Girl with Green Eyes (1964)

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

Director:

Desmond Davis

Writers:

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

Stars:

Peter Finch, Rita Tushingham, Lynn Redgrave

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Lislott Goettinger)
Pat Laffan	...	Bertie Counham (as Patrick Laffan)
Eileen Crowe	...	Mrs. Byrne
May Craig	...	Aunt
Joe Lynch	...	Andy Devlin
Yolande Turner	...	Mary Maguire
Harry Brogan	...	Jack Holland
Michael C. Hennessy	...	Davey (as Michael Hennessy)

Storyline

An awkward young Irish farm girl Kate Brady moves to Dublin and shares a room with funny, outgoing Baba Brennan, where she soon meets Eugene Gaillard, a middle-aged writer, who is immediately attracted to the shy and innocent Kate, ignoring the more sophisticated Baba.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | writer | irish | ireland | older man younger woman relationship | 

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Taglines:

The film makers who brought you SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, A TASTE OF HONEY and TOM JONES now take pride in presenting...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

21 January 1965 (Italy)

Also Known As:

La muchacha de los ojos verdes

Filming Locations:

Four Provinces House, Harcourt Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

GBP140,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Woodfall Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Desmond Davis was a well-respected camera operator, particularly known for his associations with Walter Lassally and Douglas Slocombe, he was understandably very nervous when Woodfall Films, which had employed him in this capacity several times, agreed to promote him to director with this film. His nervousness was increased at the start of shooting when leading man Peter Finch, somewhat drunk, told him, "You know, mate, I could really fuck you up if I wanted to" - but, he later said, Finch was, in fact, the soul of professionalism and an excellent actor.

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Quotes

Malachi Sullivan: Ah, the milk of human blindness.

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Connections

Featured in Talkies: Remembering Dora Bryan/Our Dora (2019)

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Soundtracks

Golden Look
(uncredited)
Music by Anthony Mawer
De Wolfe Music Ltd

User Reviews

a fine, often well-acted May-December romance drama, no more no less

Girl with Green Eyes seems typical of the period of British "Kitchen-Sink" drama films (I saw it as the 2nd part of a double bill with The Leather Boys and the theme being Rita Tushingham performances, though this is dialed down a little from that turn), and that's what's good but not terribly memorable about it all. It's realistic in some of the basic character interactions, though it has a bouncier/more emotionally-cued up score than the material should have, if that makes sense. It seems like a minor point but Desmond Davis clearly wanted to get a lot of emotional/romantic/tragic pull out of the music by John Addison, and it may have been too much for this lot of realism (how typical this is by the way, it's produced by Tony Richardson).

The story is actually an Irish-Kitchen-Sink movie, though with a couple of British touches: a young girl in Dublin, who originally was from a fairly lower-class farm that was highly religious but working *very* Irish class all the same, is working at a bookstore and finds that there's an author that she would like to meet along with her friend/roommate Baba. Peter Finch is this man, and soon Kate, the girl of the title, takes a real liking to him, and after not too long he to her. So they "hook up", so to speak, and this brings on problems, both external in force (he's technically married with a kid in another country, she's got pressure from her family not to have anything to do with this "Godless heathen), and more about the fact that it's a man who could be old enough, if only barely, to be her father.

This is a story explored in many kind of films, whether it's throw-a-dart-and-hit a Philip Roth story, or of course Manhattan. There's enough chemistry and charm between the two leading people as Tishingham, even dialed down, is delightful, and Finch does a lot playing usually-crusty and mostly sardonic/sarcastic speaking (if there had been a remake some years back I could've seen Alan Rickman in his role), plus Lynn Redgrave being wonderful and funny in her supporting place. But there's not much here that elevates it past its time and place; it's a perfectly fine drama, and it doesn't distinguish itself past some insights, which are only insightful up to a point, that you may need to grow as a person (or can never meet the other on the flipside due to losing "youthful vigor" as an aging man) to have a relationship work sometimes.

There's a nice, tender feeling to the film, Finch and Tushingham make a good pair on screen (precisely because we kind of know, deep down, it's not only not going to work but it can't not ever work, if that makes sense, so let's see them in the little moments) and that should work for anyone looking for that. Although some things that contribute to the 'hasnt-aged-terribly-well' is, say, when the film is edited so early on in their courtship Eugene and Kate talk and one part of a sentence begins in a new location and then another and another, and it feels distracting.