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Already well known for his Death House
play, The Last Mile (1931), John Wexley
(1907-1985) turned his dramatic gifts to the Scottsboro
Case. On February 21, 1934, the Theater Guild presented
They Shall Not Die at the Royale Theater, New York
City, in a production by Theresa Helburn and Lee
Simonson, with the latter's settings. The cast included
Ruth Gordon, Helen Westley, Dean Jagger, Claude Rains,
and Ben Smith. Carefully following in detail the events
of the arrests and trials, the play was a documentary of
great force and eloquence. Brooks Atkinson wrote, "For
once good works match the crusader's intentions." After
fifty years one would take exception only to the
hortatory agit-prop (agitative political
propaganda) of the very ending.
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