IN OLD KENTUCKY

Charles T. Dazeys four-actmelodrama, which opened on 23 October 1893 for 160 performances at the Academy of Music, was a perennially popular play on American stages for decades following its initial New York production. Dazey's simple plot, drawn from his time as a student in Kentucky, focuses on Madge Brierly, a young Kentuckian, who longs to flee her rural mountain home when she meets Frank Layson, a wealthy young man. Overcoming resistance from his society friends, Madge, a first-rate horsewoman, rides Frank's Thoroughbred in the Ashland Oaks Derby. She wins, and Frank is smitten by Madge. No less than three silent motion picture versions ofIn Old Kentuckyappeared. The first, in 1909, was directed by D. W. Griffith, with subsequent versions (1919, 1927) prior to a 1935 adaptation using only a few elements from Dazey's play, which was also the last film starring Will Rogers.*