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A Hatful of Rain
A drama for a 7 men and 2 women cast. This striking drama of love and addiction broke new ground for the depiction of realism in the theatre. Celia and Johnny Pope live in a New York tenement with his brother "Polo". As Johnny's heroine addiction spirals out of control, Celia and Polo's attraction and dependency grow.
118 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 22, 2025
A Hatful of Rain, based on the play by Michael V. Gazzo
9.6 out of 10
This stupendous, wondrous motion picture has been included for the best of reasons on The New York Times' Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list and it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, Golden Globes foe Best Actor and Leading Actress and more relevant trophies.
It is the complicated story of a family that has to deal with trauma, reminding one of the famous Leo Tolstoy quote: 'all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way'.
When old father, John Pope Sr. arrives from Palm Beach, Florida, he is expecting good news and some money from his sons, his favorite, Johnny, and Polo Pope, the latter having told him that he has two thousand five hundred dollars waiting for him.
Alas, very soon we have adversity facing the characters, for Polo does not have the money, which 'are gone' and he has no answer to give when his aggravated parent keeps asking 'what do you mean is gone...where is it gone?'
John Pope Sr. had been very excited by a project he had started in Florida, where he has people working for him and waiting be paid from the money that are gone now...the couple of thousand would be quite a few hundred thousand today.
As a consequence of this terrible news, but also because Johnny has always been the favorite son, the father is looking for consolation with one child, for the harm he thinks the other has inflicted upon him.
Johnny is married to Celia aka Eva Marie Saint, a wonderful artist, famous from movies like On the Waterfront and West by Northwest.
There is a tremendous tension in the marriage though, for we soon learn that the husband spends many nights away, does not even touch his wife most of the time, although she is pregnant.
She is tormented by this practical if not legal separation, she abhores the fact that he never mentions the baby and acts like a complete stranger, absent for most of the time, even when physically present.
While the cat is away, the mice play is such a stupid proverb, like all the rest, Noica, our greatest, local philosopher affirmed.
However, in the absence of one brother, the other one becomes close to his sister in law, so much intimate they become that at least the man falls in love with the woman that is not sure of her feelings anymore.
Celia wants to and is faithful to her husband, at least in a literal sense, avoiding the chances of adultery,but at the same time, she admits to herself and to Polo that she had stopped loving her spouse...she thinks so for a while anyway.
Thomas Man has a character in a short story that is very clear about the definition of love, friendship- they mean so much that you can only find real love and friends in literature...
Johnny is so terrible because he is a 'junkie', he is addicted to drugs and that is the real reason the money for the Palm Beach project are missing...Polo paid for the affliction of his brother.
The situation is ever more dangerous and complex as hoodlums, the thugs that provide the drugs enter the stage threatening the indebted, crushed Johnny.
The story of the name of the film is also fabulous...
When he was a child, Johnny was told by his father that the only way to get money is to work.
One day, the parent returns home to find the poor child has been digging fervently and checking his pockets to see the money coming in...
All he has got for this hard work was A Hatful of Rain!
9.6 out of 10
This stupendous, wondrous motion picture has been included for the best of reasons on The New York Times' Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list and it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, Golden Globes foe Best Actor and Leading Actress and more relevant trophies.
It is the complicated story of a family that has to deal with trauma, reminding one of the famous Leo Tolstoy quote: 'all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way'.
When old father, John Pope Sr. arrives from Palm Beach, Florida, he is expecting good news and some money from his sons, his favorite, Johnny, and Polo Pope, the latter having told him that he has two thousand five hundred dollars waiting for him.
Alas, very soon we have adversity facing the characters, for Polo does not have the money, which 'are gone' and he has no answer to give when his aggravated parent keeps asking 'what do you mean is gone...where is it gone?'
John Pope Sr. had been very excited by a project he had started in Florida, where he has people working for him and waiting be paid from the money that are gone now...the couple of thousand would be quite a few hundred thousand today.
As a consequence of this terrible news, but also because Johnny has always been the favorite son, the father is looking for consolation with one child, for the harm he thinks the other has inflicted upon him.
Johnny is married to Celia aka Eva Marie Saint, a wonderful artist, famous from movies like On the Waterfront and West by Northwest.
There is a tremendous tension in the marriage though, for we soon learn that the husband spends many nights away, does not even touch his wife most of the time, although she is pregnant.
She is tormented by this practical if not legal separation, she abhores the fact that he never mentions the baby and acts like a complete stranger, absent for most of the time, even when physically present.
While the cat is away, the mice play is such a stupid proverb, like all the rest, Noica, our greatest, local philosopher affirmed.
