Two Blind Mice
Encyclopedia
Two Blind Mice was a 1949 comedy play by Samuel and Bella Spewack
. The play ran on Broadway at the Cort Theatre
for 157 performances, from March 2, 1949 to July 16, 1949, and thereafter had a lengthy provincial tour. The play starred Melvyn Douglas
as Tommy Thurston, newspaper reporter and was produced by Archer King
and Harrison Woodhull.
Thurston discovers the office and sets out to aid the workers. Through an elaborate series of practical jokes, he involves the Armed Forces and the State Department, eventually winning the day for the elderly ladies. In the process, he also wins back his former wife.
s critic, Brooks Atkinson
, however, gave it a lukewarm review, and later in March criticized the Spewacks for wasting an intriguing setup by turning it over to Thurston, whom Atkinson dubbed "an adolescent journalistic prankster who has nothing to give anybody except impudence, irresponsibility and show clichés". The play closed July 16, 1949, and its two mascots, white mice, were put up for adoption. In his autobiography, Douglas laid the blame for the play's failure to run more than four and a half months on Broadway on Samuel Spewack's insistence on not only writing, but also directing the play.
The show began a tour throughout the eastern half of the United States and into Canada in early 1950, after adjustments in the show insisted upon by Douglas were made, and ran throughout the year. The show kept Douglas away from California during his wife Helen Gahagan Douglas
's run for United States Senate against Richard Nixon
, a campaign
which proved extremely nasty.
Samuel and Bella Spewack
Samuel and Bella Spewack were a husband-and-wife writing team.Samuel, who also directed many of their plays, was born in the Ukraine...
. The play ran on Broadway at the Cort Theatre
Cort Theatre
The Cort Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theatre District of midtown Manhattan in New York City...
for 157 performances, from March 2, 1949 to July 16, 1949, and thereafter had a lengthy provincial tour. The play starred Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
as Tommy Thurston, newspaper reporter and was produced by Archer King
Archer King
Archer King is an American theatrical agent, producer and actor.King acted in the Broadway productions Summer Night and Stop Press in 1939. These were followed by service in World War II...
and Harrison Woodhull.
Plot
The plot revolves around the Office of Medicinal Herbs, a fictitious U.S. government bureau abolished by Congress four years before the setting of the play. Refusing to accept the closing of the office, which represents their lives' work, the two elderly female officials of the office keep it running quietly. Deprived of funding by the abolition, they make ends meet by renting out the rooms and by running a parking lot on the front lawn. To avoid problems with what remains of the Government, they never answer the phone.Thurston discovers the office and sets out to aid the workers. Through an elaborate series of practical jokes, he involves the Armed Forces and the State Department, eventually winning the day for the elderly ladies. In the process, he also wins back his former wife.
Production
The opening night, March 2, 1949, saw the audience enjoy the production The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
s critic, Brooks Atkinson
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960...
, however, gave it a lukewarm review, and later in March criticized the Spewacks for wasting an intriguing setup by turning it over to Thurston, whom Atkinson dubbed "an adolescent journalistic prankster who has nothing to give anybody except impudence, irresponsibility and show clichés". The play closed July 16, 1949, and its two mascots, white mice, were put up for adoption. In his autobiography, Douglas laid the blame for the play's failure to run more than four and a half months on Broadway on Samuel Spewack's insistence on not only writing, but also directing the play.
The show began a tour throughout the eastern half of the United States and into Canada in early 1950, after adjustments in the show insisted upon by Douglas were made, and ran throughout the year. The show kept Douglas away from California during his wife Helen Gahagan Douglas
Helen Gahagan
Helen Gahagan was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the first two states to have elected female members of the House from both parties.-Early life and acting...
's run for United States Senate against Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, a campaign
United States Senate election in California, 1950
The 1950 United States Senate election in California followed a campaign characterized by accusations and name-calling. Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas, after Democratic incumbent Sheridan Downey withdrew during the primary election campaign...
which proved extremely nasty.