Craig's Wife


Craig's Wife is a 1925 play written by American playwright George Kelly, uncle of actress and later Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly. It won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and has been adapted for three feature films.

Production

Craig's Wife premiered on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on October 12, 1925, and closed on August 21, 1926, after 360 performances. Directed by playwright Kelly, the cast featured Chrystal Herne as Harriet Craig, Anne Sutherland, Charles Trowbridge, and Josephine Hull.
It was included in Burns Mantle's The Best Plays of 1925–1926.
The play received the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer committee wrote, "Craig's Wife has been selected by the jury on account of the dignity of its theme, the soundness of its construction, the excellence of its dialogue, and its effectiveness in the theater."

Adaptations

There have been at least three movies based on the play. The 1928 silent version was directed by William C. deMille, Cecil's brother, and starred Irene Rich in the title role. In 1936, Columbia Pictures made a film adaptation with Rosalind Russell as Harriet Craig. The 1950 film Harriet Craig, featuring Joan Crawford, was also based on the play.
A radio adaptation was produced by Cecil B. deMille on the Lux Radio Theatre in Hollywood in 1936. It featured Rosalind Russell and Herbert Marshall.
A radio adaptation was produced by Orson Welles's The Campbell Playhouse on CBS Radio, airing on March 10, 1940, and featuring Welles as Walter Craig, and Ann Harding as Harriet Craig.