Hear My Song

I have been watching Waking the Dead, and thought I would explore other works done by it's stars. I'm starting with Eve (Tara Fitzgerald).

This is a great one for Ms. Fitzgerald, as we see all she has to offer as she jumps out of bed with Adrian Dunbar, after he fails to say he loves her. Unfortunately, her role is little more than that, as Dunbar is the star.

When you mention Irish tenors, people immediately think of Finbar Wright, Anthony Kearns, and Ronan Tynan. But long before, there was Joseph McLaughlin, better known as Josef Locke. This film is loosely based upon his life.

It really gets funny as Micky O'Neill (Dunbar) goes broke trying to fake everyone out with Franc Cinatra, and then with a Mister X, who pretends to be Locke, and goes chasing around Ireland to find the real Josef Locke and bring him back to England. Locke is played by Ned Beatty.

He manages to come to the realization that he really loves Nancy (Fitzgerald), and gets Locke to return.

What an ending!

This movie never got the attention or box office it deserved, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Ned Beatty is wonderful as Joe Locke, the exiled Irish singer returned to the stage by impresario Adrian Dunbar. A little movie with heart, wit, and charm, definitely worth repeat viewings.

The owner of a low rent English music hall finds himself in hot water after booking a legendary (but fraudulent) Irish tenor, prompting a desperate visit to the Emerald Isle in search of the genuine article, not an easy assignment since no one has seen the man in 25 years. Maybe it makes a difference that the film was made on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean, but it succeeds as a genuinely charming and disarming romantic comedy without the expected formula plotting or trendy visual hype, and (perhaps not surprisingly) without the box office benefit of brand name stars. The climax is somewhat overwrought, but by then director Peter Chelsum is working from a surplus of good-natured blarney and local brogue, with some gorgeous Irish scenery added almost as an afterthought. And where else can you expect to see a movie hero declare his love to a girl while clutching a whippet?

This is a stunning delightful story of one man's quest to do right by his girlfriend and his community. The Irish humour is great. The writing is tight. The performances are both touching and funny. One to watch more than once.

I don't think Peter Chelsom's appreciation will grow much today, with audiences and critics more inclined to pyrotechnics, flamboyant styles and cynic approach to mankind's troubles. Chelsom is a skilled filmmaker, but for today's tastes his cinema seems too close to the audience's soft hearts, and that is probably his less attractive trait.

I like a few of his movies: "The Mighty", "Serendipity" as predictable as it is, and my favorites "Funny Bones" and "Hear My Song" which he also wrote. Both deal with a search and possess a frenetic and funny approach to human foibles, and in this case an enthusiastic leading character, as played by Adrian Dunbar who also co-wrote.

Dunbar plays a nightclub administrator who keeps cheating on his patrons, bringing mediocre artists to perform. When he brings a fake tenor who humiliates his future mother-in-law (Shirley-Ann Field, who had an affair with the real tenor), he embarks on the almost impossible: finding the real singer, who cannot step on Irish soil due to tax evasion. Ned Beatty gives the performance of his life (and that's a lot to say) as the singer, leading the story to a moving conclusion.