Irish Film Institute -Blarney (aka Ireland’s Border Line)

Blarney (aka Ireland’s Border Line)

Directed by Harry O Donovan and produced by Jimmy O’Dea, Blarney is a satire written by O’Donovan about the peculiar effects of the partitioning of Ireland on those who live close to the Border. Prominent in the story is a frontier customs post where ‘almost everything is dutiable except a sense of humour’. The film, shot on location in the fishing villages of Carlingford and Greenore, Blarney features O’Dea in the role of Billy Brannigan, an out of work mechanic turned travelling salesman. Billy tries to make a living selling cough medicine from a suitcase in the border counties of Armagh and Louth. He runs into trouble when he takes a lift from a pair of jewel thieves and accidentally gets his suitcase mixed up with theirs. High jinks follow involving Billy’s pursuit by the jewel thieves, his love affair with an attractive barmaid; and cross border rivalry between a Garda and an RUC man for the affections of a beautiful woman.

Ireland, 1938
Black and white
65mins.

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