French Without Tears

For other uses, see French Without Tears (disambiguation).

Kay Hammond & Roland Culver in the original Criterion Theatre production,1936

French Without Tears is a comic play written by a 25-year-old Terence Rattigan in 1936. It takes place in a cram school for adults needing to acquire French for business reasons. The play was a success on its London debut, establishing Rattigan as a dramatist. Critics thought it 'gay, witty, thoroughly contemporary ... with a touch of lovable truth behind all its satire'.^[1] It ran for over 1,000 performances in London and over 100 in New York.^[2] It also established Rex Harrison as a major star. Scattered throughout are Franglais phrases and schoolboy misunderstandings of the French language.

A film version, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland, was released in 1940.^[3] In 1960 Rattigan himself refashioned the work as the musical Joie de Vivre but it was not a success.^[4]

A television production was featured in the BBC's Play of the Month series in May 1976, which stars Nigel Havers, Anthony Andrews, and David Robb.^[5]

References

↑ "French Without Tears by Terence Rattigan, Kay Hammond & Roland Culver". vam.ac.uk.
↑ "Terence Rattigan". terencerattigan.co.uk.
↑ "French without Tears". BFI.
↑ Wright, Adrian (2012). West End Broadway : the Golden Age of American musical in London. Woodbridge, England: Boydell & Brewer. p. 163. ISBN 9781843837916.
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01049pb

Works by Terence Rattigan

Plays	First Episode (1933) A Tale of Two Cities (1935) French Without Tears (1936) After the Dance (1939) Follow My Leader (1940) Grey Farm (1940) Flare Path (1942) While the Sun Shines (1943) Love In Idleness (1944) The Winslow Boy (1946) The Browning Version (1948) Harlequinade (1948) Adventure Story (1949) Who Is Sylvia? (1950) The Deep Blue Sea (1952) The Sleeping Prince (1953) Separate Tables (1954) Variations on a Theme (1958) Ross (1960) Man and Boy (1963) A Bequest to the Nation (1970) In Praise of Love (1973) Before Dawn (1973) All on Her Own (1974) Cause Célèbre (1975/77)

Films and TV	The Belles of St. Clements (1936) Gypsy (1937) French Without Tears (1940) Quiet Wedding (1941) The Day Will Dawn (1942) Uncensored (1942) English Without Tears (1944) The Way to the Stars (1945) While the Sun Shines (1947) Brighton Rock (1947) Bond Street (1948) The Winslow Boy (1948) The Browning Version (1951) The Sound Barrier (1952) The Final Test (1953) The Man Who Loved Redheads (1955) The Deep Blue Sea (1955) The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) Separate Tables (1958) The V.I.P.s (movie) (1963) The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964) Nelson (1966) Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) Bequest to the Nation (1973) The Browning Version (1994) The Winslow Boy (1999)

Related works	Joie de Vivre (1960) The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963)

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