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Under Your HatOpening Date: Nov 24, 1938
Closing Date: March, 1940 Air date: Nov 24, 1938 Medium: TV Where to watch: not available - lost |
Stage Production Notes
A musical comedy about a famous film star who is commissioned to retrieve a secret carburettor essential to the British Air Force from the hands of a foreign power.
Cicely Courtneidge was an Australian-born British actor who came from a theatrical family. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Courtneidge had “a buoyancy and gaiety, an indefinable zest, which held the attention.”
Jack Hulbert was a British actor who found success on both stage and screen.
The pair met in 1913 when Robert Courtneidge, Cicely’s father, cast Jack to play opposite Cicely in The Pearl Girl at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Cicely and Jack were married in 1916, and over the ensuing years, became well-known on the London theatre scene as producers, writers, and stars of revue-style musical comedy. The Manchester Guardian described them as “one of the most friendly and likeable [sic] of British comic teams.”
Due to Hulbert’s film career throughout the 1930s, the couple had not performed together in 7 years, and their stage comeback was highly anticipated.
An announcement in The Observer in early October 1938 shared that Under Your Hat was to “have a ‘plot’ with some pretentions [sic] to be taken seriously.” The announcement also noted that “Two well-known ‘straight’ actors are appearing in it, Mr. Frank Cellier and Miss Leonora Corbett.” Cellier and Corbett’s names, along with Peter Haddon, appeared in later advertisements for the musical.
Under Your Hat received its world premier at the newly re-built Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool in October 1938, the previous building having been destroyed by fire in 1933.
The musical then opened at the Manchester Opera House on November 14, 1938.
One review for The Manchester Guardian described Under Your Hat as a “merry musical comedy” and praised by Courtneidge and Hulbert for their comedic timing and brilliant performances. Another review noted Hulbert and Courtneidge “rag deliciously” and that the plot allowed for “many disguises and stratagems” by both actors. The review also praised Courtneidge for “a cabaret dance turn in which the manners of the ballet are aimed at but magnificently missed.”
A listing for the show in the same paper stated “owing to huge demand for seats no telephone bookings will be accepted.”
Under Your Hat opened in at the West End at the Palace Theatre on November 24, 1938, and scenes from the first act were broadcast live on television by the BBC (see Filmed Production Notes below).
Writing for The Observer, reviewer Ivor Brown described the opening night as a “grand occasion”, and that despite the pressures of the presence of the “blazing arts of television” the performance was a joyous one. Brown stated the costumes and sets were “very easy to look at.” Courtneidge again received high praise for her performance, with Brown stating “her range of inflexion and her sureness of timing are perfect.” Hulbert’s performance also received adulation.
In March 1939, Courtneidge and Hulbert appeared on BBC Radio performing a short scene from the musical.
Performances of Under Your Hat were temporarily suspended due to the outbreak of World War II. In December 1939, Hulbert and Courneidge were filmed at the Cambridge Theatre entertaining the troops, and scenes from Under Your Hat were included in the program. Some of the footage is available online from British Pathé.
Under Your Hat closed around March, 1940.
A film adaptation starring Courtneidge and Hulbert under the direction of Maurice Elvey was released in December, 1940.
A musical comedy about a famous film star who is commissioned to retrieve a secret carburettor essential to the British Air Force from the hands of a foreign power.
Cicely Courtneidge was an Australian-born British actor who came from a theatrical family. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Courtneidge had “a buoyancy and gaiety, an indefinable zest, which held the attention.”
Jack Hulbert was a British actor who found success on both stage and screen.
The pair met in 1913 when Robert Courtneidge, Cicely’s father, cast Jack to play opposite Cicely in The Pearl Girl at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Cicely and Jack were married in 1916, and over the ensuing years, became well-known on the London theatre scene as producers, writers, and stars of revue-style musical comedy. The Manchester Guardian described them as “one of the most friendly and likeable [sic] of British comic teams.”
Due to Hulbert’s film career throughout the 1930s, the couple had not performed together in 7 years, and their stage comeback was highly anticipated.
An announcement in The Observer in early October 1938 shared that Under Your Hat was to “have a ‘plot’ with some pretentions [sic] to be taken seriously.” The announcement also noted that “Two well-known ‘straight’ actors are appearing in it, Mr. Frank Cellier and Miss Leonora Corbett.” Cellier and Corbett’s names, along with Peter Haddon, appeared in later advertisements for the musical.
