John Needham's Double is an 1885 novel and 1891 play by Joseph Hatton, and 1916 silent film.
Novel
The novel is subtitled "A Story Founded on Fact" and is based on the story of Irish financier and politician John Sadleir, who committed suicide.Some stories (review of book), The Saturday Review (October 10, 1885), p. 491
The Saturday Review negatively reviewed the book, calling it "simply the story of John Sadleir .. with certain highly improbable, not to say impossible, additions and corrections of Mr. Hatton's own. The story itself is neither interesting not instructive, nor yet amusing.... However, Mr. Hatton must not be taken too seriously. Lovers of cheap sensation will not be hypercritical, and will probably find John Needham's Double exciting enough." Punch's review called it a shilling dreadful but was slightly more positive: "there is no room for tall writing, or mere padding, when a real good story has to be told in two hundred small pages of print large enough to defy twilight and railway-carriage lamps."And Is Old Double Dead?, Punch (August 22, 1885), p. 85
Play
Augustus Thomas modified Hatton's play for A.M. Palmer's production in New York starring Edward Smith Willard, which debuted at Palmer's Theatre in February 1891Thomas, Augustus. The Print of My Remembrance, The Saturday Evening Post (April 29, 1922), p. 16Winter, William. Shadows of the Stage, Second Series (1893), pp. 292-98 (section on Willard as John Needham)(5 February 1891). Mr. Willard, The New York Times and played for just over a month.(4 March 1891). [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/03/04/103297516.pdf Theatrical Gossip, The New York Times
The cast included Willard playing the dual roles of John Needham and Joseph Norbury, Marie Burroughs as Kate Norbury, Burr McIntosh as Col. Calhoun Booker, and Royce Carleton as Mr. Grant.Dale, Alan. Drama (review of play), p. 23 (February 13, 1891), Vol. IX, No. 210
Cast Joseph Norbury/John Needham ... Edward Smith Willard Richard Woodville ... E.W. Gardiner Mr. Horace West ... Charles Harbury Mr. Grant ... Royce Carleton Mr. Nolan ... Sant Matthews Col. Calhoun Booker ... Burr McIntosh Percy Tallant ... Bessie Hatton (daughter of Joseph Hatton) Thomas ... Harry Cane Sanders ... Lysander Thompson Kate Norbury ... Marie Burroughs Miss Dorothy Norbury ... Cecile Rush Mrs. Needham ... Katherine Rogers Miss Virginia Fleetwood ... Maxine Elliott Hannah ... Cora Edsall(14 February 1891)Palmer's John Needham's Double, New York Dramatic Mirror
Silent film
A silent film version directed by Lois Weber premiered in April 1916, starring Tyrone Power, Agnes Emerson, and Frank Elliott.The screenplay was by Olga Printzlau.(25 March 1916). Tyrone Power with Bluebird, The Moving Picture World(16 April 1916). Written on the Screen, The New York TimesMilne, Peter (8 April 1916). John Needham's Double, Motion Picture News
Cast John Needham/Joseph Norbury ... Tyrone Power Ellen Norbury ... Marie Walcamp Parks ...Frank Elliott Aunt Kate ... Agnes Emerson Dobbins ... Walter Belasco Cruet ... Frank Lanning Thomas Creighton ... Buster Emmons Maid ... Mary MacLaren (uncredited)Pepper, Peter. "The Strange Case of Mary MacLaren", The Moving Picture Weekly (New York, N.Y.), June 24, 1916, pp. 9, 34. Internet Archive. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
References
External links