My Boy Jack (2007)

Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.

Director:

Brian Kirk

Writer:

David Haig (play)

Stars:

David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Kim Cattrall

4 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Haig	...	Rudyard Kipling
Daniel Radcliffe	...	John Kipling
Kim Cattrall	...	Caroline Kipling
Carey Mulligan	...	Elsie Kipling
Julian Wadham	...	King George V
Martin McCann	...	Bowe
Richard Dormer	...	Corporal John O'Leary
Rúaidhrí Conroy	...	McHugh (as Ruaidhri Conroy)
Laurence Kinlan	...	Doyle
Ciaran Nolan	...	Daly
Nick Dunning	...	Colonel Ferguson
Michael McElhatton	...	Leo Amery MP
Peter Gowen	...	H.A Gwynne
Brian de Salvo	...	Field Marshal 'Bobs' Roberts
Simon Coury	...	Naval Doctor

Storyline

English gentleman author Rudyard Kipling, famous for the Jungle Book, uses his considerable influence, being on a War Office propaganda think tank, to get his nearly 18 year-old son John 'Jack', admitted for military service during World war I after he is repeatedly refused on account of his bad eyesight. He is enrolled in the Irish Guards: their patriotic dream but mother and sister's nightmare. After a short officer training course Jack gets command of a platoon and embarks in France. Soon, and just after his 18th birthday, his unit suffers terrible losses and Jack is reported missing. Now mother Caroline 'Carry' Kipling proves unstoppable pushing Rudyard's influence and half of England to help find out the truth. When it finally comes, there is far less glory than gore and guilt.

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Plot Keywords:

king george v character | visual impairment | rudyard kipling | war office | search | 

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Taglines:

A young man fights for his country.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

ITV [UK] PBS [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Boy Jack

Filming Locations:

Cleremont House, Rathnew, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ecosse Films, Granada International, Ingenious Broadcasting

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Haig's original play had a successful run at the Hampstead Theatre, London. It opened on October 13, 1997, with Haig as Kipling and Belinda Lang as Carrie. The pair revived the production in 2004 for a nationwide tour.

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Goofs

Speaking in front of a famous recruiting poster of Lord Kitchener, Rudyard Kipling announces the outbreak of war (beginning of August, 1914). The poster of Kitchener was first published in September 1914 in the journal 'London Opinion'.

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Quotes

Rudyard Kipling: [after being informed of Jack's death] By all accounts he was very brave, so few of us have the opportunity to play our part properly. But he did. He achieved what he set out to achieve.
Caroline Kipling: He must have been in such awful pain.
Rudyard Kipling: If you talked to wounded soldiers they would tell you the pain only sets in later. So, he was lucky. I was done with quickly.
Caroline Kipling: Don't tell me he was lucky! He wasn't lucky, or... or Brave, or happy! Jack was eighteen years and 1 day old! He died in the rain, he couldn't see a ...

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Connections

Featured in The Story of the Costume Drama: A Call to Arms (2008)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday to You
by Patty S. Hill (as Patti Hill Smith) & Mildred J. Hill (as Mildred Hill)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd

User Reviews

A Story. Just So.

As a Kipling fan from the age of 8, 50 years and more ago now, I was knocked out by "My Boy Jack." David Haig, as writer and actor, is beyond brilliance, and though I found Daniel Radcliffe a bit stiff and modern, he too was excellent.

Kim Cattrall: surprisingly good. But I was totally distracted by her American pretending to be English pretending to be American bizarre accent. Let her use her natural speech (and yes, I know she was born and spent time in England) or else hire a good dialogue coach.

Though the whole production was gorgeous (Bateman's!) and moving in its interrelationships, the bookending of the scenes with friends King George V and Rud just tore my heart out. The King having just lost a "boy Jack" of his own (young Prince John, an epileptic, subject of another fantastic Masterpiece series, "The Lost Prince", some years ago), Rudyard recites the poem he wrote for his Jack. I sobbed through the whole recital, and was still weeping when I went to sleep a few hours later. Staggeringly wondrous. And cathartic in the sense in which all tragedies should be. Fine, fine work by all concerned.