Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole

Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole is a 1961 play by William Goldman and James Goldman. Both Goldman brothers had served in the army and the play is about a supply sergeant at an army post in the south.[1]

Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole
Written byWilliam Goldman
James Goldman
Date premiered5 October 1961
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama

William Goldman later recalled "we had both been in the army at the same time and it seemed like a decent enough idea and magically we got it on."[2]

Background

William and James Goldman had been permitted to serve together in the army in 1955. They were stationed with the 101st Airborne division.[3]

The Goldman brothers had received a grant from the Ford Foundation to observe production of the musical Tenderloin. They also wrote a musical together A Family Affair. William Goldman had written a novel about service in the army, Soldier in the Rain but denied there were any other similarities between that and Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole. "The only connection between the two", he said, "is that I was involved in writing both."[1]

Roger Stevens and Joseph Fields optioned the play.[1]

Original production

The original production starred Peter Fonda and Darren McGavin and was directed by Jerome Chodorov. It ran for 84 performances. James Caan appeared in the cast.[4]

The production was budgeted for $100,000 and brought in at $85,000. show was launched with "two-for" tickets at certain matinees.[5]

It was the New York stage debut for Peter Fonda, who was selected over 200 other actors.[6]

Screen rights were sold to the America Corporation for $125,000 with a ceiling of $125,000.[5] They also invested $45,000 in the production.[7]

Reception

Howard Taubman of the New York Times did not like the play saying "the plot is spaced out as mechanically as if it were to run forever on the home screen."[8]

Fonda's performance earned him a New York Drama Critic's Circle Award.[9]

The production transferred to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times called it "a routine service comedy."[10]

Notes
  1. "STEVENS, FIELDS COMBINE FORCES: PRODUCERS PLANNING 'BLOOD SWEAT AND STANLEY POOLE' – NAPOLEON MUSICAL SET By SAM ZOLOTOW". New York Times. Jan 23, 1961. p. 19.
  2. Egan p 29
  3. L. F. (Oct 1, 1961). "NEWS OF THE RIALTO". New York Times. ProQuest 115515288.
  4. "If Jimmy Caan had it to do over...: "Right now, I do feel like a 'star'." His career turnabout came in 1969, with Coppola's "The Rain People." Caan calls himself "the only New York Jewish cowboy." Clifford, Terry". Chicago Tribune. Mar 9, 1975. p. g18.
  5. S. Z. (Oct 9, 1961). "MOROSCO DEVISES BOX-OFFICE SPUR". New York Times. ProQuest 115433578.
  6. S. Z. (May 17, 1961). "MORE U.S. ACTORS PLAN A LATIN TOUR". New York Times. ProQuest 115479005.
  7. S. Z. (Aug 30, 1961). "FESTIVAL THEATRE CONSIDERS SHIFTS". New York Times. ProQuest 115501724.
  8. H. T. (Oct 6, 1961). "The theatre: G.I. blues". New York Times. ProQuest 115251997.
  9. Jamie Diamond, "Peter Fonda Finds a Bit of Henry Within", New York Times, 8 June 1997, accessed 24 November 2012
  10. Harford, M. (Mar 13, 1962). "Ring's 'stanley poole' routine army farce". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 168086601.

References
  • Egan, Sean, William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller, Bear Manor Media 2014
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