Michael Morton (dramatist)

Michael Morton (1864–January 11, 1931) was an English dramatist in the early Twentieth Century.^[1]

His comedy called Detective Sparks opened at the Garrick Theatre in August 1909 to good reviews.^[2] He also directed the production which ran into October for a total of 64 performances.^[3]

In 1914, Morton's play, The Yellow Passport ran 183 performances on Broadway and starred Florence Reed and John Barrymore. It was adapted to the screen and, due to its popularity, several filmed versions were made in the silent era alone. The first, The Yellow Passport (1916), was directed by Edwin August and starred Clara Kimball Young. The second version, The Yellow Ticket (1918), starred Fannie Ward, Warner Oland and Milton Sills. A German version called The Devil's Pawn was produced in 1918 and starred Pola Negri. In 1928 a Russian film titled Zemlya v plenu or the The Yellow Pass was produced starring Anna Sten. The fifth filmed version was a talking picture and was directed by Raoul Walsh in 1931. It was also titled The Yellow Ticket; its players were Elissa Landi, Lionel Barrymore and Laurence Olivier. James Wong Howe was the cameraman.

He adapted Thackery's lead character from The Newcomes into a play called Colonel Newcome which opened in April, 1917 at the New Amsterdam Theatre and starred Herbert Tree and St. Clair Bayfield.^[4] His 1921 play Woman to Woman was adapted three times for film.

He adapted Agatha Christie's novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd into a play called Alibi which opened in London in 1928. This was her first work adapted to the stage and it ran 250 performances.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ Michael Morton (I) at the Internet Movie Database
2. ^ "HATTIE WILLIAMS IN 'DETECTIVE SPARKES'; Michael Morton's New Play a Success at the Garrick Theatre. STORY OF BALLOON MYSTERY Situations More Clever Than the Dialogue, and Only Two Lines of Lovemaking at End.". New York Times. 1909-08-24. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E07E6DC1F31E733A25757C2A96E9C946897D6CF. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
3. ^ Internet Broadway Database: Detective Sparks Production Credits
4. ^ "SIR HERBERT TREE AS COL. NEWCOME; His Playing Far Superior to Anything He Has Done Here Recently. PLAY BY MICHAEL MORTON Old, Rough and Ready Dramatization of Thackeray's Novel Exhibited at the New Amsterdam.". New York Times. 1917-04-11. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05E1DE153AE433A25752C1A9629C946696D6CF. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
5. ^ Book and Magazine Collector. Issue 174. September 1998

External links

• Works listed in the Internet Broadway Database

Persondata
Name	Morton, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1864
Place of birth
Date of death	1931
Place of death