This three-act drama won its author Owen Davis a Pulitzer Prize and elevated his reputation. Prior to Icebound, Davis generally wrote wafer-thin comedies and potboiler melodramas, but this character-driven drama of a Maine clan greedily awaiting the death of the family matriarch, Mother Jordan, was a radical departure for him. Mother Jordan is cared for by a distant cousin, Jane Crosby, with assistance from Hannah, a loyal farmhand. When Mother Jordan dies, the family is shocked to learn that she has left her estate to Jane. Ben, one of Mother Jordan's profligate sons, is transformed by Jane's positive influence and, with the aid of the ever-loyal Hannah, Ben and Jane wed. Critics applauded Davis's skill at imbuing Icebound with a richly textured atmosphere and depth of character.
Produced by Sam H. Harris, Icebound opened on 10 February 1923 at Harris's Theatre for 145 performances with a cast including Phyllis Povah and Edna May Oliver, who repeated her role in a 1924 motion picture version starring Richard Dix. Despite its critical and commercial success, Davis returned to the formulaic comedies and melodramas that make up much of his dramatic achievement.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.