The Star-Wagon
The Star-Wagon was a 1937 Broadway drama written by Maxwell Anderson, produced and staged by Guthrie McClintic, with scenic design by Jo Mielziner and musical direction by Albert Pearl. It ran for 223 performances from September 29, 1937 to April 1938 at the Empire Theatre.
| The Star-Wagon | |
|---|---|
 First edition 1937 | |
| Written by | Maxwell Anderson |
| Date premiered | September 29, 1937 |
| Place premiered | Empire Theatre New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | eastern Ohio 1902-1930's. |
Plot
A fantasy of time-travel
Cast
- Burgess Meredith as Stephen Minch
- Lillian Gish as Martha Minch
- Whitner Bissell as Park
- J. Arthur Young as Mr. Arlington
- Jane Buchanan as Hallie Arlington
- Howard Freeman as Apfel
- Mildred Natwick as Mrs. Rutledge
- Edmund O'Brien as Paul Reiger
- John Philliber as Misty
- Kent Smith as Duffy
- William Garner as Oglethorpe
- Russell Collins as Hanus Wicks
- Edith Smith as Della
- Muriel Starr as Angela and as herb woman
- Barry Kelley as first thug
- Charles Forrester as second thug
- Evelyn Abbott as Christabel
- Alan Anderson as Ripple
Adaptations
N.Y. Times, Jan. 7, 1938: “The purchase of Maxwell Anderson’s ‘The Star Wagon’ was made today by Selznick International as a vehicle for Janet Gaynor. The play, which is being given on Broadway, will go before the cameras in the Autumn.” Gaynor retired her film career with The Young in Heart, released in November 1938, and the motion picture was never made.
The play was videotaped for television as a 1966 installment of NET Playhouse, directed by Karl Genus and starring Orson Bean, Eileen Brennan and Dustin Hoffman. (NET, for National Educational Television, was the original name of what would become PBS for Public Broadcasting Service.)