Joe Lynch Movies

Irish youths Vinnie (Stephen Brennan) and Arthur (Eamon Morrissey) fight their ongoing boredom by running a video print of Elvis Presley's Roustabout. If you've seen that film, you'll remember that at one point, Elvis participates in "The Wall of Death," a dangerous cylindrical motorcycle stunt. Suddenly inspired, Vinnie and Arthur set about constructing their own Wall of Death. Supplies are costly, but the boys are benumbed to reality by their dreams of fame and fortune. Entering the picture (and foredooming the project) is con artist Boots (Niall Toibin), who claims to be an American showman bent upon giving Vinnie and Arthur a spectacular TV showcase. Like the later The Commitments, Eat the Peach deftly blends traditional sour-faced Irish pragmatism with pie-in-the-sky idealism. This time, however, there's no blarney: Eat the Peach is based on a true story! Privately financed in England and Ireland, the film earned good American bookings thanks to the sponsorship of filmmaker Jonathan Demme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Huston directed this cold war spy thriller (from a script by Walter Hill) concerning a British agent trying infiltrate the organization of a nefarious communist spy. Paul Newman is Joseph Reardon, a British secret agent commissioned by Mackintosh (Harry Andrews) to impersonate a jewel thief. When the police are tipped off about his diamond robbery, Reardon is arrested and shipped off to a high-security prison. At the prison, he meets a convicted Russian spy and the two are involved in a prison break, arranged by a mysterious group called the Scarperers. After the successful breakout, Reardon finds himself drugged and sent to Ireland. It turns out that the escapade was organized by Mackintosh in the hopes Reardon could infiltrate the Scarperers and gather information on the group's leader, Sir George Wheeler (James Mason), and prove him to be a Russian spy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Joe Orton's black comedy farce has been adapted to the screen in a fast-paced, but ultimately ineffective, adaptation. Hywed Bennett and Roy Holder are two lay-abouts named Dennis and Hal who decide to improve their lot in life by robbing a bank. After pulling the job, they have to hide the loot -- and where else but in the casket of Holder's recently deceased mother? Unfortunately, although the boys hide the money, they can't hide the casket, so they opt for stashing it in the bathroom of the hotel run by Holder's father (Milo O'Shea). All is well until wacky Inspector Truscott (Richard Attenborough) arrives to investigate. Snapping at his heels is Fay (Lee Remick) -- a sexy nurse looking for the loot. Soon, the father's hotel becomes a cacophony of stomping feet and slamming doors, with the loot and the corpse in a farcical shell-game, one step ahead of discovery by the inept Truscott. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Young Cassidy is based upon the autobiographical writings of firebrand Irish author Sean O'Casey. Rod Taylor is Cassidy, a boisterous boy who digs ditches to support his mother (Flora Robson) and sister (Sian Phillips). In his spare time, Cassidy is active with the Irish revolutionary movement against the occupying British. He still finds time enough for romance, notably with trashy chorine Julie Christie (in her first major role) and timid librarian Maggie Smith. Cassidy's latent writing talents are encouraged by such Irish literary giants as W.B. Yeats (Michael Redgrave) and Lady Gregory (Edith Evans), and in typically expeditious Hollywood fashion Our Hero almost instantly becomes a Man of Letters. John Ford began the direction of Young Cassidy, but fell ill and had to relinquish his responsibilities to Jack Cardiff; even the most diehard auteurist will have trouble discerning the personal "signature" of either director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adrian Messenger (John Merivale) asks his friend, British colonel Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), to check on the whereabouts of the eleven men named on a written list. Not long afterward, the plane on which Messenger is travelling is deliberately blown up. The mystery killer slipped the bomb on the plane while disguised as a priest, and we soon learn that the killer adopts a different guise for each of his subsequent murders. As Gethryn tracks down the men on Messenger's list, he discovers that all had been POWs in the same Burmese stockade during World War II, and he deduces that the murderer, who is methodically decimating those on the list, had been a traitor and informer. Gethryn traces the killer to the British estate of The Marquis of Gleneyre (Clive Brook), where his visit coincides with the return of "prodigal" American relative George Brougham (Kirk Douglas). Gethryn is convinced that Brougham is the killer, and that he plans to murder the only heir who stands in the way of the family fortune, but he has no tangible proof. Filmed primarily in Ireland, The List of Adrian Messenger received good theatrical bookings by virtue of its gimmick: several of the bit characters are played by famous stars in heavy makeup, and each of these stars -- Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Curtis -- "unmasks" in the epilogue. In truth, only Douglas and Mitchum did any real acting under their mounds of collodion and crepe hair; the others showed up only to shoot their unmasking scenes (at a salary of $75,000 each!) and were "doubled" in the film itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Father Carey (Nigel Patrick) is a priest who must decide whether or not an amnesia victim (Aldo Ray) is responsible for the murder of the alcoholic Irish writer Mulcahy (William Bendix) in this routine thriller. The question posed to Carey is whether or not the murderer acted on the word of God when the writer asked the Almighty to strike him dead. Father Carey comes to believe the killing was masterminded by Johnny's sweetheart Miss Floyd (Yvonne Mitchell). The small Irish village is put under public microscope with the murder and the sensational trial. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This uneven, wartime drama delves into the complexities of the political situation in Northern Ireland, compounded in World War II when the IRA collaborated with the Nazis against England, their long-time foe. Robert Mitchum stars as the heroic Dermot O'Neill, willing to join the IRA yet unhappy with their ties to fascist Germany. His interaction with the local IRA unit is intense and occurs at the same time as his love affair with Neeve Donnelly (Anne Heywood). His buddy Sean Reilly (Richard Harris) is also around to lend moral support when a situation calls for it. Between Dermot and his relationships and family clan, and the political intrigues, things can get a little crowded at times. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide