From the Vaults is our monthly screening from the IFI Irish Film Archive. 

Leslie Arliss’ acerbic precursor to The Quiet Man presents a similar home-coming scenario with a young man, Michael Kissane (Kieron Moore) returning to a small Irish village (with Carlingford as the fictional Kilwirra). His welcome, however, is far from warm and is overshadowed by a two-year stint in prison following wrongful conviction for theft of the parish funds. He is looking for vindication from the villagers who are distracted from their shunning by two wealthy American visitors, a hot tip on the Grand National and a doomsday prophecy. This dark comedy exposes the hypocrisy of life in small-town Ireland and is a welcome British antidote to the more cloying representations made elsewhere. (Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn.)

Like archive films? See also our regular free short films, Archive at Lunchtime, from the IFI Irish Film Archive.