robert-temple-1 You would never imagine that Alfred Hitchcock, of all people, had directed this film of the classic Irish play by Sean O'Casey (1880-1964), JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK (first performed onstage, 1924), set in Dublin during the Troubles. This film was originally released under that title but is also known by the rather more sensational one of THE SHAME OF MARY BOYLE, which does not suit the film at all. The cast partially consists of some of the famous Abbey Players from Dublin who originated the play on stage three years before, and the star is the amazing Sara Allgood, who plays the character Juno. Her husband Jack is the 'paycock', which is Irish dialect for 'peacock'. Sara Allgood had already worked with Hitchock earlier in this same year, appearing in his film BLACKMAIL (1929), which was only her second film (at the age of 50). Sara Allgood was a star of Dublin's Abbey Theatre in its grandest days, when the plays of Yeats, Synge, O'Casey, Shaw, and the other leading Irish playwrights were all being performed and attracting the attention of the entire theatrical world. Yeats was a close friend of hers. I first learned of her at the age of 17 when I befriended Bryan Herbert (real name Bryan Doyle) and his wife. Bryan loved to tell me stories of the grand old days in Dublin, and describe how he had played the Lion in Shaw's ANDROCLES AND THE LION at the Abbey, a theatre to which he was attached for some years. But his most enthusiastic tales concerned Sara Allgood. He told me she was the greatest dramatic actress of her time, and if only I had seen her in her famous roles at the Abbey Theatre as he did, I would understand her genius. He had himself appeared onstage with her there. I had never heard of her before and it has taken me all these years finally to see a film in which she plays one of her most famous dramatic lead roles with great power and magnificence. She is the Irish equivalent of Anna Magnani, whose performances in the films of the Tennessee Williams plays, THE ROSE TATTOO (1955) and THE FUGITIVE KIND (1960) are milestones of cinema history. Allgood's performance in this film in the second half rises to those standards. This film commences in a jolly mode, full of comedic scenes, and almost as jocular as a music hall act. But in its latter half, the story turns into an Aeschylean tragedy, and that is when Sara Allgood is at her best. In her later career, she appeared in many films in character roles, but to see the real Sara Allgood in action, as she was in her glory days, you need to see this film. Almost as effective as Sara Allgood is the young Scots actor John Laurie, who plays her son Johnny. This was his first film, and he was later to become famous to British television audiences as one of the regulars in the long-running series DAD'S ARMY, in which he appeared from 1968 to 1977 (80 episodes). In his long career, he appeared in 185 productions as an actor. But it is this, his very first screen role, that may be the most haunting role he ever played. Johnny does not say much but it is necessary to the story that he is constantly in shot and exuding powerful anguish. It is very difficult to be a lead actor in a sound film but have very few lines in which to express yourself. However, Laurie pulls it off in great style. This play was so popular in America that it ran on Broadway five times, in 1927, 1934, 1937, 1940, and 1988. Hitchcock's sense for sinister detail comes in very handy, because he finds the right faces and right moments to highlight menace and ambiguity, and punctuates the film with sounds of machine gun fire in the streets, which the family can hear through their open tenement window. His film did real justice to O'Casey's play and captures the very essence of the Irish, with their capacity for deep emotion, bawdy humour, wailing tragedy, poetic way of talking, sheer blarney, and their raw but courageous existences in those days. As one of the earliest sound films, it is difficult to think of this version of O'Casey's play being surpassed. The 'adaptation' of the play was done by Hitchcock, but the screenplay was written by his wife, Alma Reville, who gets a very small credit but should surely have more praise than that for the result. This play was filmed again seven times in later years, four times in English and three times in German. In one of the German productions, the young Klaus Maria Brandauer had the opportunity to glower in corners as Johnny, and as his eyes have always smouldered nicely, he must have done this very well too. This film certainly ranks among the classics of the screen.

