French Without Tears is a comic play written by Terence Rattigan in 1936. It takes place in a cram school for adults needing to acquire French for business reasons. The play was a raging success on its London debut, establishing Rattigan as a first-rank dramatist. However, the comedy reflected its own time so well that little of it seems funny today. Contemporaries seemed to find the flippant attitudes of the young people towards love and sex amusing and delightful. Scattered throughout are Franglais phrases and schoolboy howler type misunderstandings of the French language. Jump to: navigation, search A play is a common form of literature, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. ... Terence Mervyn Rattigan (June 10, 1911-November 30, 1977) was one of Britains most important 20th century dramatists. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cram schools (also known as crammers) are specialized schools that train their students to meet particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or universities. ...
French cast Kay Hammond as the man-eating heroine, then took her to see Heroes Don't Care, a play starring the young Rex Harrison.
She was won over by his deft unpacking of a suitcase of ladies' underwear and he joined the cast along with another unknown actor, Jessica Tandy.
There were cries of "author, author" but, by the time French shoved a "green-faced and dithering" Rattigan on stage, the curtain was already descending; it landed unceremoniously on his head.
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