Jodie Foster could hardly hold back her feelings when announcing the Best Actor winner at the 1990 Oscars ceremony. Watch above as she swoons in saying the name of Daniel Day-Lewis for “My Left Foot,” his first ever victory at the Academy Awards.
In the 1980s, Day-Lewis was a young actor known mostly for British stage work and television, but he was building a reputation as an immersive method actor. He had received good notices for his performances in “A Room with a View,” as the wealthy suitor of Helena Bonham Carter, and as a romantic Czech doctor in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”
SEEDaniel Day-Lewis movies: Top 12 greatest films ranked from worst to best
In 1988 he was offered a screenplay based on the memoirs of Christy Brown, an Irish poet and painter born with cerebral palsy. When he read the opening scene where Christy puts on a record using only his left foot,...
In the 1980s, Day-Lewis was a young actor known mostly for British stage work and television, but he was building a reputation as an immersive method actor. He had received good notices for his performances in “A Room with a View,” as the wealthy suitor of Helena Bonham Carter, and as a romantic Czech doctor in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”
SEEDaniel Day-Lewis movies: Top 12 greatest films ranked from worst to best
In 1988 he was offered a screenplay based on the memoirs of Christy Brown, an Irish poet and painter born with cerebral palsy. When he read the opening scene where Christy puts on a record using only his left foot,...
- 2/10/2018
- by Jack Fields
- Gold Derby
Writer, publisher and TV producer who made drama for children and adults
Ruth Boswell, who has died aged 86, “got into telly” after a job reading unsolicited scripts for Atv during the early 1960s. She went on to script editing and producing in Atv’s children’s department, where she made the series Timeslip (1970) and The Tomorrow People (1973). Her instinct for storytelling, combined with her own knowledge of loss in childhood, gave her insight into children’s emotional development through the arts.
She later moved into adult drama at the BBC, where she and her husband, Greg Stewart, a psychiatrist, helped to develop Maybury (1981-83), a series about people with mental health problems, written by Shane Connaughton and featuring a young Kenneth Branagh. Then she moved on to Anglia TV to make the series The Chief (1990-95) with Tim Pigott-Smith and Martin Shaw. She also produced a feature film, The Run of the Country...
Ruth Boswell, who has died aged 86, “got into telly” after a job reading unsolicited scripts for Atv during the early 1960s. She went on to script editing and producing in Atv’s children’s department, where she made the series Timeslip (1970) and The Tomorrow People (1973). Her instinct for storytelling, combined with her own knowledge of loss in childhood, gave her insight into children’s emotional development through the arts.
She later moved into adult drama at the BBC, where she and her husband, Greg Stewart, a psychiatrist, helped to develop Maybury (1981-83), a series about people with mental health problems, written by Shane Connaughton and featuring a young Kenneth Branagh. Then she moved on to Anglia TV to make the series The Chief (1990-95) with Tim Pigott-Smith and Martin Shaw. She also produced a feature film, The Run of the Country...
- 11/4/2015
- by Jan Woolf
- The Guardian - Film News
The former head of eOne’s global film operation Patrice Théroux and Leif Bristow of Leif Films have hired My Left Foot screenwriter Shane Connaughton to write The Family Shakespeare.
The six-part mini series will focus on the struggle William Shakespeare faced as he tried to balance family life with his budding career in London as an actor and playwright.
Leif and Théroux (pictured) are looking for potential co-production partners and not surprisingly given the subject matter are understood to be targeting the UK.
Agnes Bristow, who formed Leif Films with her husband in 1998, and John Rhys-Davies are also on board as executive producers.
“It is rare when a writer can so elegantly reach into the depth of human emotion and experience,” said co-executive producers Théroux and Bristow.
“Shane Connaughton has demonstrated this unique capacity with his writing. We are thrilled to work with him as we embark on this exciting Shakespeare mini-series, as we strive...
