All posts filed under: The Swan (1923)

Molnar’s play “The Swan”

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In 1923 Basil Rathbone starred with Eva LeGallienne in the hit play The Swan. Basil played Dr. Nicholas Agi and Eva played Princess Alexandra. You can read the entire play if you’d like to; it can be found on archive.org. But I decided to present an abridged version here, in case you want to know what the play is about, but you don’t want to read the entire play. You can download the entire play here: https://archive.org/details/fashionsformena00glazgoog/page/n168/mode/2up (The book on archive.org contains two plays by Molnar. The Swan begins on page 169.) The Swan (Abridged version) A Romantic Comedy in Three Acts by Ferenc Molnar (translated by Melville Baker) Main Characters: Princess Beatrice Symphorosa, her sister Hyacinth, her brother Alexandra, her daughter George, her son Arsene, another son Dr. Nicholas Agi Prince Albert Princess Maria Dominica Count Luetzen Colonel Wunderlich ACT I The story starts on a summer morning in a pavilion in the garden of the Princess Beatrice’s castle. The pavilion serves as a classroom for the young princes. George and Arsene. Dr. Agi …

“Basil Rathbone Eulogizes the American Actress” – 1923

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This article first appeared in THE BILLBOARD, November 1923. Just a few weeks later Rathbone would be taken to a party by Clifton Webb, where he would meet unemployed screenwriter “Ouida Bergere” (as she called herself). Click on pdf button to download a copy of the original article Basil Rathbone Eulogizes the American Actress The Billboard, November 24 1923 When our dramatic critic, in his review of “The Swan” defined Mr Basil Rathbone as “the leading man par excellence with the looks, bearing and acting capacity which should go with the genius” we decided that we had a clue worth following in our search for interesting personalities. But getting a seat for a performance of “The Swan” was like getting poor Humpty up a again. It was only due to the cancellation of a third balcony box reservation that we succeeded in viewing that ideal couple, the fair LeGallienne(sic) and the stalwart Rathbone. We gazed so long from our dizzy heights thru the lenses of an opera glass that we became dizzy and were obliged …

RATHBONE & LE GALLIENNE

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The Q&A with Helen Sheehy about the Baz’s relationship, professional and otherwise, with Eva Le Gallienne continues to get a lot of feedback and there have been several interesting points raised in the comments. Opinion seems scattered over a wide spectrum between those who refuse to believe Rathbone would sleep with a lesbian and those who think he and Eva were lost loves for one another. I’m inclined to agree with Helen that the truth lies somewhere in the murky middle ground between. I think it’s probably pointless to refuse to believe Rathbone had a physical affair with Le Gallienne, when Le Gallienne herself and her friends all said he did. Likewise I think the chance they were ever in serious danger of marrying each other seems remote. Their affair only lasted for something like five or six months. Le Gallienne moved fairly swiftly on to other lovers, and Rathbone was already involved with Ouida Bergere when it began. So it’s important to remember this in order to keep it in proportion alongside other events …