Petticoat Fever 1936

Evidently Dennis was back in the UK in 1936 at Daly’s Theatre to appear in Petticoat Fever alongside Jill Esmond, as the cutting above shows. Previously running in New York for 8 months, according to the Daily Mail write-up, Dennis had proved to be “a novelty in the realms of farce”.

Jill Esmond was married to Laurence Olivier at the time. She had met him in 1928 and married him in 1930. Perhaps Dennis and Laurence met. They did have the Birmingham Rep in common, after all, Laurence having joined the company in 1926.

For Dennis, Petticoat Fever was a change from romantic musical comedy.

Of a production in the States, on March 5th 1935, The New York Times said:

Having worn the handsome tights of Richard Bordeaux last year, Dennis King is now wearing the cap and bells in an excellent farce by Mark Reed, "Petticoat Fever," which was played with great agility at the Ritz last evening.

I recall reading that Dennis acquired the UK rights for Petticoat Fever hence the London production but I’ve forgotten the source of this.

The only problem with this account is verifying it. It has proved difficult to find the London engagement in either Dennis’s or Jill Esmond’s biographic material. Could it be that it had a very short run, I wonder? I will continue to search for a separate record of it.