The six-part mini series will focus on the struggle William Shakespeare faced as he tried to balance family life with his budding career in London as an actor and playwright.
Leif and Théroux (pictured) are looking for potential co-production partners and not surprisingly given the subject matter are understood to be targeting the UK.
Agnes Bristow, who formed Leif Films with her husband in 1998, and John Rhys-Davies are also on board as executive producers.
“It is rare when a writer can so elegantly reach into the depth of human emotion and experience,” said co-executive producers Théroux and Bristow.
“Shane Connaughton has demonstrated this unique capacity with his writing. We are thrilled to work with him as we embark on this exciting Shakespeare mini-series, as we strive...
- 7/17/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The Family Shakespeare is the second project lined up by former eOne exec Patrice Théroux since leaving the company last fall. He and his executive producing partners now have set Oscar nominee Shane Connaughton (My Left Foot) to script the six-part miniseries that focuses on the Bard’s adult life and his constant struggle between family life in Stratford and a flourishing professional career in London. Théroux is exec producing with Leif and Agnes Bristow (The…...
- 7/15/2015
- Deadline TV
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Shane Connaughton has come a long way since stumbling across filmmaking deals in a London pub by chance. His script for Jim Sheridan's 'My Left Foot' earned him an Academy Award and BAFTA nomination, while 'The Dollar Bottom', which he co-wrote with James Kennaway, scooped the Academy Award for Best Short Film. An actor as well as a writer, his acting skills earned him roles in long-running Utv soap 'Coronation Street'; Neil Jordan's 'The Miracle', as well as a number of successful theatre productions.
- 7/31/2012
- IFTN
Accomplished screenwriter and actor Shane Connaughton is to be the subject of an exclusive 'In Conversation With' event in Dublin next month which has been organised by the Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta). Connaughton, whose screenwriting credits include 'My Left Foot', 'The Playboys' and 'Tara Road', will discuss his screenwriting and acting career at the event for Ifta Members in The New Theatre on East Essex Street in Dublin's Temple Bar.
- 7/18/2012
- IFTN
NEW YORK -- The beautiful splendor of Ireland contrasts well with the emotional tension rampant in Gillies Mackinnon's ''The Playboys.'' Co-written by Shane Connaughton (who wrote ''My Left Foot'') and Kerry Crabbe, this absorbing film boasts several outstanding performances as well as a richness in both story and character that is much too rare these days.
Though perhaps not as spiritually uplifting as was ''My Left Foot, '' ''The Playboys'' is at least as powerful in terms of drama and subtext. The presence of Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn and Robin Wright is sure to increase attendance, but it will predominantly be the art-house crowd that rushes to see this moving and gripping film.
The three leads are perfectly cast, but it is Finney's intense performance (and beautifully developed character) that stands out. Another Oscar nomination for this brilliant actor lurks in the wings.
Finney plays Sgt. Hegarty, a seemingly humorless, ominous policeman in a small Irish town. At the heart of his misery and every waking thought is the beautiful and willful Tara (Robin Wright). Tara has recently given birth to a Baby Boy and refuses to tell who the father is. She is labeled a tramp by the judgmental townsfolk, as if she gave a damn.
She, of course, wants nothing to do with Hegarty, in spite of his pathetic professions of love. In fact, it seems that Tara wants nothing further to do with men in general. They have brought her nothing but pain and hardship. When another local man, also smitten with Tara, kills himself, she is even blamed for that.
Everything changes, however, when a traveling troupe of actors comes to perform for the town. Handsome Tom (Aidan Quinn) is a roguish rascal who is almost as willful as Tara. After several awkward encounters, they fall in love, which ultimately leads to some tragic consequences involving Hegarty, the two lovers and the baby.
The heaviness of the situation is blissfully broken up by the entertaining troupe, known as ''The Playboys.'' Milo O'Shea is a pure delight as the beleaguered troupe master. His memorable turn as the maid in their rendition of ''Gone With the Wind'' and his ridiculously costumed ''Othello'' provide the much-needed laughter in this much-too-serious town.
