The
Sacred Flame premiered in New York City at the Henry
Miller Theatre on November 19, 1928. It
ran for 24 performances. The review in
the New York Times on November 20,
1928 was titled “Murder Will Out at 11.”
Brooks Atkinson (1894-1984--who was using J. Brooks Atkinson as his byline)
was the reviewer. The title reveals his take on the play and his lack of
enthusiasm regarding it. He called it
“Another of Mr. Maugham’s highly cultivated shilling-schockers.” Maugham was surprised by this reaction and
obviously very disappointed by his play being taken merely as another murder
mystery.
The play opened in London
at the Playhouse Theatre on February 8, 1929 and the reaction was very
different. By the end of the evening
Maugham had another hit and this production ran for 209 performances. In London the play was considered by J. T.
Grein of the Illustrated London News to
be “one of Maugham finest.” Grein’s
title for his review dated February 23, 1929 is “Three Leading Ladies.” This play has three major roles for women and
the leading role of Stella was played by Gladys Cooper (1888-1971).
Miss Cooper, in addition
to being a major London stage and film actress, was the manager of the
Playhouse from 1917 to 1933. She was joined on stage in The Sacred Flame by two women who also played in the New York
production. American born Clare Eames (1896-1930) reprised the role of Nurse
Wayland and British actress Mary Jerrold (1877-1955) played Mrs. Tabret. Grein’s review states: “Here was a case in
which there was not one star, but three.”
An article titled “London
Once More Reverses A New York Verdict: Maugham’s “The Sacred. . .” in the New York Times dated March 3, 1929 was a
reprint of an article from London dated February 14, 1929. This article praises Maugham’s “dignity and a
freedom from sensationalism” even though the topic could have lent itself to
those characteristics. It provides a long analysis of the style before it
praises the work of the three actresses. It was unusual for plays in this
period to have three outstanding roles for women.
The play was still selling
tickets at the Playhouse’s box office, when the Bishop of London denounced it
as shockingly immoral. This sent ticket sales soaring and extended the length
of The Sacred Flame run. A similar
incident happened in 1930 during the play’s performances in Rome. The Sacred Flame was denounced on the front
page of L’Osservatore Romano, the
daily newspaper of Vatican City State, and tickets sales rebounded.
The Era in its 7 October 1931 issue reported that Maugham’s play “The
Sacred Flame” has been produced at the Theatre des Ambassadeurs in Paris under
the title of “Cyclone.” It mentioned
that the Parisian critics are “enthusiastic”.
The play continued to be
presented throughout the United Kingdom during the 1930’s. A review in the Sidney Morning Herald dated September
15, 1934 called it “a splendid play, very beautifully presented.” The
Sacred Flame was also produced again in London at the “Q” Theatre in July,
1936.
This drama was produced throughout the 1940’s during World War Two and following it. 1945
marked another London revival of The
Sacred Flame at St. Martin’s Theatre. I mentioned in the previous post
about this play, the book titled “Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of
Living.” Hitler adopted some of the philosophy from the book and utilized it as
early as 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. He instituted the practice of
killing individuals who could not contribute to the war effort due to illness.
They were bused to killing centers and killed by lethal injection. By 1940
carbon monoxide gas became the preferred method. Once this knowledge became known throughout
the rest of the western world, the theme of The
Sacred Flame continued to be relevant.
The
Sacred Flame was revived in New York City during
October, 1952 at the President Theatre starring Frances Starr (1886 -1973) as
Mrs. Tabret. Once again, Brooks Atkinson
reviewed it for the New York Times. He still did not like the play and he stated:
“The situation in ‘The Sacred Flame’ is morbid and mechanical. The characters are hackneyed.”
While the play was popular
on the stage, two films were produced by Warner Brothers. The first film was released in November, 1929
and the second, titled The Right to Live,
was released January, 1935. These films
were shown throughout the United States and Great Britain.
The popularity of The Sacred Flame continued to spread. In
February 1949, there was a radio broadcast to audiences in Great Britain. The
British Broadcasting Company made a movie for television of the play with its
original title and it was shown in early 1951. In the Northampton Mercury newspaper on June 1, 1951, the reporter’s story
about the TV movie said it was based on “one of our popular plays—and one with
a wealth of philosophy for those who follow it line by line.” Then in 1955 the BBC made another television version
with a new cast.
The
Sacred Flame succeeded in receiving productions in
every available mode of media. This included publication in book form of the
script by Doubleday and Company in the United States during 1928. The British
edition was published in 1929 around the time the play was first presented on
the London stage. The script has been reprinted in a number of collected plays
editions since that time. The Sacred Flame was produced
sporadically throughout the rest of the twentieth century.
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