Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone, from where it starts early, Japan. I decided to watch an Irish movie last night and chose 1937's The Plough and the Stars. Really it's an American film though it has an almost entirely Irish cast and was directed by first generation Irish American John Ford. Based on an Irish play of the same name about the Easter Rising of 1916, Ford was unhappy with the finished product due to changes made by RKO to it. It has its good qualities, particularly from the supporting cast, but it's far from the best of Ford's career.
The studio mandated the inclusion of Hollywood stars in the leads. Preston Foster and Barbara Stanwyck play Jack and Nora Clitheroe. Jack's in the IRA and has just been promoted to a command position despite Nora's desire that he stay out of the fighting.
I love Barbara Stanwyck but this was not her finest hour by any stretch of the imagination. She spends the whole film on the same whiny note, begging her husband not to fight the British and complaining to everyone else that her husband's fighting the British.
Some of the supporting cast would go on to be Ford regulars, most notably Barry Fitzgerald whose amusing antics in the pub are definitely the highlight of the film.
The Plough and the Stars is available on The Criterion Channel.
Twitter Sonnet #1532
A syrup jam results in flooded cakes.
And yet, we never thought to break the fast.
For eating right we read for extra steaks.
Supplies exhausted, skies provide repast.
A thinning face revealed a working brain.
As time conspires now for twitching nose.
The little phantoms load a gun with grain.
The scattered seeds produce a picture pose.
Her latest int'rest seeks her only feet.
A tiny smudge of paint could change the house.
We built the palace steps of moss and peat.
The place exceeds the plans of dreaming mouse.
The screen in shades of green displayed the hills.
With hours, dimes, and sweat, we paid the bills.
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