| Paddy the Next Best Thing | |
| Author: | Gertrude Page |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Romance |
| Publisher: | Hurst and Blackett |
| Release Date: | 1908 |
| Media Type: | |
Paddy the Next Best Thing (also written as Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing) is a 1908 romantic comedy novel by the British writer Gertrude Page.[1]
The heroine of the story is Paddy Adair, the daughter of an impoverished Irish landowner near Carlingford. Her father, General Adair, had hoped she would be a boy, but is delighted by the high-spirited Paddy who dubs herself as "the next best thing" to a boy. Paddy falls in love with another landowner, who had once been involved with her elder sister.
Gayer Mackay and Robert Ord adapted the novel into a successful 1920 West End play of the same title.[2] The cast was:
The play opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 April 1920, transferred briefly to the Strand Theatre in February 1922, and moved back to the Savoy in March, completing its run of 867 performances on 22 April 1922.[3]
The novel has been made into films on two occasions: a 1923 British silent film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Mae Marsh and a 1933 American sound film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Janet Gaynor[4]