W. Somerset Maugham's drama opened at the Mo-rosco Theatre on 26 September 1927 for 104 performances. Katharine Cornell scored a triumph with critics as Leslie Crosbie, the unfaithful wife of a South American plantation owner who murders her lover. Claiming the man attempted to rape her and, as such, that she was justified in shooting him, Leslie is acquitted with the aid of a lawyer friend and her supportive husband. However, the lover's Asian wife takes matters of justice into her own hands. The play became a stock staple and memorable motion pictures, notably filmed twice, first as an early "talkie" starring Jeanne Eagels in 1929 and again in 1940 with Bette Davis.* Two television* adaptations (1969, 1982) also appeared.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.