Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney

by Jack Seabrook

  Finney may have chosen to forget about Telephone Roulette by 1966, when his second play, This Winter's Hobby, premiered, because he referred to the new play as his first (Playbill 34). An undated, unidentified newspaper clipping in the clippings file at the New York Public Library's Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts reports that Finney was to come east for rehearsals, which were scheduled to begin on February 15, 1966. A press release dated March 22, 1966, reports that the cast and crew of the play left New York that day for New Haven, Connecticut, where the play was to open ("'Hobby' Leaves for New Haven").

  This Winter's Hobby opened in New Haven the next day, playing a Wednesday evening show at the famous Shubert Theater, where many plays had ironed out their problems before moving to Broadway. The play ran at the Shubert for four nights, from Wednesday, March 23, 1966, through Saturday, March 26, 1966, and there was also a Saturday matinee. Although the script has not been found, articles and reviews from 1966, along with a folder of dozens of black and white photographs of the play that are part of the Friedman-Abeles Collection at the Lincoln Center library and a copy of the Playbill from the brief run at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre, allow for a reconstruction of the story.

  This Winter's Hobby was a play in three acts, with two scenes each. The first scene takes place on a Friday evening in early September, as respectable businessman Charles Bishop, played by E. G. Marshall, misses the connecting train home and steps into a bar in White Plains, New York. He gets into a fight with a drunken bigot outside the bar and walks the four miles to his house in suburban Westchester County. His wife, Duffy, hears a report on the radio that the bigot is dead and that the police are seeking his unknown assailant. Instead of calling the police, the Bishops decide to follow through with their vacation, which had been set the start the following morning. They go off together, assuming all will be forgotten when they return.

  Scene two of act one is set on a Saturday morning, five weeks later, putting it in early October, presumably after the Bishops have returned from vacation.

  It seems that the "winter's hobby" of the title becomes clear in scene one of act two, which is set on a Friday in early January, late at night. Although Bishop thinks he has gotten off scot free, it turns out that there was a witness to his fight outside the bar, and that witness was a sadistic young man named Arnold, played by William Hickey. (Hickey would play a memorable role years later in the film Prizzi's Honor.) Arnold and his friend Tommy, played by Michael Beckett, are two young homosexuals who decide to blackmail the Bishops. Instead of demanding money, however, they insist that Bishop perform outrageous stunts. The stunts are rather mundane, such as answering the phone at two a.m. and wearing funny clothes downtown. 'The rest of the play apparently consists of scenes in which the two young men "torture, embarrass and menace the businessman" (Johnson, Florence). Act two, scene two is set "the following morning." Act three has two scenes, set "that evening" and "late that night." The play ends with the line, "we haven't got a chance."

  Reviewers of the New Haven production were not kind to This Winter's Hobby. Don Rubin, writing in the New Haven Register on March 24, 1966, remarked that the "complications are stock" and that the play is "not that strong to sustain itself for three acts." He added that it had "the subtlety of a sledge hammer and ... the naivete of a 10-year-old" and concluded his savage review by writing that it "never quite decides what it wants to be: a bitter-comic mystery, a suspense-ful melodrama or simply a dramatic study."

  The most positive review was written by Florence Johnson, who commented that the play started well but ended badly. Despite the poor reception, This Winter's Hobby moved on to the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to continue its planned eleven-city tour (Little).

  "A new playwright will be introduced here Monday evening ... he is Jack Finney, a San Franciscan by way of the Midwest," wrote Barbara Wilson in the Philadelphia Inquirer on March 27, 1966, the day before the play opened. She had interviewed the author by telephone the week before, while he was in New Haven. He began in his usual, self-deprecating way, by telling her '"I can't understand why any one would be interested in what I have to say."' After telling the interviewer that his novels "have brought him monetary gains, primarily because of their screen sales," Finney added that "I think visually ... so when I write a book I really am thinking about a movie. With 'Good Neighbor Sam,' I had Jack Lemmon in mind from the very beginning.

