The Card is a comic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911 (entitled Denry the Audacious in the American edition). It was later made into a 1952 movie, starring Alec Guinness. Like much of Bennett's best work, it is set in the Staffordshire Potteries. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry ("Denry") Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley (a fictitious town based on Burslem). This is accomplished through luck, initiative and a fair bit of cheek (in slang a card is a 'character', an 'original'; a clever, audacious, person). Denry Machin returned, as the slightly more mature "Edward Henry", in Bennett's sequel The Regent (1913) (titled The Old Adam in its first US edition).
Adaptations (1)
The Card was adapted into a 1922 film.
The Card1922 · film · dir. A.V. Bramble · IMDb ↗A sacked clerk rises to become Mayor and weds the daughter of the councillor who fired him.
