community's willingness to believe and spread malicious gossip, have destroyed three innocent lives. History After her graduation from New York University, Hellman was a play reader in the office of theatrical producer Herman Shumlin. In May 1934, she asked Shumlin to read a play of her own—the sixth draft of The Children's Hour. He read it as she waited. After he read the first act Shumlin said, "Swell". After reading the second act he said, "I hope it keeps up". After reading the third act he said, "I'll produce it." Shumlin and Hellman worked through the details of the production together over the next months. Shumlin felt the title of the play was misleading and wanted Hellman to change it; but Hellman loved it and refused. Hellman recalled being rudely treated by Lee Shubert, then-owner of the Maxine Elliott Theatre, at a rehearsal. Shumlin faced Shubert down and barked, "That girl, as you call her, is the author of the play." After writing one unsuccessful play with Louis Kronenberger, Hellman wrote The Children's Hour as an exercise, to teach herself how to write a play. Believing that she would do better to find a subject based in fact, Dashiell Hammett suggested the idea for the play to Hellman after he read a book titled Bad Companions (1930), a true-crime anthology by William Roughead. It related an incident that took place in 1810 at a school in Edinburgh, Scotland. A student named Jane Cumming accused her schoolmistresses, Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, of having an affair in the presence of their pupils. Dame Cumming Gordon, the accuser's influential grandmother, advised her friends to remove their daughters from the boarding school. Within days the school was deserted and the two women had lost their livelihood. Pirie and Woods sued and eventually won, both in court and on appeal, but given the damage done to their lives, their victory was considered hollow. Production Produced and directed by Herman Shumlin, The Children's Hour opened November 20, 1934, at the Maxine Elliott Theatre in New York City. The settings by Aline Bernstein were executed by Sointu Syrjala. The three-act drama closed in July 1936 after 691 performances. Cast Eugenia Rawls as Peggy Rogers Aline McDermott as Mrs. Lily Mortar Elizabeth Seckel as Evelyn Munn Lynne Fisher as Helen Burton Jacqueline Rusling as Lois Fisher Barbara Leeds as Catherine Barbara Beals as Rosalie Wells Florence McGee