Under Your Hat received its world premier at the newly re-built Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool in October 1938, the previous building having been destroyed by fire in 1933.
The musical then opened at the Manchester Opera House on November 14, 1938.
One review for The Manchester Guardian described Under Your Hat as a “merry musical comedy” and praised by Courtneidge and Hulbert for their comedic timing and brilliant performances. Another review noted Hulbert and Courtneidge “rag deliciously” and that the plot allowed for “many disguises and stratagems” by both actors. The review also praised Courtneidge for “a cabaret dance turn in which the manners of the ballet are aimed at but magnificently missed.”
A listing for the show in the same paper stated “owing to huge demand for seats no telephone bookings will be accepted.”
Under Your Hat opened in at the West End at the Palace Theatre on November 24, 1938, and scenes from the first act were broadcast live on television by the BBC (see Filmed Production Notes below).
Writing for The Observer, reviewer Ivor Brown described the opening night as a “grand occasion”, and that despite the pressures of the presence of the “blazing arts of television” the performance was a joyous one. Brown stated the costumes and sets were “very easy to look at.” Courtneidge again received high praise for her performance, with Brown stating “her range of inflexion and her sureness of timing are perfect.” Hulbert’s performance also received adulation.
In March 1939, Courtneidge and Hulbert appeared on BBC Radio performing a short scene from the musical.
Performances of Under Your Hat were temporarily suspended due to the outbreak of World War II. In December 1939, Hulbert and Courneidge were filmed at the Cambridge Theatre entertaining the troops, and scenes from Under Your Hat were included in the program. Some of the footage is available online from British Pathé.
Under Your Hat closed around March, 1940.
A film adaptation starring Courtneidge and Hulbert under the direction of Maurice Elvey was released in December, 1940.
Filmed Production Notes
On November 24, 1938, Under Your Hat became the second production to be transmitted live on television as an outside broadcast by the BBC — the first, two weeks earlier, was J.B. Priestly’s play When We Are Married.
Out of concern that a full transmission would affect ticket sales, only select scenes from Act One were filmed.
The transmission included footage of Courtneidge and Hulbert preparing in their dressing rooms, the audience arriving at the theatre, and brief interviews with audience members.
The broadcast used three cameras, though sources differ to their uses. Radio Times reported that one camera would be employed to “show celebrities as they pass through the brilliantly lit foyer to the auditorious,” a second would be placed in Cicely Courtneidge’s dressing room, and a third in a box seat in auditorium. The Observer stated one would be placed at the back of the house for a wide shot, while the other two cameras would be closer to the stage to provide close-ups.
Reviewer Joyce Grenfell noted in The Observer that the broadcast “was an interesting example of the way in which television can bring “news” into the home while the event is actually happening.” Grenfell enjoyed the dressing-room interview, but stated that the “the interviewing of “celebrities” in the foyer of the theatre was not particularly successful” as it “seemed a waste of time for viewers.” She also noted the view of the stage was “well done.”
The BBC opening night footage was not recorded and is not available to view. As mentioned earlier, footage from an event for British troops at the Cambridge Theatre is available from British Pathé.
On November 24, 1938, Under Your Hat became the second production to be transmitted live on television as an outside broadcast by the BBC — the first, two weeks earlier, was J.B. Priestly’s play When We Are Married.
Out of concern that a full transmission would affect ticket sales, only select scenes from Act One were filmed.
The transmission included footage of Courtneidge and Hulbert preparing in their dressing rooms, the audience arriving at the theatre, and brief interviews with audience members.
The broadcast used three cameras, though sources differ to their uses. Radio Times reported that one camera would be employed to “show celebrities as they pass through the brilliantly lit foyer to the auditorious,” a second would be placed in Cicely Courtneidge’s dressing room, and a third in a box seat in auditorium. The Observer stated one would be placed at the back of the house for a wide shot, while the other two cameras would be closer to the stage to provide close-ups.
Reviewer Joyce Grenfell noted in The Observer that the broadcast “was an interesting example of the way in which television can bring “news” into the home while the event is actually happening.” Grenfell enjoyed the dressing-room interview, but stated that the “the interviewing of “celebrities” in the foyer of the theatre was not particularly successful” as it “seemed a waste of time for viewers.” She also noted the view of the stage was “well done.”
