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Director
George Pollock
Credits
Producer: Alex Snowden. Writers: Patrick Kirwan, Blanaid Irvine
Principal Cast
Barry Fitzgerald, June Thorbum, Eddie Golden, Godfrey Quigley, Denis Brennan, Geoffrey Golden, Tony Wright
Category
FeatureClassic
Absurdities mount up in this freewheeling 1950s comedy about impulsive TV producer Tony (Tony Wright) and his efforts to produce a show about Patrick Farrell (Barry Fitzgerald), a man who claims to be the oldest person in the world Much of the town is delighted by the prospect of a television crew, and the money fame might bring, coming to town, but complications ensue as nefarious local businessman Desmond Philips (Godfrey Quigley) threatens the venture. Adapted from Hugh Leonard’s play The Big Birthday, Broth of a Boy is delightfully farcical, with a plot that bounces from public meetings to courthouses. This was one of a series of productions from the recently established National Film Studios and serves as an entertaining vehicle for a fine cast of Abbey Theatre regulars – notably Marie Keane, Philip O’Flynn, Godfrey Quigley and Harry Brogan. Significantly it was also veteran actor Barry Fitzgerald’s, star of films such as The Quiet Man and How Green Was My Valley, last film, and is a fitting capstone to a standout career.
77 minutes, Ireland, 1959, B&W
ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: MCGAHERN: SHORT STORIES (DOUBLE BILL) 13.20
BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY 11:00, 20:10
IFI & GAZE: UNMASCED: BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES: 25 YEARS LATER 20.30
IFI & GAZE: UNMASCED: BUTCHES AND BOYS 18.15
IFI & GAZE: UNMASCED: OUTITUDE 13.30
IFI & GAZE: UNMASCED: SCANNÁIN SAPPHIC (IRISH LESBIAN SHORTS) 15.30
KIDNAPPED 14:30
LOVE LIES BLEEDING 16:10, 20:50
PERFECT DAYS 17:20
THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN 11.30, 13.50, 18.30
THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE 11.20
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