The Valiant (play)

The Valiant began life as a one-act play by Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass. It is a stark little vaudeville piece about a convicted murderer who goes silently to his execution without ever revealing his true identity. Expanded to 65 minutes, The Valiant was filmed in 1929, starring Paul Muni in his first feature-film role. He plays a drifter with a clouded past who accidentally kills the key witness to a crime, then sacrifices himself to the law under an assumed name rather than disgrace his family. In this manner, Muni is certain that he's redeemed himself for his previous misdeeds--but a curious police inspector tries to probe his past. The Valiant was remade in 1940 as The Man Who Wouldn't Talk, with Lloyd Nolan in the Muni role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Characters

Father

The Warden

James Dyke

The Girl

Executioner

Secretary

In Depth Summary

(continued warning i might have some of the scenes mixed up but i'll change them to the right order when we do the play on Monday or Tuesday)

Set: On the left side (audience view) of the stage (unless there is a scene change) you can see an electric chair and the Executor, on the right side is an office with a secretary. In the middle is what looks like an office. (please note these could be switched)

It starts in the Warden's office where the Warden and Father (preist) are having small talk waiting for midnight to arrive (12:00 pm). The topic turns to James Dyke a criminal who is a complete mystery. Although he admits he killed a man and pleads guilty to the court, he acts in a "gentlemanly" fashion to the Warden and Father. The Warden is puzzled by this man, he jumped at the opprotunity to get his biography published for money but doesn't know what to do with it. The Warden decidees to do something unorthodox, kindness toward the condemned man. Warden has the Executor go and bring him to the office, so he doesn't have to wait in his cell. The Executor although surprised proceeds to go and get Dyke. Shortly after the Executor leaves there is a phone call. The Warden picks it up and the Mayor is calling. The Mayor is sending a young lady who believes that the man could be her long lost brother and asks to hold off the execution until she's had a chance to speak with him. The Warden agrees and the Executor arrives shortly after the phone is hung up with James Dyke. Executor leaves to go back to the electric chair.

The Warden asks Dyke to sit down. Dyke sits and the Warden tells him that he will stay here until it is time for his execution. Dyke replies to this saying it doesn't make much difference because either way he is a condemned man whether it be in his cell or here, he proceeds to explain that he has never struk a man in anger but when he knew what this man had done it was "his duty" to kill him. The Warden then asks Dyke if he wants to be sent back to his cell. Dyke answers no and that it is "a little pleasenter here" but at least back in the cell he could smoke. The Warden offers Dyke a cigar or a cig. Dyke takes a cig and proceeds to smoke it. The Warden shows Dyke some letters out of two thousand (i'll check), that are asking if Dyke might be thier lost brother, son, or sweetheart. Dyke replies that the Warden already has the answer, and he can answer those letters because he has no mother, sister, or sweetheart, Dyke insists that he is not the one they are looking for. The Warden explains to Dyke that if Dyke reveals his real name to him that sorrow will only fall on one family not all of them.

The Warden asks him are you protecting anyone. Dyke answers Yes. NO! The Warden catches this and says so you are protecting someone. Dyke says that is was "a slip of the tongue". The Warden takes out the money that was sent for his published biography and asks who to send it to. Dyke catchs that the Warden is trying to trick him and says you can't get me with that. The Warden becomes exasperated telling Dyke that he can't spend them or use them unless Dyke tell him what to do with the money. Dyke says he'll think of something. The Warden informs him that there is a girl comming to see him, "came over a thousand miles". Dyke is surprise "she came all this way to see me?", just a few months ago people wouldn't cross the stree to see me, "now they're comming a thousand miles". The Warden says that he will allow them to talk alone after he speaks to the girl. Father and Dyke leave and the Warden tells the secretary to let the girl come in.

The girl enters and is asked to sit down in the chair formerly occupied by Dyke just moments earlier. The Warden asks her why she thinks this man could be her brother. She explains that they saw his picture in the newspaper and it looked a little like him and the way it was written it was just like the way her brother talks. She goes on to explain that he is 10 years older than she is, this makes him about 27 which is Dykes age (this is revealed earlier in the play), and has not been seen by his family for eight years and stopped writing in the last three. She remembers that her borther, Joesph, liked to read books, at this point the Warden shakes his head, and that Joe really liked Shakespeare and wanted to be an actor. She goes on about he would tell stories to her and that's what she is counting on recognizing, his stories because she was too young to remember him properly. And how at night they would quote from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to say goodnight. "Why are you doing that?" she asks the Warden noting that he is still shaking his head.

References

• The Script for the Play (cannot find online copy)
• NY Times Movies

External links

• The valiant : a play in one-act on World Cat only title and authors