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Lily Brayton in Kismet
Truus, Bob & Jan too! posted a photo:
Vintage British postcard. Rotary Photo, E.C., 117512 M. Photo by Foulsham and Banfield, London. Lily Brayton as Marsinah in the play Kismet.
Kismet was a three-act play written in 1911 by Edward Knoblauch/ Knoblock. It was produced by Oscar Asche and first staged at the Garrick Theatre, London, on 19 April 1911. Asche rewrote the play and starred himself as the beggar Haji, who poses as a prince. He drowns the evil Wazir of Police, catches the eye of the Wazir's voluptuous wife, serves as Emir of Baghdad, and sees his daughter wed to the handsome Caliph, who has posed as a gardener. Next to Asche, Lily Brayton starred as his daughter Marsinah. The play was a gigantic success.
After a successful tour with Kismet in Australia in 1911–12, Asche, upon his return to London, revived Kismet. Asche and Brayton also appeared in a 1914 film adaptation. Afterward, more film adaptations followed in 1920, 1930 and 1944. Asche repeated his role as Haji in the 1930 and 1944 film versions. In 1953, the story was adapted into the musical by Robert Wright and George Forrest, which in turn was adapted into a 1955 film.
Sources: English Wikipedia, IMDb.
Elizabeth "Lily" Brayton (23 June 1876 – 30 April 1953) was an English actress and singer, known for her performances in Shakespeare plays and for her nearly 2,000 performances in the First World War hit musical 'Chu Chin Chow'. From the 1900s, Lily Brayton was the wife and regular co-actor of British actor Oscar Asche. In 1914 she acted opposite Asche in her only film, Kismet, directed by Leedham Bantock.
