The Fighting Hope

Fighting Hope, The (1908), a play by William J. Hurlbut. [Stuyvesant Theatre, 231 perf.] When Robert Granger (Howell Hansel) is sent to prison for stealing huge sums from his employer, his wife, Anna (Blanche Bates), assumes an alias and goes to work for his old boss, Burton Temple (Charles Richman), convinced that Temple is the real thief and that she can find the evidence to exonerate her husband. What she does find is proof of her husband's guilt, and this proof she promptly destroys. Temple catches her but, since he has begun to fall in love with her, is forgiving. When Granger appears, saying he is paroled, he discerns the affection that Temple has developed for Anna and questions her motives in going to work for him. Then it is discovered that Granger has not been paroled, but has escaped from prison and plans to run off with another woman with the fortune he has hidden away. But the police close in, killing Granger as he flees, and Temple and Anna are free to pursue their budding romance. Although the merits of the melodrama sharply divided the critics, David Belasco's fine mounting and Bates's popularity gave the work a long run.