Polly with a Past

Polly with a Past is a play by George Middleton and Guy Bolton. A comedy in three acts, it depicts the efforts of two young men to help a shy friend, Rex, win the attention of the aloof woman he loves; they arrange for their young housekeeper, Polly, to pose as a glamorous French rival for Rex's affections, but this leads to romantic complications. The play opened on Broadway in 1917 with a cast headed by Ina Claire as Polly, Herbert Yost as Rex, and Winifred Fraser, H. Reeves-Smith, Thomas Reynolds and Cyril Scott in other roles. It ran for nearly a year at the Belasco Theatre. The piece was presented in London in 1921 starring Edna Best and Donald Calthrop, with a supporting cast including Noël Coward, Edith Evans, Henry Kendall, Claude Rains and C. Aubrey Smith, running for three months. It was adapted for film in 1920 and a musical version played on Broadway in 1929. Background and original productions George Middleton was an American playwright, director and producer. Guy Bolton was an English playwright and writer of musical comedies who worked mainly in the US. They collaborated on ten shows, of which the most enduring was Polly With a Past. The play, written in 1916, was staged the following year by David Belasco. It was given a tryout at Long Branch, New Jersey, starting on September 1, 1917, before opening on September 6 at Broadway's Belasco Theatre, where it ran for 326 performances. In 1921, Gilbert Miller staged the piece in London at the St James's Theatre, where it ran from March 2 to June 4.