However, in the absence of one brother, the other one becomes close to his sister in law, so much intimate they become that at least the man falls in love with the woman that is not sure of her feelings anymore.
Celia wants to and is faithful to her husband, at least in a literal sense, avoiding the chances of adultery,but at the same time, she admits to herself and to Polo that she had stopped loving her spouse...she thinks so for a while anyway.
Thomas Man has a character in a short story that is very clear about the definition of love, friendship- they mean so much that you can only find real love and friends in literature...
Johnny is so terrible because he is a 'junkie', he is addicted to drugs and that is the real reason the money for the Palm Beach project are missing...Polo paid for the affliction of his brother.
The situation is ever more dangerous and complex as hoodlums, the thugs that provide the drugs enter the stage threatening the indebted, crushed Johnny.
The story of the name of the film is also fabulous...
When he was a child, Johnny was told by his father that the only way to get money is to work.
One day, the parent returns home to find the poor child has been digging fervently and checking his pockets to see the money coming in...
All he has got for this hard work was A Hatful of Rain!
December 1, 2019
I read this play after recently seeing, for the second time, the film adaptation, which was released in 1957. The movie is very faithful to the play; there are few changes or omissions. In fact, both Anthony Franciosa and Henry Silva, who appeared in the original Broadway cast, recreated their roles in the film. For information on the movie, go here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050487/...
Both the play and the movie are excellent, very powerful. Although the subject is one brother's drug addiction and his failing efforts to conquer his addiction, both the play and movie are really about family relationships: the fraught relationship between the father and his two sons and the codependent relationship between the two brothers. The characters are all in denial, including the addict's wife, and there is a lot of enabling going on. Once again, our family is our greatest strength and our greatest weakness.
Michael V. Gazzo wrote the play and co-wrote the movie screenplay. However, he worked mostly as an actor, and his most famous role was as Frank Pentangeli in "Godfather II". See here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0311155/?...
Both the play and the movie are excellent, very powerful. Although the subject is one brother's drug addiction and his failing efforts to conquer his addiction, both the play and movie are really about family relationships: the fraught relationship between the father and his two sons and the codependent relationship between the two brothers. The characters are all in denial, including the addict's wife, and there is a lot of enabling going on. Once again, our family is our greatest strength and our greatest weakness.
Michael V. Gazzo wrote the play and co-wrote the movie screenplay. However, he worked mostly as an actor, and his most famous role was as Frank Pentangeli in "Godfather II". See here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0311155/?...
August 26, 2023
It's not that nothing happens in the play, or that there are no messages to take from it. It's possible to find this play quite revelatory, apparently, as evidenced by the other comments here. I just see nothing interesting or impressive about a play in which Even so, I found nothing of substance in the structure, action, or dialogue. As a final aside, I'll admit that I have not seen addiction very close-up. To those who have, this play's straightforward depiction of the desperation and decline wrought by dependency might be quite moving. But not for me.
April 24, 2025
Polo is the simple underachieving brother and not father’s favorite. Johnny is a WW2 veteran who is addicted to heroin. The drug they gave him in the hospital while he was recovering from injury’s sustained in his time in the service. Polo and Johnny’s father is visiting and asking questions about missing money Polo had offered to him. Polo tries to hide his brother’s addiction that he’s been paying for from their father and Johnnys pregnant wife. It becomes increasingly hard to do when the dealers that Johnny owes money to come to collect. The family is forced to face the truth and each struggles in different ways.
April 1, 2019
A gritty hyper-realistic view of a heroine addiction. Empathetic and caring in its view of the main characters, but the playwright added a few side characters for what might have been trying to be comedic relief, but comes of as trite and distracting from the main plot.
September 2, 2020
A great play that kept me engaged the entire time.
February 6, 2020
A Hatful of Rain opened on November 9, 1955 at the Lyceum Theatre. Ben Gazarra played Johnny and Shelly Winters his wife. In a housing project apartment in New York City near the Brooklyn Bridge, Johnny Pope lives with his pregnant wife Celia and his brother Polo (Anthony Franciosa). Johnny is a veteran recently returned from the Korean War, in which he sustained an injury while surviving for days trapped in a cave. His survival made him a hero in the newspapers, but his ensuing recuperation in a military hospital left him secretly addicted to the painkiller morphine, with Polo his only family member aware of his condition. The Korean "War" is the forgotten war. It falls into the shadows compared to WWII and Vietnam. In addition, seldom do you hear about veterans of WWII and the Korean War as addicts due to the use of morphine for wounds. Erroneously the world seems to believe that drug use and addiction arrived with Vietnam. I enjoyed the play and recommend it. Kristi & Abby Tabby
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January 30, 2014A Hatful of Rain by Michael V. Gazzo is a gritty yet touching story that follows the life of a family torn apart from dealing with morphine addiction in the 1950s. This book should be read by drama/ theatre enthusiasts and anyone who can handle it; its shockingly realistic portrayal of what addiction can do makes this a gripping story from start to finish.
