Original Petrified Forest cast Broadhurst Theater NYC 1935
by David Lee Guss
Title
Original Petrified Forest cast Broadhurst Theater NYC 1935
Artist
David Lee Guss
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
"The Petrified Forest, drama in two acts by Robert Sherwood, published and produced in 1935. This melodramatic Depression-era tale of frustrated lives and spiritual emptiness is set in a gas station and lunchroom along an Arizona highway. Gabby, the daughter of the station's owner, is unhappy with her life in the desert and longs to go to Paris to paint. She falls in love with Alan Squier, a failed author who stops at the restaurant on his way to California and proposes elopement.
Everything changes when the escaped criminal Duke Mantee arrives and holds them hostage. Though flawed by didacticism and romantic cliche's, the play offers insight into the search for values in a decadent civilization."
The play ran from January 7 to June 1935 at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway. Only Bogart and Leslie Howard reprised their stage roles. Silent film star Blanche Sweet played Mrs. Chisholm. She is sitting behind the table on the far right.
I met her in July 1976 at a Bicentennial Western Film festival at Sun Valley, Idaho. One of my greatest photography regrets is not taking a picture of her as she was by herself in a courtyard, sitting on the ground, with her hands over her knees.
"Blanche Sweet was born Sarah Blanche Sweet on June 18, 1896 in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were vaudeville actors and she began performing at the age of four. In 1909 she signed a contract with Biograph studios. She made dozens of films and became known as "The Biograph Blonde". Blanche had a highly publicized affair with director Marshall Neilan. He divorced his wife and they were married in 1922. By this time Blanche was one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood. She won rave reviews for her performances in Anna Christie and Tess of the D'Urbervilles (which was directed by Neilan). Unfortunately when the talkies came Blanche's career suffered.
Blanche also worked with film historians and gave lectures about the early days of Hollywood. She would spend her final years living in New York City. Blanche died on September 9, 1986 from a stroke/."
I can still see her in my mind on the ground resting so casually.
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June 4th, 2016
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