The Trial Of Mary Dugan: A Melodrama Of Ny Life In 3 Acts (Inscribed By Producer A. H. Woods)

New York City Ny: Samuel French, 1928. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good +/No Jacket. 144 Pp. Black Cloth Stamped In Red. First Printing. Very God +, Light Usage. Inscribed By Producer A. H. Woods "To My Favorite Agent" Laura Wilk, A Very Well-Connected Broadway Agent At The Time, Who Remained Friends With Ziegfield's Daughter For Decades. Albert Herman Woods (Born Aladore Herman; 1870 -1951) Was A Hungarian-Born Theatrical Producer Who Spent Much Of His Life In The Usa. He Produced Over 140 Plays On Broadway, Including Some Of The Most Successful Shows Of The Period, Sometimes Under The Name Of The Production Company 'Al Woods Ltd.. Woods Was Born In Budapest, Hungary To A Jewish Family, But His Family Brought Him To The United States As An Infant. He Grew Up On The Lower East Side Of Manhattan. As A Child He Would Skip School To Go To Theatrical Shows, Where He Developed The Goal Of Becoming A Producer Himself. Woods Formed An Early Partnership With Sam H. Harris And Paddy Sullivan, Running Tour Companies Of Popular Melodramas, Starting With The Bowery After Dark. His First Broadway Production Was The Evil That Men Do In 1903. His Work On Broadway Escalated After The Popularity Of The Touring Melodramas Declined. Woods Had A Stable Of Favorite Playwrights, Most Notably Owen Davis, Who He Worked With For Several Years On Melodramas Such As Nellie, The Beautiful Cloak Model. When Woods Turned To Producing Regular Broadway Shows, He Focused On Bedroom Farces, Starting With The Girl From Rector's In 1909. During A Trip To Europe In 1911 He Bought The Us Rights To The World's First Full-Color Feature Film, The Miracle Which Eventually Premiered In New York 1913. Also In 1911 He Starting Building The Eltinge Theatre On 42Nd Street, Named For One Of His Most Successful And Profitable Stars, The Female Impersonator Julian Eltinge. By May 1911 A Run Of The Fascinating Widow Starring Eltinge At The Boston Theatre Was Expected To Have Receipts Of $500,000 By The Time It Finished. From C1912 He Took Over The Leases Of A Large Number Of Berlin Theatres Including What Became The Ufa-Palast Am Zoo, To Put On 'Kino-Vaudeville' Shows (A Mix Of Variety Acts Imported From The Us Interspersed With Silent Films). He Was Also Involved With The American Millionaire Joe Goldsoll In The Building Of The German Capital's First Free-Standing Purpose-Built Cinema, The Ufa-Pavillon Am Nollendorfplatz. When He Became Successful, Woods Continued To Emphasize His Humble Roots And Was Known For His Folksy Manner With Everyone. He Greeted Patrons At The Eltinge As "Sweetheart". Upon Being Introduced To King George V, Woods Addressed The Monarch (Who Was Older Than Him) As "Kid" And Took The Opportunity To Promote One Of His Productions, Declaring It To Be "A Regular Show". Woods Was At His Peak In The 1920S, Producing Such Hits As Ladies' Night (1920), The Demi-Virgin (1921), The Green Hat (1925), The Shanghai Gesture (1926) (Filmed In 1941), And The Trial Of Mary Dugan (1927). However, He Lost Most Of His Fortune In The Early 1930S And Never Fully Recovered. In The 1930S His Only Major Hits Were Five Star Final (1930) And Night Of January 16Th (1935). When Woods Staged The Sheldon Davis Comedy Try And Get It In August 1943, Critics Expressed Hope That It Would Revive His Flagging Career, But It Closed In Less Than A Week. It Was His Final Production. Although Woods Continued To Read Scripts And Attempt To Generate Interest, He Was Unable To Stage Any Productions After 1943. He Died On April 24, 1951, In His Residence At The Hotel Beacon In New York. The Once Wealthy Former Producer Ended His Life Bankrupt. After A Memorial Service Attended By Many Prominent Theater Personalities, His Remains Were Cremated. Woods Produced A Number Of Bedroom Farces, Which Critics And Local Authorities Often Saw As Pushing The Boundaries Of Propriety. In Several Instances Woods Encountered Legal Troubles As A Result.