This article is about the 1917 play written by Mary Hamlin and George Arliss. For the 2015 musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, see Hamilton (musical).
As of July 29, 1916, Hamlin had typewritten and copyrighted a three-act play of 193 pages, entitled The Secretary of the Treasury.[3] However, there does not appear to be a single, subsequent in-print mention of any such Hamlin play, much less any performance or publication thereof. Taking into account both that and the fact that "Secretary of the Treasury" is precisely the office held by the title character of the 1917, four-act play, Hamilton (a play, moreover, whose plot hinges on the protagonist's controversial efforts to place the new nation on a more unified and, thus, stable financial footing),[4] it seems more than likely that Hamilton was simply the 1916 work's final draft; retitled, newly partitioned, and—to a now unquantifiable extent—otherwise revised.
As for Arliss's contribution to the final version, despite the tenor of contemporaneous news stories (many of which failed to even note that there was a collaboration, much less mention Hamlin's name, simply crediting Arliss[5]), at least one paper, the Detroit Free Press, attributed the play's authorship in terms—specifically, "by Mrs. Mary P. Hamlin, with suggestions from Mr. Arliss himself"[6]—roughly comparable to those used by Hamlin in her 1953 memoirs, as quoted by the New York Post in 2016. "Mr. Arliss did little writing of my play. He knew nothing of American politics, did not even know, at first, that Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States."[7] To his credit, as Hamlin later notes, Arliss always insisted that she be the primary credited author, and indignantly demanded as much when the play's initial batch of printed programs had that order reversed.[8] Although Hamlin never specifies the nature of his contributions, she clearly appreciated them.
As I worked on the play with George Arliss, I began to realize what a lifetime of experience amounted to. He was putting his knowledge into my play, even if I did the writing. His suggestions were invaluable but he never wanted me to agree to anything I did not understand. When I told him I was willing to accept his experience whether or not I understood it, he said firmly, 'No. This is your play and nothing must go into it that you do not understand.'[8]
Reception
Hamilton opened to positive reviews on Broadway.
A review in the New York Post read, "Congratulations are due to Mary Hamlin and George Arliss upon the cordial public reception accorded to their play 'Hamilton,' upon the occasion of its first production in this city ... The piece is a welcome and, in some respects, notable addition to the small body of genuine American drama. ... it is a real play with real men and women in it, containing an appeal not only to popular taste, but to the attention of the intelligent theatergoer."[2]
Writing in Vogue, critic Clayton Hamilton compared Hamlin's play to prior Arliss vehicles such as Louis N. Parker's Disraeli, for which, he maintained, Arliss's performance was the sole raison d'être. By contrast, "this new piece in itself affords a worthy evening of entertainment and might be played successfully by several other very able actors. [...] The first two acts, before the well-made plot begins to build to a climax, are mainly conversational; but the conversation is admirably written, not only as stage-dialogue, but also as a literary record of the manners of a bygone century." In conclusion, the review quotes Shakespeare, specifically Othello's Act V, Scene II plea to potential biographers, made immediately prior to taking his own life.
Perhaps the most admirable feature of this play is that it "nothing extenuates nor sets down aught in malice." It shows the hero betrayed, in a moment of weakness, into the commission of a very human sin; and yet it shows him, in the outcome, all the more a hero. His fault is neither condoned nor pardoned; but neither is it overemphasized, as if a sin of sex had power to negate the noble qualities of a man of high ideals and pure incentives. [...] There is a moral in this play that is worthy of serious consideration.[9]
^"Summer Whirl at Atlantic City: World's Greatest Playground Scen of Many Important Events—Numerous Delaware Visitors". Wilmington Daily Commercial. June 9, 1917. p. 2. ProQuest2611724162. Mme. Sarah Bernhardt is expected to be here shortly. Quite a group of theatrical celebrities are at the hotel. Among them are George Arliss, actor and playwright, who is just now writing a new play around the character of one of the early American statesmen. See also:
Foster, E. Edmunds (August 11, 1917). "Boardwalk Gossip". The Billboard. p. 72. ProQuest1031530474. Atlantic City, August 3 [...] Mr. and Mrs. George Arliss were hosts Saturday night in the Lotus Room of the Traymore at dinner, when their guests included Samuel F. Nixon, of Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Mr. Arliss has just finished a romantic play on American history, the principal character portraying Alexander Hamilton.
^Hamilton, Clayton (November 1, 1917). "Seen on the Stage; Acting, Like Any Other Work of Art, Can Be No Greater or Less Thing Than the Man Who Makes It". Vogue. pp. 92, 132. ProQuest904305008.
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