Cradle Snatchers

Cradle Snatchers (1925), a comedy by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell. [Music Box Theatre, 485 perf.] Having caught her own husband lunching with an attractive flapper, Kitty Ladd ( Margaret Dale) has no trouble convincing her friends Susan Martin ( Mary Boland) and Ethel Drake ( Edna May Oliver) that their husbands' sporting weekends are not what they're made out to be. They invite three attractive college boys to a party of their own where the champagne flows freely and before long all six are tipsy and not a little disorderly. Of course, the husbands walk in at this very moment. An uproar ensues, but in the end the boys go off to seek younger women and the married couples are pleasantly, if not irrevocably, chastened. The Sam H. Harris and Hassard Short–produced comedy was hailed by Walter Winchell in the Graphic as “unquestionably the funniest play in town.” Many critics gave their brightest adjectives to the performance of Humphrey Bogart as one of the college boys. Russell Graham MEDCRAFT (1897?–1962) was an actor, director, and playwright. This was his only major play. However, his partner, Norma Mitchell (d. 1967), an actress and playwright, enjoyed a second hit when she collaborated with her husband, Wilbur Daniel Steele, on Post Road (1934), a comedy melodrama about a kidnapping. Cradle Snatchers was made into the successful musical LET'S FACE IT! (1941) with book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Its cast included Danny Kaye, Eve Arden, Mary Jane Watson, Benny Baker, Vivian Vance, and Nanette Fabray. Notable songs: Farming; Let's Not Talk About Love; Ace in the Hole. The musical opened at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 547 performances.