Books and Manuscripts

Legendary American Playwright Eugene O'Neill Trys to Lure First Lady of the American Cinema Lillian Gish Back to the Stage

New York: Hotel Wentworth, Sept(ember). 7, 1927. One sheet, 9 3/8 x 6 in. (238 x 152 mm). One-page autograph letter on Hotel Wentworth stationery, signed by Eugene O'Neill to American actress Lillian Gish: "My dear Miss Gish: Herewith is 'Marco Millions'. I hope you will like the Princess--not to add, all the rest of it! It seems to me Nathan's idea is one grand suggestion! I find my script of the 'Desire' treatment is in Bermuda--which is probably just as well for I don't want to be forcing too many of my 'works' on you at once. But I'll have it sent up and hope you will look it over later. I've a certain pride about it because I do think it makes a strong picture although theres little hope of it ever being done. I'll have a script of 'Strange Interlude' within a few days that you can read if you like. At present I've only my own fourth carbon unreadable copy. It was a great privilege to have the pleasure of meeting you. Sincerely Eugene O'Neill"; creasing from original folds; with original Hotel Wentworth mailing envelope, addressed by O'Neill, "Miss Lilian Gish".

American playwright Eugene O'Neill writes to silent film star Lillian Gish (1893-1993), hoping to cast her in one of his plays, and encloses a script of his satire, Marco Millions, for her consideration. Although Gish began her career on the stage, by 1927 she was known solely as a movie star and had been working in film for the previous 15 years. The idea of her return to the theater to perform in Marco Millions had first come to O'Neill through the suggestion of Gish's then romantic partner, the prominent theater critic and editor George Jean Nathan (1882-1958). O'Neill makes reference to this when writing to Gish of "Nathan's idea" being "one grand suggestion!" O'Neill first voiced his interest in working with Gish to Nathan as early as 1926, when he told him he wanted to pen and original film script for her, but that work never materialized. In the fall of 1927 O'Neill was working with Lawrence Langer of the Theatre Guild on a production of Marco Millions, and he had hoped that Gish would play the Tartar Princess Kukachin in the play's Broadway premiere. The Guild rejected the idea, likely due to Gish's reputation as a film star. They chose instead Margalo Gillmore, who starred alongside Alfred Lunt as Marco Polo, when the play opened on January 9, 1928.

O'Neill makes reference to two of his other plays for Gish's consideration. He suggests that he will send Gish the scripts for his 1924 Desire Under The Elms, then being considered for the screen, and his then unfinished Strange Interlude, that would become one his most critically and financially successful plays. Desire premiered on the stage at the Provincetown Playhouse in Cape Cod on November 11, 1924, and in the following years was frequently performed in theaters around the country and in Europe. By 1927 it was being considered as a feature film, but Gish eventually turned down the role. It would not be until 1958--five years following O'Neill's death--that it was finally adapted to the screen, starring Sophia Loren and Anthony Perkins. O'Neill finished his first draft of Strange Interlude the previous March 1927, and had shown it to Langer when he was visiting O'Neill in Bermuda that spring. Langer was blown away by the play, and the Guild agreed to take it on two weeks following this letter, on September 20. Strange Interlude opened on January 30, 1928 at the John Golden Theatre, and despite its nine long acts, it became a national phenomenon and ran for 17 weeks, receiving rave reviews, and garnered O'Neill his third Pulitzer Prize. Gish saw the play during this run and hoped to perform it on the road in the future. In 1929, Gish purchased the film rights for Strange Interlude from O'Neill for $75,000, as a potential vehicle for herself, but that project never materialized. It was adapted for the screen in 1932, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and starring Norma Shearer and Clark Gable.

Gish finally made her triumphant return to the stage in the 1930 Broadway production of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov.