A Western Union night letter from playwright Philip Dunning to a young Pat O’Brien at Chicago’s Adelphi Theatre: “May have part new show ... call me John Golden office when you return.” In a few clipped lines, the coauthor of the Broadway sensation Broadway reaches into producer John Golden’s office to discuss O’Brien’s next possible role.
Dunning was not a routine theatrical contact. With George Abbott he wrote Broadway, the enormous 1926 backstage hit later adapted for film. His other stage works included Night Hostess, Page Miss Glory, Kill That Story and Remember the Day.
The telegram reaches O’Brien during his stage years, before films such as Angels with Dirty Faces and Knute Rockne, All American fixed his screen persona. The potential part and instruction to call John Golden’s office reveal his career still being negotiated production by production.
Golden was one of Broadway’s leading producers, associated with major American plays and the theater that still bears his name. His office gives Dunning’s short casting message a second strong Broadway connection.
The typed sender line identifies Philip Dunning, but it is not represented as a handwritten signature. The value lies in the direct Dunning–O’Brien–Golden casting association and the immediacy of the original wire.
Original Western Union telegram with heavy age toning, numerous old folds and creases, edge and corner wear, small tears and losses, surface dirt, tape or adhesive evidence and general handling wear. The message remains legible. Reverse shown. Typed sender name is not claimed as an autograph.