The Good Companions
Encyclopedia
The Good Companions is a novel
by the English
author
J. B. Priestley
.
Written in 1929 (in Deal
, Kent
), it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party
in England
between World War I
and World War II
. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
and was adapted twice into film.
town of Bruddersford. He opts to leave his family and seek adventure "on t'road" (throughout the novel Priestley uses dialect for all non-RP
speakers of English). He heads south down the Great North Road
.
Intertwined with the story of Oakroyd's travels are those of Elizabeth Trant and Inigo Jollifant, two similarly malcontented individuals. Miss Trant is an upper-middle class
spinster and Jollifant is a teacher at a down-at-heel private school. All three ultimately encounter each other when a failing concert troupe ('The Dinky Doos') are disbanding as a result of their manager running off with the takings. The independently wealthy Miss Trant, against the advice of her relatives, decides to refloat the troupe, now known as 'The Good Companions'. Inigo plays piano, Oakroyd is the odd-job man, and other assorted characters including members of the original troupe: including Jimmy Nunn, Jerry Jerningham and Susie Dean, along with Mr Morton Mitcham (a travelling banjo player whom Inigo met earlier on his own odyssey) have various adventures round the shires of middle England.
After a sabotaged performance, the troupe disband: Jerry marries Lady Partlit, a fan; Susie and Inigo become successful and famous in London; Miss Trant gets married; Jess Oakroyd emigrates to Canada and the other performers carry on with their life on the road.
troupe) which no longer exists.
Nonetheless, Priestley's ear for dialectical foibles is keen, and many of his constructions (e.g. 'Unkerlathur' for 'Uncle Arthur') are acutely observed. More recently there has been a reappraisal of this and other Priestley works: a new edition of The Good Companions appeared in October 2007 with a foreword by Dame Judi Dench
, accompanying a reappraisal of the various versions by Ronald Harwood
, Andre Previn
and Judy Cornwell
amongst others.
on a stage version of his novel, which opened at His Majesty's Theatre
, London on 14 May 1931. It ran for nine months, with Edward Chapman
, Edith Sharpe
and John Gielgud
in the cast.
, it starred John Gielgud
as Ingo Jollifant, Jessie Matthews
as Susie Dean and Edmund Gwenn
as Jess Oakroyd.
remake was directed by J. Lee Thompson
for Associated British Picture Corporation
, and starred Eric Portman
as Oakroyd, Celia Johnson
as Miss Trant, Joyce Grenfell
as Lady Partlit, Janette Scott
as Susie Dean, John Fraser
as Inigo Jollifant and Rachel Roberts as Elsie and Effie Longstaff. This version updates the narrative and music to the late fifties (with a score by Laurie Johnson
) when touring shows were in decline. It did not emulate the success of the book, and signified the end of the novel's popular success. It came to be typified by the contemporaneous Angry Young Men
of British stage and screen as the kind of unrealistic depiction of working class Britain they were struggling to be free of.
, directed by Braham Murray
with a libretto by Ronald Harwood
, music by Andre Previn
and lyrics by Johnny Mercer
(in his last show) opened at Her Majesty's Theatre
in London - the same venue of the stage play over forty years earlier (having had its world premiere at the Palace Theatre in Manchester). The cast included John Mills
as Oakroyd, Judi Dench
as Miss Trant and Marti Webb
as Susie Dean. It was revived in 2000 at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco. In October 2001 it was performed at the York Theatre
in New York City as part of the York's "Musicals in Mufti" reading series.
series appeared in 1980, adapted by Alan Plater
. It starred Jan Francis
as Susie Dean and Simon Green as Jerry Jerningham. Music composed by David Fanshawe
. Executive Producer - David Cunliffe, Producer - Leonard Lewis, Directors - Leonard Lewis and Bill Hays.
produced an all new musical version, at the Bristol Old Vic Studio in November 2009. Directed by the school's Artistic Director Sue Wilson, it featured a new script and score by Malcolm McKee, design by Sue Mayes and choreography by Gail Gordon.