  "I certainly have enjoyed the success, but I haven't liked the pictures they have made of my books. That's one thing that directed me toward the theater. At least it will be my fault if the play doesn't work. I had no control over the films and I always felt like hiding when a friend would mention one of them."

  Finney then relates an incident in a San Francisco department store that gave him the idea for This Winter's Hobby:

  "A man, obviously a tourist ... stopped at a counter to admire the display of jade jewelry. He asked about it, not realizing how expensive it was, and he was one of those unfortunates who are unable to admit that they can't afford something. They are compelled to make excuses.

  "The clerk was perfectly aware of this. I watched his face as he toyed with the man. He was enjoying it thoroughly. He had an absolutely malicious expression. He possessed the most chilling type of malice."

  Finney then began plotting "his drama about a middle-aged realtor drawn into an accidental event in which a man dies." Finney then provided this bizarre summary of the next part of This Winter's Hobby: '"He becomes the victim of two blackmailers ... homosexuals of the most sadistic nature who require him to do humiliating stunts every week!'"

  After shelving the play for a while, Finney came up with an ending and sent it to his agent, who found a producer in Hillard Elkins. Elkins and director Donald McWhinnie helped Finney overcome a '"terrible defect in the script'" and actors including E.G. Marshall, Nan Martin, and William Hickey were hired. The article ends with Finney describing a scene in the play that '"involves the blackmailers in a vegetable-throwing display of rage.'"

  This Winter's Hobby opened at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia on March 28, 1966, and ran for 16 performances.

  Reviews of the Philadelphia production were not good. Most positive was a review signed by "Bone" in Variety's March 30, 1966, issue. The reviewer wrote that the play had "an original theme" with "pungent dialog and good performances, a meritorious physical production and an at-times engrossing pace. However, the final punch that can make it a solid click is yet to come."

  In the Philadelphia papers, two reviews appeared on March 30, 1966. Ernest Schier, writing in the Philadelphia Bulletin, called This Winter's Hobby "a mess" and "a hasty and confused piece of writing." He added that the play's final line ("we haven't got a chance") may be a prediction of the fate of the play as a whole.

  Henry T. Murdock, writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer, called the play "one of the most inept melodramas in recent memory." This Winter's Hobby closed in Philadelphia on April 9, 1966, one day after an article by James Davis appeared in the New York Daily News. In this article, Davis reports that the play had been scheduled to move to Broadway in the fall of 1966 but that "author Finney will work on revisions at his California home in hopes of a new fall production." On that same day, Sam Zolotow wrote in the New York Times that the show's star, E. G. Marshall, had "signed a two-year contract to act in the suspense play" but that bookings through June 9, 1966, had now been canceled.

  The play then appears to have disappeared, its planned move to Broadway never materializing. Two months later, in a June 30, 1966 article in the New York Times, Sam Zolotow reported that the producer, Hillard Elkins, had been accused of diverting money invested in a show entitled Golden Boy to help finance two plays, including This Winter's Hobby. Apparently, misappropriation of funds may have played a part in the failure of Finney's play.

  Yet the details that survive suggest that the play was not one of the author's stronger works, and perhaps it is best left f
orgotten. Although Seymour Rudin wrote that the Studio Duplicating Service published it in 1966, research has revealed no copies of the play available today.

  It was not until after his death that one of Jack Finney's works would finally make it to the New York stage, and even that came after years of revisions and delays. Time and Again, the novel that I have called Finney's masterpiece, has resisted all efforts to film it to date, but it has been adapted into a musical. According to a press release found in the Time and Again clippings file at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, the musical Time and Again was first performed in summer 1993 at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, as part of the National Music Theater Conference. This theater appears to be a workshop where shows are developed.

  Time and Again had its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, on May 4, 1996, and it officially opened on May 9, 1996. It ran there until June 9, 1996. The press release mentioned above lists the show's stars as Howard McGillin and Rebecca Luker. A May 10, 1996 review in the San Diego Tribune comments that "there's about half a good new American musical wound up inside Time and Again" (Phillips). Although the press release states that the show was to start performances on Broadway on September 24, 1996, and open officially on October 24, 1996, a July 11, 1996 article reports that the show received mixed reviews and was in "extensive rewrites." Another workshop was planned, as were more rehearsals, and the Broadway opening was postponed to spring or fall 1997 (Viagas).

