Too Much Johnson

Too Much Johnson

66 mins | Comedy | Oct. 9, 2013

This film was not intended to stand by itself, but was designed as the cinematic aspect of Welles' Mercury Theatre stage presentation of William Gillette's 1894 comedy about a New York playboy who flees from the violent husband of his mistress and borrows the identity of a plantation owner in Cuba who is expecting the arrival of a mail order bride. The film component of the performance was ultimately never screened due to the absence of projection facilities at the venue. Long-believed to be lost, a workprint was discovered in 2008 and the film had its premiere in 2013.

Too Much Johnson

66 mins | Comedy | Oct. 9, 2013

Too Much Johnson
This film was not intended to stand by itself, but was designed as the cinematic aspect of Welles' Mercury Theatre stage presentation of William Gillette's 1894 comedy about a New York playboy who flees from the violent husband of his mistress and borrows the identity of a plantation owner in Cuba who is expecting the arrival of a mail order bride. The film component of the performance was ultimately never screened due to the absence of projection facilities at the venue. Long-believed to be lost, a workprint was discovered in 2008 and the film had its premiere in 2013.
IMDb rating 5.7
Producers Mercury Theater
Original title Too Much Johnson
Directors John Berry, Orson Welles
Writers William Gillette, Orson Welles

Cast

Joseph Cotten

as Augustus Billings

Virginia Nicholson

as Lenore Faddish

Arlene Francis

as Mrs. Dathis

Mary Wickes

as Mrs. Battison

Orson Welles

as Keystone Kop

John Houseman

as Duelist

Judy Holliday

as (uncredited)

Edgar Barrier

as Leon Dathis

Ruth Ford

as Mrs. Billings

Eustace Wyatt

as Francis Faddish

Guy Kingsley Poynter

as Henry MacIntosh

George Duthie

as Purser

Marc Blitzstein

as Extra

Herbert Drake

as Keystone Kop

Erskine Sanford

as Frederick

Howard Smith

as Joseph Johnson

Richard Wilson

as Cabin boy