Ballade upon receipt of a treasured letter (1978)

In the early years of cinema, the theatre still held its place as the valid artform, with this new pretender offering lowbrow entertainment to the masses. It was during the 1930s, when Hollywood was enjoying its heyday that the relationship changed. Up until this point the stage and literary works had been the main inspiration for cinema, with adaptations of popular plays and novels being the most prominent source of material. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s it became possible to recreate the theatre’s biggest successes, often with the original stars, which led to an influx of writers usually associated with the theatre creating new work for the cinema, original screenplays and adaptations of their own stage successes. Luise herself, an exponent of what she called ‘the legitimite stage’ was just one of many hundreds such actors and writers who were feted by Hollywood and began to work in the medium.

In Britain, one writer who sucessfully crossed over from the theatre to the screen was Ben Travers. Born in Hendon, London in 1886 his first play, The Dippers, was staged by Sir Charles Hawtrey in 1922. Throughout that decade he would remain a firm fixture in London’s West End with a series of popular farces synonymous with the Aldwych Theatre. It was in 1930 that he had his first foray into film with the screen adaptation of his play Rookery Nook. There followed a series of adaptations for Herbert Wilcox and British & Dominion Films (and later for Gaumont British and Gainsborough) which were essentially filmed plays, with the original cast members Tom Wall, Ralph Lynn and Robertson Hare reprising their roles; these included A Night Like This (1931), Plunder (1931), Thark (1932), Turkey Time (1933), Dirty Work (1934), and A Cup of Kindness (1934). The successful series continued throughout the 1930s with Travers writing new material for the team to perform in films such as Lady in Danger (1935), Stormy Weather (1935) and Pot Luck (1936).

Whilst Travers was prolific in Britain at this time, Luise was making her way through her difficult MGM contract. Despite sharing many friends and acquaintances over the years the pair did not meet one another until they were both invited to a party in 1976. Travers was enjoying a ‘comeback’ after his play The Bed Before Yesterday (his first for almost 25 years) had been successfully produced in the West End and was once again on the party scene, aged 90. In his 1978 autobigraphy A-sitting on a Gate, Travers describes meeting friends old and new, usually at parties given by the literary agent Robin Dalton, including Edna O’Brien (‘a lady novelist who won my heart’) and Luise. Travers writes that he ‘likes meeting extraordinary women and always gets on with them’, but despite their age and their recollections of mutual friends Travers marks his surprise that he and Luise had never met before. After the party Luise responded with a letter expressing her delight that they had finally been introduced, to which Travers replied with this ‘preposterous Ballade, [his] favourite form of poem’.

Ballade on Receipt of a Treasured Letter

Accept this yell of youthful rapture, please:

Though ninety years have passed beyond recall,

Ah, but Love’s warmth defies the blood to freeze:

And drowns Old Age’s dreary warning drawl.

Unlike so many poor old blokes who crawl

From chair to bed and limp and pant and wheeze,

I dance and sing: my heart plays skittle-ball:

I have a letter from divine Luise.

 

Returns and cheques for playwright’s luscious fees,

Found in my morning’s mail-box in the hall,

And love-notes from my host of fond sweet-peas,

Compared with hers are vinegar and gall.

Farewell that furtive romp, that taxi maul,

Henceforth I serve endearing Charm’s decrees:

Gone with the wind each past promiscuous fall:

I have a letter from divine Luise

 

Pooh, champion jockey of triumphant gees:

Pooh, gangster felling coppers in a brawl:

Pooh, scholar with vast numbers of degrees:

Pooh, gaol-break expert leaping from his wall:

Pooh, truculent Goliath, ten feet tall:

Pooh, pop star mobbed by frenzied devotees:

Pooh, Gentiles getting letters from St Paul:

I have a letter from divine Luise.

 

Envoi

 

Prince, you may boast the majesty of Saul,

Bejewelled houris swooning at your knees:

Gold, oil-fields, Concorde, cars – go stuff them all:

I have a letter from divine Luise.

– – – – – – – – – –

BALLADE ON RECEIPT OF A TREASURED LETTER by Ben Travers
From his autobiography A-SITTING ON A GATE
published by W.H. Allen Copyright Ben Travers 1978

 with thanks to Nicki Stoddart at United Agents (Copyright agency for the Estate of Ben Travers) for permission to publish this poem online. This poem cannot be republished, in print or online, without prior permission.