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GEORGE S. KAUFMAN: PLAYWRIGHT AS DIRECTOR, 1930-1940 Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Ingvoldstad, Paul Anthony Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 02:05:03 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291936 INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of "sectioning" the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. For illustrations that cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by xerographic means, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and inserted into your xerographic copy. These prints are available upon request from the Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. University Micrxxilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 1320861 INGVOLDSTAD, PAUL ANTHONY GEORGE S. KAUFMAN: PLAYWRIGHT AS DIRECTOR, 1930-1940 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA M.A. 1983 University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 GEORGE S. KAUFMAN: PLAYWRIGHT AS DIRECTOR, 1930-1940 by Paul Anthony Ingvoldstad A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTERS OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 8 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill ment of requirements for an advanced degree at The Univer sity of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate ac knowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manu script in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Af^kJVT^j i APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: ./ fa & William A". Lan/ff Date Associate Professor ABSTRACT Directing dramatic productions requires ability to integrate the creative contributions of numerous collabora tors. George S. Kaufman, always more comfortable writing plays with collaborators, became an influential director during the 1930's because of his unique ability to colla borate with his co-workers. He channeled the talents of actors, designers and co-writers toward a single goal, a dramatically effective production. Comments by his various co-workers reveal Kaufman's directorial techniques, and critical opinion reflects the general effectiveness of his methods. In spite of the transitory nature of stage direction, Kaufman's contribu tions as a director might be more significant than his work as a playwright. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I feel I have had as many collaborators on this project as Kaufman had when he wrote and directed during the 1930's. My wife, Merdys, helped me edit and type the bulk of the manuscript. Her determination to see me com plete the project moved the thesis ahead when my own re serves were running low. Dr. William A. Lang, my thesis advisor, was most helpful in editing and shaping the manu script. In addition, Dr. Lang supplied me with Malcolm Goldstein's George S. Kaufman: His Life, His Theatre, an invaluable source as I began my research. I want to also thank the members of my committee for their thoughtful input. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT BY AUTHOR ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv 1. OVERVIEW OF THE CAREER OF GEORGE S. KAUFMAN . 1 2. KAUFMAN'S BACKGROUND, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE AS A DIRECTOR PRIOR TO 1930. .... 21 3. KAUFMAN'S DIRECTION DURING 1930-40 35 4. CONCLUSIONS ON KAUFMAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS AS A DIRECTOR Ill REFERENCES CITED 122 V CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE CAREER OF GEORGE S. KAUFMAN George S. Kaufman's career as a playwright and director spanned nearly forty years. As a writer he col laborated with Edna Ferber, Marc Connelly, Moss Hart, Morrie Ryskind and others on over forty plays, and also wrote two of his own plays, short sketches for stage re views, and numerous magazine articles. Beginning in 1926 and continuing until 1957, Kaufman directed all but one of his own plays as well as numerous works by other playwrights. He also acted in one of his productions, collaborated on film scripts, directed one movie, and appeared on radio and television. Kaufman's career is notable for the quantity and quality of his achievements as both playwright and director. Kaufman was born on November 14, 1889, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (biographical information derived from Gold stein, 1979, and Meredith, 1974). His parents were both German Jews whose families had come to the United States in the early nineteenth century and settled in Pittsburgh. Kaufman's grandfather opened the first pants factory in this country, and his grandmother was the lone family survivor of a cholera epidemic. His father was one of ten children. 1 2 One of Kaufman's uncles was an early developer of the type writer, and another uncle invented the Ferris wheel, but named his invention after his partner to avoid shaming the family. Originally Kaufmann, George's grandfather made the family name less German by dropping one of the n's. Kaufman's parents, Joseph and Nettie, were married January 7, 1884. The family's financial fortunes varied because Joseph would lose interest once he had mastered a job. He was Crucible Steel's first superintendent, founder of the Vulcan Machine and Foundry Company, and manager of the Columbia Ribbon Company and New York Silk Dying Company. The Kaufmans had three children besides George. Helen was born in 1884, Richard in 1886, and Ruth in 1896. In 1903, after attending many performances of melo dramas at the local theatre, Kaufman tried his hand in writ ing his first play, a collaboration with Irving Pichel, The Failure. Although his sister Ruth was the primary audience for this drama of a man who disowns his son, her enthusiastic response prompted Kaufman and Pichel to join Rabbi J. Leonard Levy's dramatics club at the Rodeph Sholom Community House in Pittsburgh. Kaufman, cast as the lead in A Pair of Spectacles, was urged by Rabbi Levy to become an actor. In 1908, Kaufman entered business school, taking courses in typing and stenography, and this training quali fied him to work as a window clerk at the Allegheny Tax 3 Office and later as stenographer to the comptroller of the Pittsburgh Coal Company. In 1909 Joseph moved the family to Paterson, New Jersey to manage the Columbia Ribbon Company. George followed soon after and became a ribbon and leather goods salesman in the firm's sales office and on the road. In New Jersey, Kaufman enrolled in a Saturday morn ing acting class at the Alveive School of Dramatic Art. He also tried out for an acting job, was promised a part, but the postcard informing him of the start of rehearsals was lost in the mail. Kaufman later commented about the inci dent. "If that card had arrived," he said, "I'd almost certainly have become an actor instead of a writer. And then Eugene O'Neill would have been the most important play wright in the United States" (Meredith 1974, p. 30). At the same time Kaufman was sending humorous essays to the Pasiaic Herald, where he received the first professional publication of his writing. Kaufman next sent some of his writing to Franklin Pierce Adams, a widely-read columnist who would later become Kaufman's mentor. Adams solicited writing but did not pay for contributions to his column. Writers who made appear ances in the column over the years were Sinclair Lewis, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Kaufman's later collaborator, Moss Hart. In 1909, while he was still working as ribbon salesman, Kaufman sent an untitled poem to Adams which was 4 accepted by the columnist and marked the first of many con tributions to Adams' column.

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