Syl It is hard to believe that this is an Alfred Hitchcock film after all. The movie is based on Irish playwright Sean O'Casey's play of the same name about an Irish family named the Boyles. This is a faithful stage to screen adaptation with some minor changes. Still the cast are members of the Irish Abbey Theatre Company and have performed the play on stage together hundred times. The cast is first rate. Real life sisters Sara Allgood and Maire O'Neill are excellent especially O'Neill in an unforgettable performance. She was such a scene stealer. The family learns that their an inheritance only disappointment in the end. The film is unlike Hitchcock's other films but yet it is worth watching an early stage to screen adaptation with the original cast of players who originated their roles on stage. That is how to do a stage to screen adaptation with the original cast.

Michael Rhodes Juno and the Paycock is about a group of people in Dublin sometime during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923). Two of them are alcoholics who have grand goals and plans but never do anything to realize these dreams due to them being incredibly lazy. They are told that they are to receive a large sum of money from a dead relative so they go out and spend a lot of money to celebrate early. However, they spend it before they actually receive the money plus both sides in the Irish Civil War start to gain distrust for the group so who knows what could happen. Basically the film follows the plot of the 1924 play of the same name and the problem is that it doesn't work very well in a movie format. Almost the entire film takes place within a single room which can get incredibly boring and not very much really happens throughout the movie that is even mildly entertaining when it comes to the plot.The acting in the film is abysmal. Edward Chapman plays Captain Boyle who is always grumpy and mean which makes him an incredibly unlikeable character. He isn't very well acted either because he comes off as more annoying to the viewer than anything. Maire O'Neill plays Maisie Madigan, another uninteresting character without any depth whatsoever. All other actors in the film are also pretty unspectacular and aren't entertaining in the slightest. The script doesn't allow for any characters to have any depth plus they are badly acted anyway.When it comes down to the special effects I shall reiterate that the whole movie is pretty much in the same room so it's mostly just one set. And this set is a simple apartment without anything interesting or exciting. And there are no noticeable special effects throughout the movie. As for the musical score: it is lacking and really makes my ears bleed! The worst part with this would have to be the few sections in the film where characters attempt to sing which is truly some of the worst sounds that I have ever heard coming from anything at any time.In conclusion, this is one of the worst films that I have ever seen in my entire life and there isn't a single redeemable quality in it. The storyline is incredibly boring and doesn't work well outside of being in a play, the acting is atrocious, there aren't any special effects, and the music makes me want to mute my television. Some movies are bad but have a cheesy factor to them which can make them entertaining when you are in the right mood. And some movies are so bad that it actually makes them entertaining, but this film is truly at the rock bottom of cinema. No matter what way you look at it there is no possible way to get any entertainment out of this movie. Avoid it at all costs. Score: 0/10

75groucho Gee, maybe that's not fair. Maybe it's just that the Irish have a better heritage of articulating hard times. "Juno and The Paycock" is the epitome of tales of woe and suffering from the Irish urban poor during The Troubles of the early 20th century. The family has all the stereotypical travails: Joblessness due to alcoholism, joblessness due to labor union strikes, involvement with the Republican Army, and all these problems fall across the shoulders of the long-suffering mother, Juno.If such a thing can be imagined, it gets worse. The family believes they will fall into some money, so they (foolishly) run up debts. This begins the 'comic' part of the film's tragi-comedy structure. When hopes prove to be false the family is devastated.A relentlessly downbeat story that sees an interlude of clearly false hopes followed by a tragic ending, is considered a chestnut of the Irish playwright Sean O'Casey. For viewers, anyone who can't understand the thick Irish brogues on the equipment used in an early talkie will have no chance to understand the dialogue. Worst of all the nature of the story really doesn't suit the talents of even a young Alfred Hitchcock. Even by that point in his career, he had begun to make compelling suspense pictures and this film is not in his wheelhouse. Even taking exception for budget and circumstances that would have obligated him to take on this film as an early sound project, "Juno and The Paycock" does little to distinguish the work of Sean O'Casey and even less for Hitchcock. It should be avoided, even by Hitchcock completists.