I saw this movie many years ago shortly after reading all of Sean O'Casey's memoirs (Mirrors in my Hallway) and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie. Rod Taylor was perhaps too robust and handsome to play the part of the thin and bespectacled Irish writer but he did a capable job. My favorite part of the movie was when the three Cassidy brothers got into a pub brawl with a team of hurly players. I remember thinking that in the books Sean had no real liking for his brothers.
The depiction of the hard-pressed folks of Dublin is very realistic and grim. After years of English oppression the Irish nation was ready to boil over into one final uprising to free their land from John Bull's tyranny.
Oddly enough, Sean O'Casey spent much of his life as an exile in England. His writings like "Shadow of a Gunman" and "Juno and the Peacock" were produced in the Twenties and he never recaptured the magic once he left his native land.
I'd recommend the movie for St. Patrick's Day viewing because of its' Irish nationalistic theme.
The depiction of the hard-pressed folks of Dublin is very realistic and grim. After years of English oppression the Irish nation was ready to boil over into one final uprising to free their land from John Bull's tyranny.
Oddly enough, Sean O'Casey spent much of his life as an exile in England. His writings like "Shadow of a Gunman" and "Juno and the Peacock" were produced in the Twenties and he never recaptured the magic once he left his native land.
I'd recommend the movie for St. Patrick's Day viewing because of its' Irish nationalistic theme.