  It is not known what happened to Time and Again between 1996 and 1999, but the next record of the show is found in a program for "A Workshop of Time and Again," to be held at the Altman Building on Eighteenth Street in New York City on May 18, 20, 21, and 22,1999. The cast was new and apparently so was much of the show, which had been reworked since its San Diego run. For these performances, Julia Murney played Kate, Si Morley's modern girlfriend, and Laura Benati played Julia, the object of Si's affections in the nineteenth century. Most of the other cast members were to change again before the show finally reached Off Broadway.

  After at least eight years of rewrites, workshops, and rehearsals, Time and Again finally opened Off Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on January 9, 2001. The book was by Jack Viertel and the music and lyrics were by Walter Edgar Kennon. Viertel was quoted in Variety as saying that enormous changes had been made to the show; he had tried to adapt the entire novel in earlier drafts but had later simplified the story and cut the production by 25 minutes. There was about 35 percent new music and the earlier production's 16 scenes had been cut to eight or nine (Hofler).

  The Manhattan Theatre Club production ran from January 9, 2001, to February 18, 2001, and was directed by Susan Schulman. Lewis Cleale starred as Si Morley, and Julia Murney and Laura Benati returned as Kate and Julia. Television star David McCallum played scientist E.E. Danziger, among other roles. Near the end of the show's run, on February 16, 2001, the production was videotaped by The New York Public Library's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.

  On viewing the show today, it is a delight. With the help of the Playbill, the scenes and songs may be recreated. The show runs about two hours and five minutes, and is performed on a small stage in what appears to be a cozy theater setting, where the audience sits very close to the performers. The production opens with Si Morley standing alone on a dark stage, looking at paintings of a woman in eighteenth century attire. The lights come up to reveal that he is at a party in his apartment in New York City, and that the paintings are being used to advertise Nostalgia, which has recently become the best selling perfume in America.

  Si painted the picture but seems uneasy about its success as part of an advertising campaign. His girlfriend Kate runs the ad agency and makes him a partner, yet he feels that he has betrayed the painting and the girl pictured in it. Si sings "Standing in the Middle of the Road," which explains some of his feelings: "I'm standing in the middle of the road, wondering which way to go." He tells the painting, "time and time again I thought 1 dreamed you" and "my mind and heart combined to make you art."

  Si is joined by an older man named E.E. Danziger, who tells Si that he works for the federal government. He shows Si a framed picture from 1882 that bears an inscription from Simon Morley to Julia C., explains that he has been looking for Si for twenty years, and asks Si to give him twenty-eight days to try a time travel experiment. Danziger and Si sing "The Training" and the scientist explains that "then is just a different now." He wants to cut "the million tiny threads that bind you to today." He suggests using New York's Dakota Building as a portal to the past and wants to send Si back to January 20, 1882, to learn why he was there, why he painted Julia C., and how Danziger's grandmother came to have the picture. Kate fears that Si will go and not return. Danziger tells him that he must be a twig in the river of time, merely observing but not changing anything.

  Si then goes to the Dakota and immerses himself in the details of 1882. Danziger visits him and explains that his grandmother was an actress living in a boarding house at 19 Gramercy Park in New York City; he sings ("At the Theater") of how his grandparents met on an opening night at the theater. His grandmother was the star of the show, and when she fainted she met Dr. Danziger, her future husband.

  Si then travels back to 1882 and finds himself in a blizzard, which is recreated using lights on a darkened stage. Si sings "Who Would Have Thought It?" and revels in the new world he has found. He travels down Fifth Avenue on a trolley car and the singing conductor points out the sights. Arriving at the boarding house at 19 Gramercy Park, Si finds himself in the drawing room, where the various residents interact. A man named Felix composes a song at the piano for his new show, in which Emily (Danziger's grandmother) will star. She sings along as other residents come and go. Emily sings "The Marrying Kind," a catchy song that will recur throughout the show.

