The Last Mile (play)
| The Last Mile | |
|---|---|
| Written by | John Wexley |
| Date premiered | February 13, 1930 |
| Place premiered |
Sam H. Harris Theatre New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Keystone State Penitentiary death-house in Keystone, Oklahoma in late May and June |
The Last Mile was a Broadway play by John Wexley that ran for 289 performances from February 13, 1930 to October 1930 at the Sam H. Harris Theatre. It was produced by Herman Shumlin and staged by Chester Erskine. It is set in the death row wing of a prison. The lead role of John "Killer" Mears was first played by Spencer Tracy, and it was the role that bought him to the attention of Hollywood. It was later played for a time by Clark Gable. The play was adapted into a 1932 film starring Preston Foster and into a 1959 film starring Mickey Rooney.
Cast
Ernest Whitman as Vincent Jackson, 1930
- Spencer Tracy as John Mears
- Henry O'Neill as Father O'Connors
- James Bell as Richard Walters
- Don Costello as Drake
- Ernest Whitman as Vincent Jackson
- Orville Harris as Peddie
- Herbert Heywood as O'Flaherty
- George Leach as Eddie Werner
- Bruce MacFarlane as Frost
- Hale Norcross as Red Kirby
- Richard Abbott as Harris
- Clarence Chase as Evangelist
- Howard Phillips as Fred Mayor
- Joseph Spurin-Calleia as Tom D'Amoro
- Ralph Theodore as principal keeper Callahan
- Albert West as Brooks