Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Irish Film Music

Irish Movie Music The Quiet Man and More

Bad luck for Victor McLaglen. Still three days away, but John Wayne will pound his face so hard that he’ll still be spitting teeth on St. Patrick’s Day.

McLaglen gets his lathering in the epic climax of John Ford’s “The Quiet Man.” Victor Young’s score will be one of the highlights this week, on “Picture Perfect,” which will be devoted to films with Irish settings and Irish themes.

“The Luck of the Irish” (1948) stars Tyrone Power as an American journalist who travels to Ireland, where he gets in touch with his roots – and a full-size leprechaun, played by Cecil Kellaway.

No “Darby O’Gill”-style special effects here. Kellaway is just some guy in a leprechaun hat. When Power comments, “Say, aren’t you rather large for a leprechaun?,” Kellaway responds, “That’s a page of me family history I’d rather we not go into.” It was hoped that Barry Fitzgerald would have taken the role – and how perfect would that have been? – but he couldn’t be secured. In the event, Kellaway was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The music is by the English-born Cyril J. Mockridge, who was Alfred Newman’s assistant at 20th Century Fox. Mockridge is probably best known for his score to “Miracle on 34th Street.” “The Luck of the Irish” is full of Celtic-style folk melodies and some shimmering leprechaun music, but why it quotes “Greensleeves” is anybody’s guess. Probably at the request of a producer. (Green = Irish, right?)

John Williams wrote a gorgeous, melancholy score for “Angela’s Ashes” (1999), adapted from Frank McCourt’s bestselling memoir. It’s refreshing to hear Williams give free rein to his lyrical side, beyond the context of lightsabers, magic wands and rampaging dinosaurs. The recording we’ll hear is from the difficult-to-acquire international release. The version issued stateside was marred by dialogue from the film. (Why do they do that?)

You can’t have an hour of Irish film music without including something with The Chieftains. “Circle of Friends” (1995) is based on the novel by Maeve Binchy, about three childhood friends, who reunite in college, and their adventures with the young men they find there. The film stars Minnie Driver, Chris O’Donnell, Alan Cumming and Colin Firth. Michael Kamen wrote the score, but it’s The Chieftains, obviously, that lend it an air of authenticity.

Finally, Victor Young’s palette is all green in “The Quiet Man” (1952). John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, Ward Bond, and a Mulligan stew of American and Irish character actors flesh out what must be John Ford’s most delightful film. It earned him his fourth Academy Award for Best Director, and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture.

The alternately romantic and boisterous, folk-inflected score perfectly complements Ford’s tone of sustained whimsy, for what is essentially a love story unfolding in the face of cultural differences. Also the face of Victor McLaglen.

Shamrocks will shake amidst the blarney rubble, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

March 14, 2025
Irish Film Music St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day death wish: try to keep pace with Barry Fitzgerald.

As you turn over the rules for this year’s “The Quiet Man” Drinking Game, consider joining me for music from the John Ford classic about a “quiet, peace-loving man, come home to Ireland to forget his troubles.” Of course the film culminates in one of the great fist fights in cinema history.

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have an hour of music from movies with Irish settings and Irish themes.

“The Luck of the Irish” (1948) features Tyrone Power as an American journalist who travels to Ireland, where he gets in touch with his roots – and a full-size leprechaun, played by Cecil Kellaway.

No “Darby O’Gill”-style special effects here. Kellaway is just some guy in a leprechaun hat. When Power comments, “Say, aren’t you rather large for a leprechaun?,” Kellaway responds, “That’s a page of me family history I’d rather we not go into.” It was hoped that Barry Fitzgerald would have taken the role – and how perfect would that have been? – but he couldn’t be secured. In the event, Kellaway was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The music was by the English-born Cyril J. Mockridge, who was Alfred Newman’s assistant at 20th Century Fox. Mockridge is probably best known for his score to “Miracle on 34th Street.” “The Luck of the Irish” is full of Celtic-style folk melodies and some shimmering leprechaun music, but why it quotes “Greensleeves” is anybody’s guess. Probably at the request of a producer. (Green = Irish, right?)