  Si is stunned to see Julia, the woman in his painting and the landlady's niece. He sings of her beauty in "She Dies," and laments his realization that she will pass away before he is born. Julia speaks to Jake Pickering, another resident at the boarding house, telling him that she delivered a letter on his behalf to Edward Carmody, an important man. Jake wants to marry Julia but grows suddenly angry at her for delivering the letter by hand rather than by mail.

  We learn that Julia works for the liberty campaign and is a suffragette. Si is captivated by her. Edward Carmody and his wife make speeches on behalf of the Statue of Liberty, which is arriving in pieces from France. Only the arm sits in New York City at this point, and a crowd protests the statue's impending arrival. Julia sings "The Lady in the Harbor" to try to turn the crowd in favor of the statue, and Si joins in to help her convince them. Soon, all join in the song, and Si makes various mistakes by referring to countries and things that do not yet exist. Si's sketch of the statue as it will one day appear helps convince the crowd that it will be beneficial.

  The scene then shifts to Jake Pickering, who meets Carmody in a park. Jake sings "Carrara Marble," which explains that he plans to blackmail the wealthy man regarding a past embezzlement. Jake wants a million dollars in gold and the two plan to meet again on Monday at two a.m.

  Back at the boarding house, all work on another song ("The Music of Love"), and Si is encouraged to sketch a portrait of Julia to give to her because it is her birthday. Past and present intertwine as Julia sings about her feelings for Si and Kate comes onstage as well, singing about Si's painting. She thinks that she inspired it, not realizing that she is seated next to the woman who was the picture's real source.

  Jake comes home drunk and proposes to Julia, a proposition she accepts, much to Si's surprise. She sings to him and explains how love and marriage were different for women in 1882. Si decides to leave the past and takes the trolley back toward the Dakota, planning to return to 2001. The trolley man sings again ("For Those You Love"), and Si joins in, realizing that he loves Julia and must become more than a twig in the river of time in order to keep her from marrying J
ake.

  The first act of Time and Again ends with Si's decision to get involved in the events of 1882 and in Julia's life. This portion of the play lasts about 74 minutes and establishes all of the characters, although it cuts large amounts of exposition from the novel and combines all of the characters connected with The Project into the person of E.E. Danziger, who has very little time onstage. The strongest parts of the show thus far are the music, which is memorable, the singing, which is excellent, and the staging, which is evocative. The biggest problem with the show is that so many plot elements have been put in motion that the second act has trouble resolving them.

  Act two opens on a high note as Emily, Dr. Danziger's grandmother, performs a very catchy song and dance number to "The Marrying Kind." This is revealed to be a preview of the new show that will open the next day; Felix, the pianist in the boarding house, has finally completed it and Emily is set to star. The audience knows that, at the show, Emily will faint and meet the man she is to marry, Dr. Danziger's grandfather. One interesting aspect of this production of Time and Again is that most of the actors play more than one role; for instance, David McCallum, who appears in the 2001 portion of the story as Dr. Danziger, also sings and dances in the 1882 story thread, playing the shotgun-toting father of the character who sings "The Marrying Kind." It appears from the Playbill that the only actors not to play multiple roles were those portraying Si and Julia.

  The story resumes as Jake apologizes to Si for his brusque earlier behavior, and Si explains to Julia that he has discovered Jake's plot to blackmail Edward Carmody Si fears for Julia's safety and cautions her against trusting Jake. The plot speeds up here, as Julia and Si go the The World building and barge in on the meeting between Jake and Carmody. Carmody lashes out at Jake with his cane, knocking over a lamp and starting a fire. "Carrara Marble" is reprised in this scene, and a song entitled "The Fire" is sung, but it is clear that the writer and director of the show had trouble fitting all of this in and staging it convincingly. The fire is conveyed with lights and shadows, and we soon learn from a newspaper report that Jake is dead. Si searches for the missing Julia, and they meet and hide in the torch held by the Statue of Liberty's arm, fearing that Carmody will blame them for the fire and have them hanged.