AustLit

In reviewing Don't Tell the Wife at the Empire Theatre in 1927 the Brisbane Courier records:

The plot, what there is of it, hinges upon the interpretation of a will. May Geary as Lulu was a splendid vamp, and snared the affections of Harold Pottleberry, played by Jim Gerald in his inimitable manner. When the lady discovers that Harold does not benefit under the will she promptly transfers her affections to a village bumpkin, who really inherits the money. She successfully vamps him - and marries him at the finish, having really fallen in love.... The comedy is in three acts, and some charming lighting effects were secured (21 March 1927, p.17).

When the show was revived some three months later, the paper's critic provided further insight into the storyline:

Of course Mr Gerald is the husband. He is a gay dog; and the sad thing about it is that he had led his future son-in-law into trouble, too. When the curtain rises the wife who must not be told discloses the fact that Harold Pottleberry - her husband - has been out all night. He has not been home for 36 hours; and when he does arrive he is in the condition of not caring whether it shows, although he is conscious of the moral power of his wife. He is a henpecked man. He admits it with glee; but his spirits are irrepressible'. The revusical is said to have finished with a 'pretty scene in China Town (4 July 1927, p.10).

An Age review provides additional details concerning the storyline as staged in 1930:

The plot... centres round the distribution of a large sum of money left by a clerical relative of the Pottlebury and Smith families. Members of the Pottlebury family - mother, father and daughter - are buoyed up with expectations but Tom Smith (a country youth) does not trouble greatly about the amount he is to receive. When the will is read it is disclosed that Mr Pottlebury (who by the way is given to excessive drinking) is dismissed with the deceased prelate's blessing, his wife receives 15/- and the daughter £2,000. The remainder of the estate, valued at £50,000, is bequeathed to Tom Smith. A friend of the deceased, Patrick Flannagan, engaged to Hilda Pottlebury, also expected to be remembered in the will, but was cut out. There was a condition, however, attached to the legacy of £50,000. It prohibited Smith from making an offer of marriage before 6pm on the day the will was read - a period of four hours. Then the fun began. Pottlebury and Flannagan conspired to persuade Lulu, a fascinating French adventuress, to make "lightening love" to Tom Smith, and force a proposal within the limited time at her disposal. She, however, falls in love with him herself and will not permit him to propose until the final stroke of six. The scenes were full of humorous situations which gave Jim Gerald ample scope (28 April 1930, p.12).

Among the songs included in the 1933 Sydney revival, which is described in the Sydney Morning Herald as 'a laughable domestic revue in three scenes' (13 March 1933, p.5), were 'Here are We' (Frieda Bohning and chorus), 'Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries' (Heather Jones), 'Millions of People' (Jim Gerald), and 'I Want You Lu Lu' (Reg Hawthorne).

The cast of characters includes Mr and Mrs Pottleberry, Hilda (their daughter), the son-in-law, a French count, a detective, a lawyer, Lulu (a vamp), a maid, and a bumpkin. A review of the 1928 Fullers' Theatre season indicates that some Gerald played a number of roles in the show. 'Mr Gerald kept the audience in continual laughter ... in this comedy in which he ludicrously impersonated a Spanish senorita, a coy maid-servant, a picturesque Chinese and a drunken husband', writes the Sydney Morning Herald theatre critic. 'There is a plot in this play about a will and the schemes of those who try to break it; but the interest in this is quite secondary to that of the clever fooling of the comedians and the bright songs and dances of the principals and the Twinklers. The piece was written and produced by Mr Gerald' (30 January 1928, p.6).

The musical numbers for the 1927 Brisbane production, which was expanded to an entire evening's entertainment, included 'Strolling Back' (sung by Ernest Crawford), 'Lu Lu' (May Geary), 'Millions of People' (Jim Gerald), and 'I Want You Lulu' (Reg Hawthorne). A review in the Brisbane Courier indicates that this 'rare two and a half hours of fun' included 'a large number of new and up-to-date sketches... new scenes, gags and business' (2 July 1927, p.26).