Tchin-Tchin, also known as Chin-Chin, is a Paris-based romantic comedy by François Billetdoux. It premiered at the Théâtre de Poche in Montparnasse, Paris on January 26, 1959, directed by François Darbon and designed by Francine Gaillard-Risler. The author himself played the role of Cesareo Grimaldi and Katharina Renn played Pamela Pusey-Picq.
UK and U.S. productions
Adapted by Willis Hall as Chin-Chin, the play opened at the Wyndhams Theatre in London's West End on November 3, 1960, running until the following March with Celia Johnson and Anthony Quayle in the leads; directed by Howard Sackler, the production was designed by Sean Kenny. According to Theatre World editor Frances Stephens: "There was a haunting quality about this new play … and Celia Johnson has done nothing better than her brilliant and sensitive portrayal of the inhibited Englishwoman who goes to pieces when her French doctor husband deserts her...Anthony Quayle was also superb." In The Stage, R.B. Marriott pointed out that "Celia Johnson had her finest part of recent years, and played it flawlessly, in Chin-Chin...which, starting its run haltingly after a mixed reception, developed, I am glad to say, into a success." A different translation, by Mark Rudkin, was published in the UK by Secker and Warburg. This version transferred the setting, with Billetdoux's blessing, from Paris to New York. Adapted by Sidney Michaels as Tchin-Tchin, the play opened on Broadway on October 25, 1962 at the Plymouth Theatre, later transferring to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre) and closing on May 18, 1963 after 225 performances. Directed by Peter Glenville, the play starred Margaret Leighton and Anthony Quinn, with Charles Grodin in a supporting role. Arlene Francis and Jack Klugman took over the star roles for the last month. Tchin-Tchin received Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Actress in a Play, Best Scenic Design and Best Direction of a Play. Time wrote: "Tchin-Tchin is magical. It is also fragile, but it is saved from wispiness by Leighton and Quinn. Excellence is an acting habit with Margaret Leighton, and her Pamela is expectably perfect. Anthony Quinn brings his subtlest gifts to Caesario , a character in whom anguish and sentiment sprout like city flowers between slabs of concrete."
Pamela and Cesareo's respective spouses are having an affair. When they discover this they meet. The initially priggish English lady is slowly seduced by the vibrant Italian. Unfortunately his joie-de-vivre is mainly due to alcohol and she too becomes dependent on it, initiating a decline and fall.
