Captain Carvallo is a traditional comedy play told in three acts by Denis Cannan, with its preposterous Ruritarian story featuring a romantic hero with a girl in every soldierly billet.
The comedy was an immediate success when it opened at the St. James Theatre on the 9th August, 1950, as the second production under Sir Laurence Olivier's management.
Captain Carvallo, which lit up the West End in 1950 tells the story of a philandering young army officer, Captain Carvallo. It was a refreshing play of ideas, joyfully offbeat and absurd. Cannan contemplated the activities of his characters with a tolerant and not unfriendly disdain.
The play was first tried out in March 1950 at the Bristol Old Vic, where Cannan was acting at the time. A few months later, Laurence Olivier boldly restaged the play – billed as a "traditional comedy" – at the St James's theatre in London, with James Donald in the lead role, opposite Diana Wynyard. It was a great success, although Cannan preferred the Bristol production. "His play shimmers with ideas wittily juxtaposed, and it is funnier than the Crazy Gang," wrote the critic Harold Hobson. A television production of the play was broadcast on the BBC the following year, with Patrick Macnee in the lead. Cannan adapted the play himself for a Rediffusion production later that decade. In 1988, this well-constructed and stylish play was revived at the Greenwich theatre.
Captain Carvallo - James Donald
Smilja Darde - Diana Wynyard
Professor Winke - Peter Finch
Caspar Darde - Richard Goolden
Private Gross - Thomas Heathcote
Anni - Jill Bennett
The Baron - Anthony Pelly