Lightnin' is a comedy play in three acts by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon. The play was produced by John Golden and directed by P. E. McCoy. With Frank Bacon in the lead role and billed as "A Live Wire American Comedy", Lightnin' made its Broadway debut on August 26, 1918, at the Gaiety Theatre and played continuously over three seasons with a record breaking run of 1,291 performances. The show began its long national tour at the end of August 1921 and continued on for some time after Bacon’s death in November 1922. Lightnin' was revived in 1938 for a two-month run at the John Golden Theatre with Fred Stone playing Lightnin’ Bill Jones and was adapted for cinema twice in films starring Jay Hunt (1925) and Will Rogers (1930).
Adaptations (2)
Lightnin' has been adapted into 2 films, from 1925 to 1930.
Lightnin'1925 · film · 104 min · dir. John Ford · IMDb ↗IMDb6.0Set in a hotel straddling the border between California and Nevada, this early John Ford comedy follows a female hotel owner's efforts to turn a profit and get some work out of her husband.
Lightnin'1930 · film · 96 min · dir. Henry King · IMDb ↗IMDb6.1Lightnin' and Mary Jones are co-owners of a hotel built right on a state border, used by divorcing wives so they can pretend to be in California while establishing residency in Nevada. When Lightnin' refuses to sell his share of the hotel to a gang of crooks, Mary is coerced into divorcing her husband so that she can sign over the deed herself.
