Young Cassidy (1965)

Director:

Jack Cardiff

Writers:

Sean O'Casey (autobiography Mirror in My House)
John Whiting (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1965 (Argentina)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

He's a brawling, sprawling giant - on the make for fame and fortune and then some!

Plot:

Biographical drama based on the early life of playwright Sean O'Casey, depicting his rise from the 1910...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards.

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	John Cassidy
Flora Robson	...	Mrs. Cassidy
Jack MacGowran	...	Archie
Siân Phillips	...	Ella
T.P. McKenna	...	Tom
Julie Ross	...	Sara
Robin Sumner	...	Michael
Philip O'Flynn	...	Mick Mullen (as Phillip O'Flynn)
Maggie Smith	...	Nora
Julie Christie	...	Daisy Battles
Pauline Delaney	...	Bessie Ballynoy (as Pauline Delany)
Edith Evans	...	Lady Gregory
Michael Redgrave	...	W.B. Yeats
Arthur O'Sullivan	...	Foreman
Joe Lynch	...	1st Hurler

Runtime:

Germany:105 min | USA:110 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Director John Ford fell ill during production and was replaced by Jack Cardiff.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Abbey Theatre: The First 100 Years (2004)

Good Biopic Of An Increasingly Neglected Writer

Sean O'Casey was born John Casey, so a film about his early life that calls him John Cassidy makes sense in a sort of way. The film is based on his autobiographies (there are 6 volumes I believe) which are apparently quite readable but not entirely trustworthy. As a committed socialist (even a communist) and protestant O'Casey was to find he had no place in the conservative, catholic Ireland of De Valera. This is the great central irony of the man's life (and of the history of Irish literature of the time), that one of the few great Irish writers to deal directly with the Troubles was eventually driven from the country - so much so that he spent the last 35 years of his life in England and never once went back home. The film "Young Cassidy" is a pretty decent attempt to capture the man and his oddities. Rod Taylor looks nothing like the man but gives an energetic, likable performance. Other performances are OK and it is always nice to see Michael Redgrave, here as Yeats (he looks as little like the real man as Taylor does). Started by John Ford this looks like one of his Irish pictures but thankfully never descends into the blarney that films such as "The Quiet Man" did (Jack Cardiff who directed most of the film deserves more credit than he is usually given for his role). Filmed in Dublin it has a very authentic look. The main problem is in toning down O'Casey and his politics, he was far more radical than he was portrayed here and also far more of an irritant (to whatever country he lived in). In summary a decent biopic, overlooked but worth watching by Ford fans or those interested in Ireland.