Italian play of melancholy romanticism by Alberto Casella, adapted for the English-speaking stage
by Walter Ferris.
“Casella, besides being an author, is a dare-devil speed demon, a noted duelist, a devil-may-care
soldier who entered the World War at the age of 15 and became the youngest man ever to hold the
rank of captain.
“At the height of one of the bloodiest battles on the Italian front, Casella got the idea for his play,
wondering what would happen if Death were to go on a vacation for a few days. With fellow
soldiers dying all around him, Casella became so enraptured with the notion that he set to work
on it immediately after the Armistice was signed.
“Before Walter Ferris adapted ‘Death Takes a Holiday’ to English, the play was presented on the
Continent in leading cities. It came to Broadway in 1929 and made two more appearances there
over a three-year period. In between its New York appearances, it toured all over the country,
being presented in practically every large city in America.”
“It was produced by Lee Schubert at the Ethel Barrymore theatre, New York, December 26,
1929, and ran 180 performances.”
THE FLEISCHMANN HOUR (WEAF, NEW YORK—NBC-RED)
July 3, 1933“Death Takes a Holiday”
[
“…Rudy introduces a scene from a play, which he
says, ‘is not really good radio material at all...”]
PARAMOUNT MOVIE PARADE (TRANSCIPTION DISC)
February 25, 1934“Death Takes a Holiday”
Fredric March, Gail Patrick, Kent Taylor, Evelyn Venable.
THE FLEISCHMANN HOUR (WEAF, NEW YORK—NBC-RED)
October 11, 1934“Death Takes a Holiday”
Boris Karloff, et al.
THE RADIO GUILD (WJZ, NEW YORK—WJZ, NEW YORK—NBC-BLUE)
October 15, 1934“Death Takes a Holiday”
December 8, 1936“Death Takes a Holiday”
Karloff, famed ‘horror’ man of the movies. He will play the lead in the
‘Caravan’s’ presentation of ‘Death Takes a Holiday.’ The story is based on
the poetic conception of Death suspending all activities for three days,
during which period he falls in love with a beautiful girl, and through her,
realizes why mortals fear him..”]
Mary Jane Higby, Boris Karloff, et al.
THE LUX RADIO THEATRE (KNX, HOLLYWOOD—CBS)
March 22, 1937“Death Takes a Holiday”
George Wells.
Walter Ferris (intermission guest), Charlie Forsyth (sound
effects), Louis Silvers (musical director), Frank Woodruff (director).
Daisy Belmore, Margaret Brayton, Arthur Q. Bryan, Florence Eldridge,
Charles Emerson, Kay Johnson, Gene Lockhart, Fredric March, Lou Merrill,
Frank Nelson, Bernard Phillips, Howard Phillips, Theresa Maxwell.
GREAT MOMENTS FROM GREAT PLAYS (WABC, NEW YORK)
July 25, 1941“Death Takes a Holiday”
April 25, 1944“Death Takes a Holiday”
Arch Oboler.
Gordon Jenkins (musical director), Arch Oboler (director).
Ingrid Bergman, Ronald Colman, Hans Conried, Luis Van Rooten.
BROWNSTONE THEATER (WOR, NEW YORK—MUTUAL)
???day—
September 2, 1945“Death Takes a Holiday”
Clayton Hamilton (host), Sylvan Levin (music), Jock MacGregor
(director).
Jackson Beck, et al.
One-half of broadcast survives.
February 17, 1947“Death Takes a Holiday”