Girl with Green Eyes (1964)

Director:

Desmond Davis

Writers:

Edna O'Brien (novel)
Edna O'Brien (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 March 1965 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

In 1960s Dublin a young girl becomes involved with an older man, a much-travelled and still married land-owner.

Plot Keywords:

Irish | Writer | Sexual Initiation | First Love | London England

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Peter Finch	...	Eugene Gaillard
Rita Tushingham	...	Kate Brady
Lynn Redgrave	...	Baba Brennan
Marie Kean	...	Josie Hannigan (as Maire Kean)
Arthur O'Sullivan	...	James Brady
Julian Glover	...	Malachi Sullivan
T.P. McKenna	...	The Priest
Liselotte Goettinger	...	Joanna
Pat Laffan	...	Bertie Counham (as Patrick Laffan)
Eileen Crowe	...	Mrs. Byrne
May Craig	...	Aunt
Joe Lynch	...	Andy Devlin
Yolande Turner	...	Mary Maguire (as Yolande Finch)
Harry Brogan	...	Jack Holland
Joseph O'Donnell	...	Patrick Devlin

Also Known As:

Once Upon a Summer (UK) (working title)
Take Love Easy (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Quotes:

Malachi Sullivan: Ah, the milk of human blindness.

May-December romance

Desmond Davis, who had worked closely with Tony Richardson, decided to try his hand directing films. For his first effort he decided to use Edna O'Brien's novella "The Lonely Girl", which we read a long while ago, and frankly, we don't remember it well. The result was a movie that has that "English Look" of what came out of England during those years.

"Girl with Green Eyes" owes its success to Rita Tushingham, an actress that was the darling of English movie makers. She had a certain waif look that she used to her advantage in films such as this one, and in others of the same period. She holds the movie together as it's hard to take one's eyes from hers. Ms. Tushingham was not a spectacular beauty, yet she had a certain look that was appealing in her work.

Peter Finch appears as Eugene Gaillard, a man who is divorced with a child, and whose estranged wife has moved overseas. His attraction for Kate Brennan is quite understandable, yet, Eugene can't get Kate to be more than a platonic admirer, never being able to consume the passion she feels for him, and vice versa.

Also in the movie, a young and fresh Lynn Redgrave, who went to make bigger and better things on her own in the British cinema and on the stage and films in America, her adoptive country.

"Girl with Green Eyes" is worth a look for what Desmond Davis was able to accomplish in his first feature. The copy we watched recently was sadly in need of restoration.