The Family Upstairs
The Family Upstairs is a play in three acts by Harry Delf. It has a medium-sized cast, one setting, and quick pacing. It is a domestic comedy, centered around the five-member apartment-dwelling Heller family, their endless bickering, and the elder daughter's suitor. The original performance was produced by Sam H. Harris, and staged by Sam Forrest. The production, which starred Ruth Nugent, Clare Woodbury, and Walter Wilson, ran on Broadway from August through October 1925 before going on tour. It had a brief revival on Broadway during October 1933, and was adapted for motion pictures on three occasions. Characters Listed in order of appearance within their scope. Leads Emma Heller is early 40's, hard-working housewife with gallstones, who wants her daughter Louise married. Joe Heller is mid-40's, a streetcar inspector, annoyed with Willie's indolence and Emma's interference. Louise Heller is 21, a stenographer, a quiet girl who loves books and doesn't often go out. Supporting Annabelle Heller is 12, a would-be flapper condemned to piano practice by her mother Emma. Willie Heller is 17, a school dropout with no job, outspoken, a pool shark and a bit of a sheik. Charles Grant is 25, a bank teller earning $40 a week, lives with and supports his mother and brother. Featured Miss Callahan is a dressmaker from the ground floor who brings Louise's blouse and enlightens Charles. Mrs. Grant is Charles' mother, a widow with two sons and a married daughter who lives elsewhere. Herbert Grant is 12 and Charles' younger brother, a bit hard-boiled in attitude. Synopsis The Hellers are a middle-class family that love one another, but often become quarrelsome due to being constrained to share a small apartment. Their eldest daughter, Louise, has taken a job just to get away from her family a few hours each day. When the play opens, the Hellers take their meals in the parlor as their dining room is being redone by painters. The parents, Emma and Joe, worry over the two older children: Emma is sure Louise will never have a boyfriend or get married, while Joe frets over Willie's lack of ambition for either school or work. Each champions the child whom the other worries about. Meanwhile, little Annabelle makes desultory classic noises on the upright piano when driven to it, but sings Red Hot Mama when freed. At dinner, Louise startles everyone by announcing that Charles Grant is coming to call. She met him at a party a few weeks earlier and they plan to go boating on Sunday. Charles proves a personable lad, and Emma tries to make Louise seem a "catch" by inflating the family's economic status. When the couple are left alone, Charles proposes to Louise, who accepts, but wants the engagement to remain a secret from her family for now. When Charles comes to collect Louise on Sunday morning, he is made aware of the inflated expectations for modern brides through the chatter of Miss Callahan. Emma again paints a rosy picture of Louise's many