Perry Desmmond Movies
Irish actor Perry Desmond got his start as a member of the Abbey Theatre Company in Dublin. He then worked in London theater and television before making his big-screen debut in the early '60s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- NR
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Producer/director Joseph Strick continues his long cinematic love affair with the works of Irish author James Joyce in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Bosco Hogan plays Joyce's alter-ego Stephen Daedelus, an irrepressible boy at eternal odds with the strictures of his Catholic home and family. As in his earlier adaptation of Joyce's Ulysses, Strick manages to successfully convey the liquidity and ideology of Joyce's challenging literary style. Also like Ulysses, however, the director is stronger with monologues than with visuals. Joseph Strick's own son Terence plays the artist as an even younger man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bosco Hogan, John Gielgud, (more)
- 1971
One of the most notorious American judicial cases of the 20th century is paced and photographed like a spaghetti Western in the Italian Sacco and Vanzetti. There is no denying that Nicola Sacco (Riccardo Cucciolla) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Gian Maria Volontè) were anarchists. But it is highly doubtful that Sacco and Vanzetti were guilty of murder. However, their trial took place at the height of the 1920s "Red Scare," so there was little opportunity for the two men to receive fair treatment. Despite worldwide protests from politicians, intellectuals, and "average Joes," Sacco and Vanzetti were executed on August 23, 1927, after spending nearly seven years on death row. Like most TV and film accounts of this story, Sacco and Vanzetti is clearly sympathetic to the main characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
Paddy Maguire (Des Cave) is the wild Irish rogue who works as a butcher in Dublin. Harry (Milo O'Shea) is his good friend and drinking companion. He has an affair and his first sexual encounter with the attractive widow Mrs. Kearney (Maureen Toal). He eventually takes a job with an insurance company where he has another affair with his secretary Maureen (Dearbhla Molloy). He also has a romantic romp with Breeda (Judy Cornwell), who revels in having more than one man at once. Maureen becomes pregnant and tells Paddy she is marrying another man because he is irresponsible. He goes drinking with Harry, who has taken up with the American tourist Irenee (Peggy Cass). Several memorable performances are given in this comedy taken from the novel by Lee Dunne. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milo O'Shea, Des Cave, (more)
The McKenzie Break is an unusual POW escape drama in that the would-be escapees are German prisoners, held in a Scottish camp. When a Luftwaffe pilot is murdered in the compound, British major Ian Hendrey investigates. He suspects that the killing is tied in with a complex escape plan, engineered by German commander Helmut Griem. Before the inevitable break, the prisoners form into the sort of separate factions and pressure groups that fomented the Nazi upheaval in Germany in the first place. Based on a novel by Sidney Shelley, The McKenzie Break was actually filmed in Ireland rather than Scotland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith, Helmut Griem, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this British tragi-comedy taking place among emotionally bankrupt upper-class Scottish countrymen, Peter O'Toole plays Sir Charles Henry Arbuthnot Pinkerton Ferguson, a mentally disturbed Scotsman, living on his uncared-for farm, who also harbors an incestuous yearning for his sister Hilary (Susannah York), who is staying with Sir Charles after a fight with her husband Douglas (Michael Craig). However, while at a local sheep auction, Hilary encounters Douglas and she realizes she still loves him. Hilary and Douglas agree to meet that night at a country dance. But Sir Charles finds out about their intended rendezvous and at the dance that night, continually interrupts Hilary and Douglas's reunion. Sir Charles further hampers a reconciliation by allowing Hilary to think that Douglas is the father of a maid's illegitimate child. Hilary, in reaction, goes wild and becomes the complete party girl, propositioning the band leader but going off with Jock (Brian Blessed), the real father of the maid's child. When Sir Charles finds Hilary asleep in his car the next morning, and Hilary tells him of her antics of the night before, Sir Charles lapses into a deep depression as he realizes that his sister is lost to him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Susannah York, (more)
- 1969
- R
Nicol Williamson stars as a Liverpool/Irish layabout who inherits a business from his father. Even in his executive togs, Williamson remains out of step with society. Already a surly sort, Williamson becomes even less likeable as the film progresses, especially when seeking to avenge a long-ago slight against his father. The film is a belated but still compelling entry in Britain's "Angry Young Man" cinematic cycle, with the "protagonist" remaining on top at the expense of his soul. Reckoning was based on The Harp That Once, a novel by Patrick Hall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicol Williamson, Ann Bell, (more)
Based on the classic novel by James Joyce, this drama deals with the life of an impotent married Jewish man, his wife and a student/poet in Dublin. Focusing more upon the characters' thoughts and fantasies than upon their actions, it features some of Joyce's previously banned prose. This drama was filmed in Ireland with a largely Irish cast and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Jefford, Milo O'Shea, (more)
- 1962
An undercover policeman infiltrates a ring of jewel thieves in order to break up the organization all the while falling in love with the daughter of the ringleader. ~ All Movie Guide