The BBC opening night footage was not recorded and is not available to view. As mentioned earlier, footage from an event for British troops at the Cambridge Theatre is available from British Pathé.
Under Your Hat PRODUCTION CREDITS
Theatre: Palace Theatre, London
Producer: Jack Hulbert
Book: Archie Menzies, Arthur Macrae, Jack Hulbert
Music and Lyrics: Vivian Ellis
Director: Jack Hulbert
Scenic Design: Clifford Pember
Costume Design: Doria Zinkeisen
Cast:
Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Hulbert, Jevan Brandon Thomas, John Byron, Maria Celeste, Frank Cellier, Charles Childerstone, Leonora Corbett, Madeline Gibson, Thomas Gravetta, Peter Haddon, Drew Hardie, Gerald Pring, Henry Thompson, Frank Trafford, Jack Trafford
Theatre: Palace Theatre, London
Producer: Jack Hulbert
Book: Archie Menzies, Arthur Macrae, Jack Hulbert
Music and Lyrics: Vivian Ellis
Director: Jack Hulbert
Scenic Design: Clifford Pember
Costume Design: Doria Zinkeisen
Cast:
Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Hulbert, Jevan Brandon Thomas, John Byron, Maria Celeste, Frank Cellier, Charles Childerstone, Leonora Corbett, Madeline Gibson, Thomas Gravetta, Peter Haddon, Drew Hardie, Gerald Pring, Henry Thompson, Frank Trafford, Jack Trafford
Sources
Books
Articles
Websites
- Ed. Jeremy Ridgman, Boxed Sets: Television Representations of Theatre, Arts Council of England and University of Luton Press (1998)
Articles
- Ivor Brown, “Under Your Hat”, The Observer (Nov 27, 1938) p.11
- Joyce Grenfell, “Television,” The Observer (Nov 27, 1938)
- Ernest C Thomson, “Au Revoir Television,” first published in the BBC Handbook for 1940, republished by Transdiffusion (Sept 1, 2016)
- John Wyver, “From the theatre, 1938 - 1939”, Screen Plays (Sept 27, 2011)
- Listings, Radio Times, Issue 807, (March 23, 1939) p.60
- London Correspondence, “Televising an Opening Show,” The Manchester Guardian (Nov 25, 1938) p.10
- Uncredited, “Dramatis Personae,” The Observer (Oct 9, 1938) p.17
- Uncredited, “Reopening of the Royal Court Theatre,” The Manchester Guardian (Oct 14, 1938) p.8
- Uncredited, “Music, Drama, and Film: The First Hallé — A Farewell — A New Comedy,” The Manchester Guardian (Oct 15, 1938) p.15
- Uncredited, “New Liverpool Theatre: Re-Opening of the Royal Court,” The Observer (Oct 16, 1938) p.13
- Uncredited, “Music, Drama, and Film: The Next Hallé — “Anna Christie” — A New Hulbert Show,” The Manchester Guardian (Nov 12, 1938) p.13
- Uncredited, “Opera House,” The Manchester Guardian (Nov 16, 1938) p.1
- Uncredited, ’New phase of television’, The Observer (13 November 1938) p.18
- Uncredited, “The Hulberts at the Opera House,” The Manchester Guardian (Nov 15, 1938) p.13
- Uncredited, “Television News Goes High Hat,” Radio Times (Nov 18, 1938) p.26
- Uncredited, “Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge in ‘UNDER YOUR HAT’” Radio Times (March 27, 1949) p.34
- Uncredited, "Cicely Courtneidge, Dame." Who's Who in the Theatre, Gale, (1981)
- D. Pepys-Whiteley, “Courtneidge [married name Hulbert], Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, (September 2004)
- D. Pepys-Whiteley, “Hulbert, John Norman [Jack]”, Oxford Dictionary of National
- Biography, Oxford University Press, (September 2004)
Websites
- British Pathé Historical Collection, “Jack Hulbert And Cicley Courtneidge Entertain The Troops 1939” Accessed via: https://www.britishpathe.com/video/jack-hulbert-and-cicley-courtneidge-entertain-the
- Screen Plays: The Theatre Plays on British Television Database, “Under Your Hat [scenes]”, Accessed via: http://bufvc.ac.uk/screenplays/index.php/prog/490
- Theatricalia, “Under Your Hat,” Accessed via: https://theatricalia.com/play/3ds/under-your-hat/production/7jx
Written by Luisa Lyons (May, 2021)