Juno and the Paycock (1930)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Sean O'Casey (play)
Alfred Hitchcock (adaptation)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

During the Irish revolution, a family earns a big inheritance. They start leading a rich life forgetting what the most important values are.

Plot Keywords:

Inheritance | Oath | Social Drama | Whiskey | Breakfast

Cast

Barry Fitzgerald	...	The Orator
Maire O'Neill	...	Mrs. Maisie Madigan (as Maire O'Neil)
Edward Chapman	...	Captain Boyle
Sidney Morgan	...	'Joxer' Daly
Sara Allgood	...	Mrs. Boyle ('Juno')
John Laurie	...	Johnny Boyle
Dave Morris	...	Jerry Devine
Kathleen O'Regan	...	Mary Boyle
John Longden	...	Charles Bentham
Dennis Wyndham	...	The Mobiliser (as Denis Wyndham)
Fred Schwartz	...	Mr. Kelly (as Fred Schwarz)

Also Known As:

The Shame of Mary Boyle (USA)

Runtime:

85 min | UK:96 min (DVD version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

UK:A (1929) | UK:PG (2004) | Finland:S (1995) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

British International Pictures (BIP)

Trivia:

Debut of Barry Fitzgerald.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Orator: Fellow countrymen, continuously and courageously we have fought and struggled for the national salvation of Ireland!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009) (TV)

Don't fall for the video box (like poor gridoon)!

Yes, it's "talky." Possibly because it's a film version of Sean O'Casey's seminal stage play about poverty, class, betrayal and death in the slums of Dublin during the Irish Civil War." Dull?" This film is taut enough that a common votive light becomes as frightening as the appearance of a ghost. And a doomed young man's descent into paranoia and babbling fear fairly bursts on the screen.

The discerning viewer will not only be rewarded with a moving story; the Hitchcock touches are there as well. A young director already finding his voice while handling serious material. The dark humor (The Trouble with Harry), the suspense that builds in silence (Lifeboat), and the immediate presence of the camera in the midst of life (Rope). All there.

Studios often resort to misleading packaging in attempts to lure the unsuspecting into renting/seeing/buying a movie that would otherwise not attract them. Those who only like their Hitchcock with a boy in mama's dress or a bird on a wire WILL hate this gem. Their loss.