The Trial of Mary Dugan

The Trial of Mary Dugan is a play written by Bayard Veiller.

The 1927 melodrama concerns a sensational courtroom trial of a showgirl accused of killing of her millionaire lover. Her defense attorney is her brother, Jimmy Dugan. It was first presented on Broadway in 1927, with Ann Harding in the title role, and in London in 1928 with Genevieve Tobin. Two American films were based on the play, one in 1929 directed by Bayard Veiller and starring Norma Shearer, and one in 1941 directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Laraine Day. The play was performed at the Savoy Theatre, Strand, London, during 1958. Presented by Peter Saunders, the play featured Betsy Blair, David Knight, Cec Linder and Patricia Burke.

During the play, the audience was addressed as if it were the jury.

The Broadway production debuted at the National Theatre on September 19, 1927, moved to the Sam H. Harris Theatre on June 11, 1928, and then to the Century Theatre from September 3-19, 1928, for a total of 437 performances.[1]

A novelization of the play, by William Almon Wolff, was published in 1929.

Ayn Rand's Night of January 16th is reported to have been modeled on this play.[2]


See also

Notes
  1. The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre, p. 645 (3d ed. 2004)
  2. Heller 2009, pp. 75–77

References
  • Heller, Anne C. (2009). Ayn Rand and the World She Made. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-51399-9. OCLC 229027437.
  • Veiller, Bayard (1955) [1928]. The Trial Of Mary Dugan: A Melodrama Of New York Life In Three Acts. New York, NY and Hollywood, CA: Samuel French.
  • Wolff, William Almon (1929). The Trial Of Mary Dugan. New York, NY: Grossett and Dunlap.
  • "New Films: The Trial of Mary Dugan", Sydney Morning Herald, February 3, 1930, retrieved January 21, 2010


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