Behold the Bridegroom

Behold the Bridegroom (1927), a play by George Kelly.[ Cort Theatre, 88 perf.] Spoiled and pampered Antoinette Lyle (Judith Anderson) returns home from Europe, so bored and lonely that her friends suggest she marry Gehring Fitler (Lester Vail) who long has courted her. But “Tony” rejects him as an alcoholic ne'er‐do‐well and is not interested in any of her rich beaus until she meets the handsome, reserved businessman Spencer Train (John Marston), “the first man that ever held me cheap.” Realizing not only that she is in love but that her life until then has been a waste, Tony is devastated when Spencer does not return her affection. Her father (Thurston Hall) offers to intercede, but Tony refuses and fatalistically accepts that she is not ready for the “bridegroom” or the singular redemption he might offer. The play, which competed with ten other openings on the busiest first night in Broadway's history, baffled many critics and playgoers with its vague, somewhat mystical ending. Its fine dialogue, honesty, and inexorability make it, nonetheless, as close as Kelly ever came to writing high tragedy.