John Williams wrote a gorgeous, melancholy score for “Angela’s Ashes” (1999), adapted from Frank McCourt’s bestselling memoir. It’s refreshing to hear Williams give free rein to his lyrical side, beyond the context of lightsabers, magic wands and rampaging dinosaurs. The recording we’ll hear is from the difficult-to-acquire international release. The version issued stateside was marred by dialogue from the film. (Why do they do that?)

You can’t have an hour of Irish film music without including something with The Chieftains. “Circle of Friends” (1995) is based on the novel by Maeve Binchy, about three childhood friends who reunite in college, and their adventures with the young men they find there. The film starred Minnie Driver, Chris O’Donnell, Alan Cumming and Colin Firth. Michael Kamen wrote the score, but it’s The Chieftains, obviously, that lend it an air of authenticity.

The balance of the show will be devoted to “The Quiet Man” (1952). John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, Ward Bond, and a whole slew of Irish character actors flesh out what must be John Ford’s most delightful film. It earned him his fourth Academy Award for Best Director, and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture.

Victor Young provided an alternately romantic and boisterous, folk-inflected score, perfectly complementing the tone of sustained whimsy, in what is essentially a love story unfolding in the face of cultural differences.

Irish eyes are smiling, even as Victor McLaglen spits teeth, this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

March 16, 2018
Irish Film Music Picture Perfect Podcast

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have an hour of music from movies with Irish settings and Irish themes.

Tyrone Power plays an American journalist who travels to Ireland, where he gets in touch with his roots – and a full-size leprechaun, played by Cecil Kellaway – in “The Luck of the Irish” (1948).

No “Darby O’Gill”-style special effects here. Kellaway is just some guy in a leprechaun hat. When Power comments, “Say, aren’t you rather large for a leprechaun?,” Kellaway responds, “That’s a page of me family history I’d rather we not go into.” It was hoped that Barry Fitzgerald would have taken the role – and how perfect would that have been? – but he couldn’t be secured. In the event, Kellaway was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The music was by the English-born Cyril J. Mockridge, who was Alfred Newman’s assistant at 20th Century Fox. Mockridge is probably best known for his score to “Miracle on 34th Street.” “The Luck of the Irish” is full of Celtic-style folk melodies and some shimmering leprechaun music, but why it quotes “Greensleeves” is anybody’s guess. Probably at the request of a producer. (Green = Irish, right?)

John Williams wrote a gorgeous, melancholy score for “Angela’s Ashes” (1999), adapted from Frank McCourt’s bestselling memoir. It’s refreshing to hear Williams give free rein to his lyrical side, beyond the context of lightsabers, magic wands and rampaging dinosaurs. The recording we’ll hear is from the difficult-to-acquire international release. The version issued stateside was marred by dialogue from the film. (Why do they do that?)

You can’t have an hour of Irish film music without including something with The Chieftains. “Circle of Friends” (1995) is based on the novel by Maeve Binchy, about three childhood friends who reunite in college, and their adventures with the young men they find there. The film starred Minnie Driver, Chris O’Donnell, Alan Cumming and Colin Firth. Michael Kamen wrote the score, but it’s The Chieftains, obviously, that lend it an air of authenticity.

Finally, we’ll have music from “The Quiet Man” (1952), surely Victor Young’s most charming project. Based on a short story by Maurice Walsh, “The Quiet Man” tells the tale of an American boxer with Irish roots who returns to the village of his birth.

John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, Ward Bond, and a whole slew of Irish character actors flesh out what must be John Ford’s most delightful film. It earned him his fourth Academy Award for Best Director, and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture.

The score is imbued with Irish folk song and popular melodies, perfectly complementing the tone of sustained whimsy, in what is essentially a love story unfolding in the face of cultural differences.

I hope you’ll join me in the wearin’ of the green, this Friday evening at 6 ET, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6 (as good a time as any for a pint of porter); or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

March 12, 2015

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