Craig’s Wife

Summary

BBC production of George Kelly’s thriller Craig’s Wife.

Theatre play

Craig’s Wife by George Kelly (1887-1974) [more information]

Play synopsis

A play about a wife who sacrifices her husband to her possessions. ‘Mrs Craig is fiercely committed to keeping her house "in order". As a result, she treats her maids terribly, resents any guests that come to visit and makes strict rules for her husband and (live-in) aunt-in-law. Though this is play is fundamentally about Mrs. Craig’s relationship [with] her husband, there is also a strange murder mystery in the middle of the play which serves to highlight Mrs. Craig’s neuroses and extreme jealousy.' (Source: http://thepulitzerproject.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/craigs-wife-by-george-kelly-1926.html.)

Production history

First produced on Broadway in 1925, this play won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Four years after the premiere it was performed in London. Filmed at least three times: 1928, 1936 and 1950. (Source: Radio Times, 5 July 1957, p. 8.)

Date of transmission

Thursday 11 July 1957

Time

8.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Ayton Whitaker

Playwright

George Kelly (1887-1974)

Designer

Roy Oxley

Cast

John Bloomfield	Catelle
Kay Callard	Ethel
Constance Cummings	Harriet Craig
Robert Gallico	Eugene Fredericks
Maxine Holden	Mazie
Anthony Jacobs	Billy Birkmire
Sheldon Lawrence	Harry
Mona Lillian	Mrs Frazier
Natalie Lynn	Mrs Harold
Nan Munro	Miss Austen
Gordon Tanner	Walter Craig

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

thriller

Print sources

Title

Effective but too Contrived: Craig’s Wife (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Manchester Guardian, 12 July 1957, p. 7

Title

Radio Times, 5 July 1957 (Magazine)

Linking notes

pp. 8 (article) and 17 (listing)