Deep Are the Roots

Deep Are the Roots (1945), a play by Arnaud d'Usseau and James Gow. [Fulton Theatre, 477 perf.] Brett Charles (Gordon Heath) grew up in the home of Senator Langdon (Charles Waldron), where his mother was a servant. Though Brett was black, he was allowed to play with the senator's daughters, Genevra (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Alice (Carol Goodner). Now Brett has returned home from the war with several decorations and with ideas about his place in life that disturb the conservative Southern senator. When Brett enters the public library through the front door, the town begins to gossip and turn against him, and when he is accused of stealing a watch, he is arrested. But Brett has the support of Genevra and Alice. Genevra, in fact, is fond enough of him and optimistic enough about the future to suggest that he marry her. But the realist Brett dismisses the idea, still grateful for the girls' support. “We're on the same side,” he tells Alice. An effectively written propaganda play, its suggestion of miscegenation offended some conservative playgoers, but its essentially reasonable stand on racial tolerance found a welcome in the liberal climate of the period. The George Heller–Kermit Bloomgarden production typified the hopeful outlook for the future expressed frequently in early postwar dramas.