The Demi-Virgin is a three-act play written by Avery Hopwood (pictured). Producer Albert H. Woods staged it on Broadway, where it was one of the most successful plays of the 1921–22 season. The play is a bedroom farce about former couple Gloria Graham and Wally Deane, both movie actors, whose marriage was so brief that the press speculated about whether Gloria was still a virgin. Because it contained suggestive dialog and the female cast wore revealing clothes, the production was considered highly risqué at the time. The script alluded to a contemporary scandal involving actor Fatty Arbuckle, and one scene featured actresses stripping as part of a card game. Reviewers generally panned the play as unfunny and vulgar. A magistrate ruled the play was obscene, and obscenity charges were brought against Woods, but a grand jury declined to indict him. Woods promoted the controversy to increase ticket sales. The play had no long-term literary impact and was never published, but it did stimulate arguments over censorship of theatrical performances.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demi-Virgin
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1658:
Pope Alexander VII appointed François de Laval as vicar apostolic of New France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Laval
1892:
Liverpool F.C., one of England's most successful football clubs, was founded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C.
1937:
Nearly six months after Edward, Duke of Windsor, abdicated the British throne, he married American socialite Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony near Tours, France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallis_Simpson
1942:
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launched two aircraft carrier raids on the United States Army barracks and the U.S. Navy base at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dutch_Harbor
1982:
An assassination attempt on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, failed; this was later used as justification for the 1982 Lebanon War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Argov
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
bigly: 1. (now rare, modern uses nonstandard) Strongly, with great force. 2. (now rare) In a blustering or boastful manner; haughtily, pompously. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bigly
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We, the most powerful democracy in the world, have developed a strong norm against talking about politics. It's fine to talk about politics with people you agree with. But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with. Political discourse becomes isolated, and isolated discourse becomes more extreme. We say what our friends want to hear, and hear very little beyond what our friends say. --Lawrence Lessig https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig