The Irish in Us (1935)

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Frank Orsatti (story)
Earl Baldwin (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 August 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

The family consists of Pat, the cop, Mike the fireman, Danny the boxing promoter and Ma. Pat wants Danny to get a real job...

Plot Keywords:

Gin | New York City | Self Sacrifice | Restaurant | Flat Tire

Cast

James Cagney	...	Danny O'Hara
Pat O'Brien	...	Pat O'Hara
Olivia de Havilland	...	Lucille Jackson
Frank McHugh	...	Mike O'Hara
Allen Jenkins	...	Carbarn Hammerschlog
Mary Gordon	...	Ma O'Hara
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Captain Jackson
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Doc Mullins (as Thomas Jackson)
Harvey Parry	...	Joe Delancy (as Harvey Perry)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1049) | USA:TV-G

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Soundtrack:

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Mrs. O'Hara And Her Three Sons

The Irish in Us has Mary Gordon as a buxom Irish-American mother with three proud sons. Pat O'Brien a cop, Frank McHugh a fireman, and James Cagney a man with big ideas. The O'Hara family is built along the lines of the Beebe family in three years later in Paramount's Sing You Sinners that had Elizabeth Patterson as Mrs. Beebe with her three sons, Fred MacMurray, Donald O'Connor, and Bing Crosby. The only difference between the O'Haras and the Beebes is that the O'Haras aren't musical.

But they are a charming bunch even though Olivia DeHavilland comes between Cagney and O'Brien. As in the Crosby and Hope films, guess who she winds up with in the end?

Cagney's latest idea is to be a boxing promoter and he's got this punch drunk fighter played very endearingly by Allen Jenkins on whom he pins his hopes. Cagney's done a little boxing in the past himself, a fact that stands him in good stead at the climax.

This is the only time in the Cagney/O'Brien series of films that the two of them ever were blood relations and they even get Frank McHugh in there as well. Olivia DeHavilland has very little to do in this film, but sit around and look pretty. She does that very well, but it was films like this for her that made her fight for better parts that she knew she was capable of. This film while entertaining is strictly a testosterone affair.

The Irish In Us if it ever comes out on VHS and/or DVD should be seen back to back with Sing You Sinners if that ever comes out on VHS or DVD. You can't go wrong with either.