***image1*** DVD picks for the Irish in you.
THE QUIET MAN
"Sir-here's a good stick to beat the lovely lady!" cackles an ancient fishwoman, thrusting said object at John Wayne as he strides through County Mayo in hot pursuit of a secretly delighted Maureen O'Hara. Director John Ford (or Sean Aloysius O'Fearna, as was) filmed
The Quiet Man
in 1951 and there's not a PC bone in its body. Instead it's a Technicolor, over-the-top paean to the old country, packed so tightly with stereotypes there's hardly room to lift your pint.
I SEE A DARK STRANGER
It's easy to forget that, due to fierce anti-British sentiment, Irish nationalists actively supported Germany during World Wars I and II (though tens of thousands of Ireland's finest served on the Allied side as both conscriptees and volunteers). Anyone but the sassenach, to some folks' way of thinking-including that of Deborah Kerr in this 1946 thriller, originally titled
The Adventuress
and filmed on the Isle of Man. Another high-spirited young redhead, Bridie Quilty so loathes the Brits that when the IRA won't take her, she becomes…a Nazi. Bridie tends bar in an English pub and does a bit of espionage on the side until handsome counter-intelligence officer David Baynes (Trevor Howard, naturally) begins to confuse matters. Unexpectedly funny and suspenseful,
Stranger
brought the fiery Scottish Kerr to Hollywood's attention, and deservedly so.
GOING MY WAY
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral…writer-director Leo McCarey's 1944 comedy stars Bing Crosby as blarney-kissed, rock 'n' roll, so-hip-it-hurts Father O'Malley. The young priest is sent to the New York parish church of St. Dominic's, long ago built by aging Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald again); but as Fitzgibbon's now half a pint short, Father O'Malley must manage, silver-tongued devil that he is, to take over without hurting Fitzgibbon's feelings. Be prepared for an ending that will jerk every tear you have and leave you dehydrated for the next week-better stock up on those imported cans of Murphy's Irish Stout, the ones with the foaming widget in 'em.