Beautifully, and essentially, shot in Ireland, ''The Playboys'' has an almost mystical aura about it. As directed by Mackinnon, the film takes on a dream-like quality that actually enhances the reality at hand. As if caught in a dream, all we can do is watch helplessly as things start to unravel.
The embodiment of this film is found within Finney's brooding, haunting character. He is dark and weighted, but in his own way he is filled with tempestuous compassion. ''The Playboys'' is equally compassionate and memorable. Unlike a dream, its imagery becomes even clearer and more affecting as time goes on.
THE PLAYBOYS
The Samuel Goldwyn Co.
Director Gillies Mackinnon
Writers Shane Connaughton, Kerry Crabbe
Director of photography Jack Conroy
Editor Humphrey Dixon
Music Jean-Claude Petit
Producers William P. Cartlidge, Simon Perry
Color
Cast:
Hegarty Albert Finney
Tom Aidan Quinn
Tara Robin Wright
Freddie Milo O'Shea
Father Malone Alan Devlin
Brigid Niamh Cusack
Cassidy Ian McElhinney
Running time -- 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Though perhaps not as spiritually uplifting as was ''My Left Foot, '' ''The Playboys'' is at least as powerful in terms of drama and subtext. The presence of Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn and Robin Wright is sure to increase attendance, but it will predominantly be the art-house crowd that rushes to see this moving and gripping film.
The three leads are perfectly cast, but it is Finney's intense performance (and beautifully developed character) that stands out. Another Oscar nomination for this brilliant actor lurks in the wings.
Finney plays Sgt. Hegarty, a seemingly humorless, ominous policeman in a small Irish town. At the heart of his misery and every waking thought is the beautiful and willful Tara (Robin Wright). Tara has recently given birth to a Baby Boy and refuses to tell who the father is. She is labeled a tramp by the judgmental townsfolk, as if she gave a damn.
She, of course, wants nothing to do with Hegarty, in spite of his pathetic professions of love. In fact, it seems that Tara wants nothing further to do with men in general. They have brought her nothing but pain and hardship. When another local man, also smitten with Tara, kills himself, she is even blamed for that.
Everything changes, however, when a traveling troupe of actors comes to perform for the town. Handsome Tom (Aidan Quinn) is a roguish rascal who is almost as willful as Tara. After several awkward encounters, they fall in love, which ultimately leads to some tragic consequences involving Hegarty, the two lovers and the baby.
The heaviness of the situation is blissfully broken up by the entertaining troupe, known as ''The Playboys.'' Milo O'Shea is a pure delight as the beleaguered troupe master. His memorable turn as the maid in their rendition of ''Gone With the Wind'' and his ridiculously costumed ''Othello'' provide the much-needed laughter in this much-too-serious town.
Beautifully, and essentially, shot in Ireland, ''The Playboys'' has an almost mystical aura about it. As directed by Mackinnon, the film takes on a dream-like quality that actually enhances the reality at hand. As if caught in a dream, all we can do is watch helplessly as things start to unravel.
The embodiment of this film is found within Finney's brooding, haunting character. He is dark and weighted, but in his own way he is filled with tempestuous compassion. ''The Playboys'' is equally compassionate and memorable. Unlike a dream, its imagery becomes even clearer and more affecting as time goes on.
THE PLAYBOYS
The Samuel Goldwyn Co.
Director Gillies Mackinnon
Writers Shane Connaughton, Kerry Crabbe
Director of photography Jack Conroy
Editor Humphrey Dixon
Music Jean-Claude Petit
Producers William P. Cartlidge, Simon Perry
Color
Cast:
Hegarty Albert Finney
Tom Aidan Quinn
Tara Robin Wright
Freddie Milo O'Shea
Father Malone Alan Devlin
Brigid Niamh Cusack
Cassidy Ian McElhinney
Running time -- 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 4/21/1992
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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