Spring Cleaning is a 1925 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Lonsdale

Frederick Lonsdale

Frederick Lonsdale was an English dramatist.-Personal life:Lonsdale was born Lionel Frederick Leonard in St Helier, Jersey, the son of Susan and John Henry Leonard, a tobacconist. He began as a private soldier and worked for the London and South Western Railway...

. A man becomes convinced his wife is about to have an affair, and in order to shock her he hires a prostitute to come and live in their house. It premiered at St Martin's Theatre

St Martin's Theatre

St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in West Street, near Charing Cross Road, in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed as one of a pair of theatres with the Ambassadors Theatre by W.G.R...

 in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 on 19 January 1925.

Adaptation

In 1932 the play was adapted into a film Women Who Play

Women Who Play

Women Who Play is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Mary Newcomb, Benita Hume and George Barraud. In order to deter his wife from having an affair a man hires an actress as part of an elaborate scheme...

directed by Arthur Rosson

Arthur Rosson

Arthur Rosson was an English film director. He directed 61 films between 1917 and 1948.He was born in London and died in Los Angeles, California. Rosson came from a film-making family. His brother, Harold Rosson, was an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer and several other family members were...

 and starring Mary Newcomb

Mary Newcomb

Mary Newcomb was an American actress who appeared on the British stage and films.-Selected filmography:* The Marriage Bond * Frail Women * Women Who Play * Strange Experiment...

, Benita Hume

Benita Hume

Benita Hume was an English film actress. She appeared in 44 films between 1925 and 1955.She was married to actor Ronald Colman from 1938 to his death in 1958; they were the parents of a daughter, Juliet...

 and George Barraud

George Barraud

-Selected filmography:* The Wolf Man * Bellamy Trial * Woman to Woman * Peacock Alley * The Return of Raffles * Great Expectations * Charlie Chan in London * Mystery Woman...

. The film generally followed the play with ceirtain changes, largely due to censorship

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

issues such as the prostitute being replaced by an actress.