The story details the lives of a family in a tenement home in New York during the late 1950’s. One such member named Johnny—a brother, husband, son, and soon to be father—is addicted to morphine to help combat his PTSD from serving in the Korean War. With an irresponsible brother, a strict father, a hardened loan-shark, and a troubled wife with a baby on the way, the story shows throughout many scenes the type of effects drug-addicts can have on families all the way through to the climactic end.
The main theme of the story is forgiveness. Whether it is Johnny’s father, wife, drug supplier, or brother, every character undergoes a moment or realization/forgiveness which serves to unite the characters in the end of the play to help combat Johnny’s addiction. An example of this such forgiveness is a moment on page 83 where he states “we can take care of him together” which shows he wants to help Johnny no matter what. This contrasts with his stubbornness earlier in the play, saying things like “For crissakes it’s disgusting” (68) When mentioning Johnny’s drug-dependence. Perhaps the most powerful moment of forgiveness is when Johnny truly forgives himself for being a drug addict. Though the change is subtle, an example is when he says “It’s so unbelievable. To know everything that’s right… make the phone call…” (85) This proves he’s ready to go into detox and change himself for betterment of his family and himself. He knows what he is, but he is guided by the thought of something better—what he could be. This tale of redemption makes for a thrilling story that will leave you in anguish and joy. If you can get past some of the 50’s lingo, which is to be expected, than you will have a terrific ride reading this play.
To recapitulate, my thesis is this story is a must-read for gritty drama lovers who enjoy being taken back to the culture of an era. This story does a great job of showing each family member and their emotions in handling the situation, but the language may get you a bit confused at times, if only because of the rich culture of the lower middle class of New York at that time. The plot advances well, and most loose-ends are tied up well, and the ones that aren’t will certainly not keep you up at night. Over-all, I certainly recommend it if you are up for a true emotional journey.
The story details the lives of a family in a tenement home in New York during the late 1950’s. One such member named Johnny—a brother, husband, son, and soon to be father—is addicted to morphine to help combat his PTSD from serving in the Korean War. With an irresponsible brother, a strict father, a hardened loan-shark, and a troubled wife with a baby on the way, the story shows throughout many scenes the type of effects drug-addicts can have on families all the way through to the climactic end.
The main theme of the story is forgiveness. Whether it is Johnny’s father, wife, drug supplier, or brother, every character undergoes a moment or realization/forgiveness which serves to unite the characters in the end of the play to help combat Johnny’s addiction. An example of this such forgiveness is a moment on page 83 where he states “we can take care of him together” which shows he wants to help Johnny no matter what. This contrasts with his stubbornness earlier in the play, saying things like “For crissakes it’s disgusting” (68) When mentioning Johnny’s drug-dependence. Perhaps the most powerful moment of forgiveness is when Johnny truly forgives himself for being a drug addict. Though the change is subtle, an example is when he says “It’s so unbelievable. To know everything that’s right… make the phone call…” (85) This proves he’s ready to go into detox and change himself for betterment of his family and himself. He knows what he is, but he is guided by the thought of something better—what he could be. This tale of redemption makes for a thrilling story that will leave you in anguish and joy. If you can get past some of the 50’s lingo, which is to be expected, than you will have a terrific ride reading this play.
To recapitulate, my thesis is this story is a must-read for gritty drama lovers who enjoy being taken back to the culture of an era. This story does a great job of showing each family member and their emotions in handling the situation, but the language may get you a bit confused at times, if only because of the rich culture of the lower middle class of New York at that time. The plot advances well, and most loose-ends are tied up well, and the ones that aren’t will certainly not keep you up at night. Over-all, I certainly recommend it if you are up for a true emotional journey.
February 24, 2022
Drama about a guy addicted to heroin. The pushers are wanting their money, and family pressure is coming in from all sides. An interesting read, i loved the variety of conflict.
May 5, 2012
A great piece, but one that can feel a little dated at times with its content and use of language. As a historical piece I can appreciate how it was one of the first pieces of entertainment to deal with the subject of addiction and I hope will not be lost in the constant changing of the times.
December 16, 2012
I played the wife in a regional theatre production of this play in the late 60s and really liked it. It was a powerful play back in the day. But it is certainly a product of it's era.
April 5, 2020
A bit of a slow burn but I enjoyed it
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews