The Curious Savage

The Curious Savage

The Curious Savage

The Curious Savage

The Curious Savage

Overview

When Ethel Savage's late husband leaves her a small fortune, she decides to make the best of it, establishing a fund to support various dreamers with whimsical aspirations. But her three greedy stepchildren – a socialite, a senator and a judge – commit her to a mental institution, hoping to "bring her to her senses." In the sanitarium, a warm and inviting home known as "The Cloisers," Ethel befriends the other "guests," a colorful crew of kind, generous and delusional souls. In time, Ethel finds happiness with them and plans to spend the rest of her life among them.

Meanwhile, the stepchildren, discovering that Ethel has hidden the family fortune, attempt to browbeat her into confessing where the money has been stashed. Unruffled, Ethel maintains her dignity and leads them on a wild goose chase. In the end, Ethel and her friends successfully thwart the stepchildren, and Ethel is declared sane; she is free to live her life as she chooses. As she goes to leave The Cloisters, Ethel looks back at her band of misfit friends, seeing them as they see themselves, in a gauzy tableau of contentment and delusion.

With warmth, humor and dignity, The Curious Savage celebrates those who are often overlooked, emphasizing kindness, affection and empathy in a world that too often rewards greed and ambition.

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Details

  • Time Period: 1950s
  • Cast Attributes: Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
  • Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences

Authors

John Patrick

John Patrick (1905 –1995) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter. His many Broadway plays include Hell Freezes Over (1935), The Willow and I (1942), The Hasty Heart (1945; adapted for the screen in 1949), The Curious Savage (1950) and Lo and Behold (1951).

He ...

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