, with Helen Longworth
as Suzie Dean, Philip Jackson
as Jess Oakroyd, Gemma Churchill as Elizabeth Trant and Nicholas Bolton as Inigo Jolliphant. The production was directed by Claire Grove.
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 the English
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...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
.
Written in 1929 (in Deal
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
), it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party
Concert Party (entertainment)
A concert party, also called a Pierrot troupe, is the collective name for a group of entertainers, or Pierrots, popular in Britain during the first half of the 20th century. The variety show given by a Pierrot troupe was called a Pierrot show...
in 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...
between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
and was adapted twice into film.
Plot summary
The novel is written in picaresque style, and opens with the middle aged, discontented Jess Oakroyd in the fictional YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
town of Bruddersford. He opts to leave his family and seek adventure "on t'road" (throughout the novel Priestley uses dialect for all non-RP
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
speakers of English). He heads south down the Great North Road
Great North Road (Great Britain)
The Great North Road was a coaching route used by mail coaches between London, York and Edinburgh. The modern A1 mainly follows the Great North Road. The inns on the road, many of which survive, were staging posts on the coach routes, providing accommodation, stabling for the horses and...
.
Intertwined with the story of Oakroyd's travels are those of Elizabeth Trant and Inigo Jollifant, two similarly malcontented individuals. Miss Trant is an upper-middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
spinster and Jollifant is a teacher at a down-at-heel private school. All three ultimately encounter each other when a failing concert troupe ('The Dinky Doos') are disbanding as a result of their manager running off with the takings. The independently wealthy Miss Trant, against the advice of her relatives, decides to refloat the troupe, now known as 'The Good Companions'. Inigo plays piano, Oakroyd is the odd-job man, and other assorted characters including members of the original troupe: including Jimmy Nunn, Jerry Jerningham and Susie Dean, along with Mr Morton Mitcham (a travelling banjo player whom Inigo met earlier on his own odyssey) have various adventures round the shires of middle England.
After a sabotaged performance, the troupe disband: Jerry marries Lady Partlit, a fan; Susie and Inigo become successful and famous in London; Miss Trant gets married; Jess Oakroyd emigrates to Canada and the other performers carry on with their life on the road.
Literary significance and reception
The Good Companions was an instant hit on publication, but was not particularly well regarded by critics. Despite this, it remained popular for over forty years. It then fell out of favour, not only because the novel was written from a (rather old fashioned) middle class perspective but also because it deals with a phenomenon (a travelling music hallMusic hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
troupe) which no longer exists.
Nonetheless, Priestley's ear for dialectical foibles is keen, and many of his constructions (e.g. 'Unkerlathur' for 'Uncle Arthur') are acutely observed. More recently there has been a reappraisal of this and other Priestley works: a new edition of The Good Companions appeared in October 2007 with a foreword by Dame Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, accompanying a reappraisal of the various versions by Ronald Harwood
Ronald Harwood
Sir Ronald Harwood CBE is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay...
, Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
and Judy Cornwell
Judy Cornwell
Judy Valerie Cornwell is an English actress best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.-Biography:...
amongst others.
1931 theatrical adaptation
Priestley collaborated with Edward KnoblockEdward Knoblock
Edward Knoblock was an American-born British playwright and novelist most remembered for the often revived 1911 play, Kismet-Biography:...
on a stage version of his novel, which opened at His Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
, London on 14 May 1931. It ran for nine months, with Edward Chapman
Edward Chapman (actor)
Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.Chapman was born in...
, Edith Sharpe
Edith Sharpe
-Selected filmography:* The Education of Elizabeth * Music Hath Charms * The Tenth Man * When the Bough Breaks * That Dangerous Age * Landfall * No Place for Jennifer...
and John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
in the cast.
1933 film version
The first film version appeared hard on the heels of the play. Produced by GaumontGaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
, it starred John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
as Ingo Jollifant, Jessie Matthews
Jessie Matthews
Jessie Matthews, OBE was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period.-Early life:...
as Susie Dean and Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
as Jess Oakroyd.
1957 film version
A TechnicolorTechnicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
remake was directed by J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
for Associated British Picture Corporation
Associated British Picture Corporation
Associated British Picture Corporation , originally British International Pictures , was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970...
