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{{Short description|1936 play by Terence Rattigan}}{{Other uses}}{{italic title}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}

factoids

French Without Tears is a comic play written by a 25-year-old Terence Rattigan in 1936.

Setting

It takes place in a cram school for adults needing to acquire French for business reasons. Scattered throughout are Franglais phrases and schoolboy misunderstandings of the French language.The play was inspired by a 1933 visit to a village called Marxzell in the Black Forest, where young English gentlemen went to cram German.

Reception

The play was a success on its London debut, establishing Rattigan as a dramatist. A critic thought it "gay, witty, thoroughly contemporary ... with a touch of lovable truth behind all its satire."WEB,weblink French Without Tears by Terence Rattigan, Kay Hammond & Roland Culver, vam.ac.uk, It ran for over 1,000 performances in London, and over 100 in New York.WEB,weblink Terence Rattigan, terencerattigan.co.uk, 6 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141111123245weblink">weblink 11 November 2014, dead, It also established Rex Harrison as a major star.

Original production

The play, directed by Harold French, opened on 6 November 1936 at the Criterion Theatre, London, with the following cast:WEB,weblink Production of French Without Tears - Theatricalia, theatricalia.com,

• Alan Howard - Rex Harrison
• Brian Curtis - Guy Middleton
• Commander Bill Rogers - Roland Culver
• Diana Lake - Kay Hammond
• Jacqueline Maingot - Jessica Tandy
• Kenneth Lake - Trevor Howard
• Kit Neilan - Robert Flemyng
• Lord Heybrook - William Dear
• Marianne/t/o Jacqueline Maingot - Yvonne Andre
• Monsieur Maingot - Percy Walsh

Adaptations

A film version, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland, was released in 1940.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120713133659weblink">weblink dead, 2012-07-13, French without Tears, BFI, {{anchor|Joie de Vivre}}In 1960 Rattigan himself refashioned the work as the musical Joie de Vivre but it was not a success.BOOK, Wright, Adrian, West End Broadway : the Golden Age of American musical in London., 2012, Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, England, 9781843837916, 163, A television production was featured in the Saturday Playhouse TV series on 7 June 1958, with Denholm Elliott, Elvi Hale, Colin Broadley, Nicholas Parsons, and Andrew IrvineSaturday Playhouse; Episode 12: French Without Tears (7 June 1958), IMDb.com. Retrieved 10 March 2017. and another in the BBC's Play of the Month series on 16 May 1976, starring Nigel Havers, Anthony Andrews and David Robb.Play of the Month; French Without Tears (16 May 1976), bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2014.A radio version directed by Gerry Jones was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 25 December 1986, repeated on 14 May 1989 and 20 July 1992.WEB,weblink The Afternoon Play: French Without Tears, BBC,

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• {{ibdb production|12287}}

{{Terence Rattigan}}{{1930s-play-stub}}