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Caroline Francke

CAROLINE FRANCKE

  (1899 - 1960)

Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Caroline Francke was born on 19 July, 1899, at Far Rockaway, a neighbourhood in the New York City borough of Queens. Caroline and her sister Katherine were raised by their mother Caroline, a divorce who worked as a private secretary in Essex, New Jersey. Francke attended the Connecticut College for Women and had studied playwriting at Columbia University before finding success on Broadway and in Hollywood. She is probably best remembered for her 1928 play, "Exceeding Small", and an unproduced play that became the movie, Bombshell (1933), starring Jean Harlow. In the 1940s she worked as a script writer for the popular "Henry Aldrich" radio series. Caroline Francke died from a cerebral haemorrhage on 22 May 1960 at Woodstock, New York, the birthplace of her husband, artist Kenneth Downer (1903-1975). Along with her husband, an adopted daughter and her sister also survived. Her last production, "The 49th Cousin" debuted on Broadway just three months after her death. - Wiki

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below is a list of Caroline Francke's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

        49th Cousin, The         Exceeding Small         Father Of the Bride         Fighting Littles, The



49th Cousin, The

Synopsis:
as outlined in the New York Mirror, "It is based on [Lowe's] reminiscences of her late grandfather. . .Isaac Lowe was a cantankerous, opinionated man. He founded a synagogue in Syracuse at the turn of the century, and almost wrecked it. His possessiveness and prejudice kept his three daughters on the verge of spinsterhood until they revolted against his tyrannical ways. Being of German Jewish stock, Isaac looked down on Russians, Poles, austrians and Hungarians. When one of his daughters defied him and married a young Russian salesman, he was irate. He was even more so when another became engaged to a Gentile school principle. Isaac thought the Lord had deserted him. He tried to turn atheist. But in the end, everything came out all right. the generosity of others made him see the error of his ways. a lightning bolt that hit the temple also helped. . .the title refers to the fact that if we believe in adam and eve, we're all cousins-forty-ninth or farther removed."

Notes:
written by Florence Lowe And Caroline Francke

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length Comedy

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Exceeding Small

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Comedy Theatre, NY    22 Oct 1928

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, 1930   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama in three acts

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Father Of the Bride

Synopsis:
Mr. Banks learns that one of the young men he has seen occasionally about the house is about to become his son-in-law. Daughter Kay announces the engagement out of nowhere. Mrs. Banks and her sons are happy, but Mr. Banks is in a dither. the groom-to-be, Buckley Dunstan, appears on the scene and Mr. Banks realizes that the engagement is serious. Buckley and Kay don't want a "big" wedding-just a simple affair with a few friends! We soon learn, however, that the "few" friends idea is out. then trouble really begins. the guest list grows larger each day, a caterer is called in, florists, furniture movers and dressmakers take over, and the Banks household is soon caught in turmoil-not to mention growing debt. When Kay, in a fit of temper, calls off the wedding, everyone's patience snaps. But all is set right, and the wedding (despite more last-minute crises) comes off beautifully. In the end, the Father of the bride is a happy, proud man, glad that the wedding is over, but knowing too that it was worth all the money and aggravation to start his daughter off so handsomely on the road to married life.

Notes:
From the novel by edward Streeter, illustrated by Gluyas Williams

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service; Acting edition (1951)   B0007DKAXM

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
full length Comedy

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  3            Other:  3-4 extras

Further Reference:
-

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Fighting Littles, The

Synopsis:
model son and daughter turn out not so model when it comes to marriage and cars

Notes:
novel by Booth Tarkington

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  10            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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