Tons of Money (play)


Tons of Money is a farcical play by British writers Will Evans and Arthur Valentine. It was co-produced by Tom Walls and Leslie Henson. In the story of the play, a hard-up inventor pretends to be his cousin, in order to escape the clutches of his creditors.
It was first performed in April 1922 at the Shaftesbury Theatre and ran for nearly two years. It starred Henson as Aubrey Allington and Yvonne Arnaud as Louise Allington. Its great success led Walls and Henson to produce the series of long-running Aldwych farces.
Alan Ayckbourn updated and directed the play in 1986 in a revival by The National Theatre starring Michael Gambon as Sprules and Simon Cadell as Aubrey.

Adaptations

The play was adapted into film on two occasions. A 1924 silent film Tons of Money directed by Frank Hall Crane and starring Leslie Henson and a 1930 sound version Tons of Money directed by Tom Walls and starring many of the Aldwych regulars, including Arnaud, Ralph Lynn, Mary Brough, Robertson Hare and Willie Warde. A television adaptation was broadcast by the BBC on Boxing Day 1954, starring Frankie Howerd as Aubrey. Graeme Muir directed.