American temperance plays, and remained the most popular of them until it was eclipsed in 1858 by T. S. Arthur
Timothy Shay Arthur
Timothy Shay Arthur was a popular nineteenth-century American author. He is most famous for his temperance novel Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and What I Saw There , which helped demonize alcohol in the eyes of the American public.He was also the author of dozens of stories for Godey's Lady's Book,...
's Ten Nights in a Bar-Room.
The primary writer of the play was William H. Smith, who also directed and starred in the original production in Boston in the 1844–45 season. Smith was the stage manager at Moses Kimball
Moses Kimball
Moses Kimball was a U.S. politician and showman. Kimball was a close associate of P. T. Barnum, and public-spirited citizen of Boston, Massachusetts.-Biography:...
's Boston Museum
Boston Museum (theatre)
The Boston Museum , also called the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, was a theatre, wax museum, natural history museum, zoo, and art museum in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts...
and a recovered alcoholic. An anonymous collaborator, believed to have been Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
minister John Pierpont
John Pierpont
John Pierpont was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His most famous poem is The Airs of Palestine.-Overview:...
, co-wrote the script.
In the 20th century, the dated melodrama of Smith's play made it a target of parody. In 1934, a production of The Drunkard was featured to comic effect in the W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
film The Old Fashioned Way
The Old Fashioned Way (film)
The Old Fashioned Way is a 1934 film produced by Paramount Pictures and starring W. C. Fields. The film was directed by William Beaudine. The script was written by Jack Cunningham based on a story by "Charles Bogle" ....
. The following year, James Murray
James Murray (actor)
James Murray was an American movie actor.-Background:Born in The Bronx, New York, James Murray went to Hollywood in the 1920s to try to succeed as an actor. After several years of work, mostly as an extra, with little hope of a starring role, he was "discovered" by director King Vidor, who saw...
and Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress, who was highly regarded and publicly popular in the early silent film era.-Early life:...
starred in a film called The Drunkard, a comedy-drama in which two theatrical producers present the play as a farce with their needy relatives in the cast. In 1940, Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
starred in another film parody, The Villain Still Pursued Her.
A version of the play adapted by Richard Mansfield Dickinson has been performed every Saturday night beginning in 1953 at the Spotlight Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
.