Since William Archer was an
advocate for the New Drama--realistic social drama and drama of ideas, a
highbrow theatre critic and the English translator of Henrik Ibsen’s plays, no
one ever expected him to write an adventure driven lowbrow melodrama.
Archer entrusted the
script of his new play “The Raja of Rukh” to Granville-Barker (1877-1946) a
well-known man of the theatre in Britain, who was travelling to America.
Granville-Barker presented the play to Winthrop Ames, a Broadway producer, who
agreed to present this play in the States.
Archer visited New York in late July of 1920, while an actor was being sought
to play the part of the Raja. This was a difficult role to cast and the success
of the production would rest on the shoulders of the selected actor. Archer returned to America in November to
attend rehearsals and see the late December trial run of his play, retitled The Green Goddess, at Philadelphia’s
famous Walnut Street Theatre.
Ames had cast George
Arliss, age fifty-three years, as the Raja.
Arliss was born in London, but he had spent the past eighteen years
acting in America. He was a prominent
actor on Broadway, but he was not a star.
The character of the Raja was not the typical Broadway leading role. This character neither wins the affection of the heroine nor does he reform his
beliefs and alter his unacceptable behavioral pattern. Arliss with his British
accent and slightly disproportional physical attributes, large head on a slight
body, presented a convincing image for this character.
The trial run of the play
in Philadelphia was extremely successful. The performances of George Arliss and Ivan
Simpson, who played Watkins the Raja’s cockney valet, were credited with making
this production extremely entertaining. It was a perception that would be
echoed throughout the long run of the play.
The
Green Goddess opened at the Booth Theatre in Manhattan
on January 18, 1921. The Booth, located
just off Broadway, was a small theatre with about 760 seats. Following opening night, the play sold out until
the end of March. It received excellent
reviews and the New York Times had dubbed it as “a thriller
that really thrills.” It was also talked about everywhere society people
gathered. They loved the lavish sets, exotic decorative pieces like the Green
Goddess shrine and the fabulous costumes.
The review on January 19,
1921 that appeared in the New York Times
was written by the sardonic Alexander Woollcott who lauded the play, the
producer, the playwright and the leading actors, especially George Arliss. “Mr. Archer has built his play fairly well
and written it smoothly and then had the immense good fortune to fall into the
hands of Mr. Ames, . . .” Woollcott labeled
The Green Goddess as unmistakably good
entertainment. He also mentions that
this is a perfect vehicle for George Arliss and it is likely “to trundle him”
far. This was a prediction that proved
to come true since Arliss gained stardom in the role of the Raja.
The
Green Goddess played at the Booth Theatre for fourteen
months where it was presented 415 times during its run. The production then moved to Boston for eleven
weeks and ninety performances. In the Fall,
it moved to Chicago for sixty-five performances. It was estimated in the Indianapolis Star on December 24, 1922 that when this play’s “two
year cycle is completed, ‘The Green Goddess’ will have been acted 625 times in
the United States.” The article further
speculates: “it is estimated that Archer’s drama will be acted at least
1,000 times before Mr. Ames seeks its successor for Mr. Arliss.”
On September 6, 1923
George Arliss returned to London, England after twenty-two years in America to
play the Raja in The Green Goddess.
The play was presented at the Saint James Theatre and the play as well as its
star received an ovation. The rest of the cast members from the American
production were not in the London presentation. The play was a sensation in
London. The star of the production was
one attraction, but the playwright was the other. Archer had served for decades
as London’s scowling critic of lowbrow theatre and now he was the playwright of
a delightful lowbrow melodrama.
George Arliss also managed
the time to play the Raja in the first film version of The Green Goddess released on August 14, 1923. This is a silent
black and white film made by Distinctive Productions. In January of 1925, the
British advertisements for this film proclaimed it was “One of the strongest
melodramas ever presented on the screen.”
A second film version was
released in the United States on February 13, 1930. William Archer never had
the opportunity to enjoy the continuing success of his play and this film since
he died on December 27, 1924. This new
film starred Arliss and included Ivan Simpson, who continued to play the Raja’s
valet. This version was the first of the all-talking Vitaphone pictures for Warner
Brothers.
The
Green Goddess was a sensation in the English speaking
theatre both as a play and a film. It also was published as a book and
presented in newspapers as a serial presentation. The Altoona
Tribune announced on February 26, 1930 that the first installment of The Green Goddess would be published the
next day. The play continued to have a life with touring companies in both the
United States and England well into the 1930s.
The BBC presented the play in 1932 on the radio where it was billed as
“a thriller”. It was a thriller that
showed how the newer weapons of war changed the game, how the world was quickly
changing after World War One and how readily wars can start.
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