, and starred Eric Portman
Eric Portman
Eric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...
as Oakroyd, Celia Johnson
Celia Johnson
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE was an English actress.She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter , for which she received a nomination for the...
as Miss Trant, Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
as Lady Partlit, Janette Scott
Janette Scott
Thora Janette Scott is an English actress. She was born in Morecambe, England. She is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird. She started her acting career as a child actress, known as Janette Scott, and became a popular leading lady...
as Susie Dean, John Fraser
John Fraser (actor)
-External links:* http://www.johnfraser.org/...
as Inigo Jollifant and Rachel Roberts as Elsie and Effie Longstaff. This version updates the narrative and music to the late fifties (with a score by Laurie Johnson
Laurie Johnson
Laurie Johnson is an English film and television composer, and bandleader.-Career:...
) when touring shows were in decline. It did not emulate the success of the book, and signified the end of the novel's popular success. It came to be typified by the contemporaneous Angry Young Men
Angry young men
The "angry young men" were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. The group's leading members included John Osborne and Kingsley Amis.The phrase was originally coined by the Royal Court Theatre's press officer to promote John...
of British stage and screen as the kind of unrealistic depiction of working class Britain they were struggling to be free of.
1974 Musical
On 11 July 1974 a musical adaptationThe Good Companions (musical)
The Good Companions is a musical with a book by Ronald Harwood, music by André Previn, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by J. B...
, directed by Braham Murray
Braham Murray
Braham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with a libretto by Ronald Harwood
Ronald Harwood
Sir Ronald Harwood CBE is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay...
, music by Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
and lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
(in his last show) opened at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in London - the same venue of the stage play over forty years earlier (having had its world premiere at the Palace Theatre in Manchester). The cast included John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
as Oakroyd, Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as Miss Trant and Marti Webb
Marti Webb
Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...
as Susie Dean. It was revived in 2000 at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco. In October 2001 it was performed at the York Theatre
York Theatre
The York Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre at 619 Lexington Avenue at the corner of 54th Street in the East Midtown section of Manhattan, New York City. It is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each season consists of three or...
in New York City as part of the York's "Musicals in Mufti" reading series.
1980 TV version
A Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
series appeared in 1980, adapted by Alan Plater
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
. It starred Jan Francis
Jan Francis
Jan Francis is an English actress, best known for playing Penny Warrender in the 1980s romantic comedy Just Good Friends.-Early life:Francis was born at the former Charing Cross Hospital near Trafalgar Square, London...
as Susie Dean and Simon Green as Jerry Jerningham. Music composed by David Fanshawe
David Fanshawe
David Arthur Fanshawe was an English composer, ethnomusicologist and self-styled explorer. His work is situated at the crossroads of traditional and modern music. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work African Sanctus.- Life :Fanshawe was born in Paignton in Devon in 1942...
. Executive Producer - David Cunliffe, Producer - Leonard Lewis, Directors - Leonard Lewis and Bill Hays.
2009 Musical
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre SchoolBristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...
produced an all new musical version, at the Bristol Old Vic Studio in November 2009. Directed by the school's Artistic Director Sue Wilson, it featured a new script and score by Malcolm McKee, design by Sue Mayes and choreography by Gail Gordon.
2010 Radio adaptation
From May 25th to May 27th 2010, BBC Radio 7 broadcast a three-part dramatization of Priestley's novel by Eric PringleEric Pringle
Eric Pringle is a British writer for radio and television. He has also written three novels for children....
, with Helen Longworth
Helen Longworth
Helen Longworth is a British actor. She has appeared in many radio plays including playing Zofia in two series of On Mardle Fen, Susie Dean in The Good Companions and Marina in Pericles...
as Suzie Dean, Philip Jackson
Philip Jackson
Philip, Phillip or Phil Jackson may refer to:* Philip Jackson , British actor, played Chief Inspector Japp* Philip Jackson , Royal Sculptor...
as Jess Oakroyd, Gemma Churchill as Elizabeth Trant and Nicholas Bolton as Inigo Jolliphant. The production was directed by Claire Grove.