Il magnifico irlandese

This is a very typical example of good English film-making. It depicts the early life of writer Sean O'Casey; his struggle to become an established writer and his lust for women. John Ford started the direction, but he fell ill during the shooting and Jack Cardiff took over. None of this shows in the picture however. I think Rod Taylor gives his finest performance of his career in this movie; notice his good Irish accent. As a bonus you can see Julie Christie, who starred in a role in one of her first movies,and this was a teaser of what was to come. Flora Robson and Maggie Smith also appear with impeccable performances, as always.

"Young Cassidy" is a film about the life of the famous Irish writer and dramatist, Sean O'Casey. It follows him from around WWI to his becoming famous, of sorts, in the late 1920s. Oddly, as you watch the film you'll probably assume it all takes place over one or two years...but 15 to 20 is more like it...and the actors and time never seem to pass.

The story was originally to have been made by John Ford, which isn't surprising due to his love of all things Irish in his movies. It follows O'Casey (Rod Taylor) from working as a day laborer to his becoming a hated dramatist, as you see one of his plays being booed and attacked by many.

I gave this movie a 6 because it tries hard and offers some nice moments. But it was a hard sell to me because the film made O'Casey seem like a bit of a jerk and I really didn't have all that much interest in him and his life. I am not sure if it's because O'Casey was a jerk or just because of the screen play. I just found myself not caring much about him or his life.

Stage Door Theatre, San Francisco; May 19, 1965. Perfect venue for such things; an East Side art house in a West Coast town. I truly enjoyed every minute of this movie that night, and I still love it today. Rod Taylor was the ideal choice for the lead role in this always interesting vision of early life and career of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, from his autobiog.

Dublin in the 1920s, with all the period feel and detail John Ford and Jack Cardiff could muster, beautifully photographed in Color and on location by Ted Scaife.

A splendid cast brings the days of O'Casey and the Troubles to vibrant and bitter life. Taylor's best work in many ways, though he did so many good movies and gave so many good pefs in his heyday, it's hard to pick just one.

Maggie Smith is marvelous as Cassidy's lost love: "I'm a small simple girl. I need a small simple life, not your terrible dreams and your anger." Smart girl, but two hearts are broken as Cassidy boards the boat for parts unknown.

Julie Christie's a revelation as Daisy, one of three stunningly good perfs she delivered in her Oscar winning golden year. Michael Redgrave is just right as Yeats; and Flora Robson gets a late career lift as Cassidy's Ma.

The entire production takes the viewer back in time to the turbulent setting of O'Casey's youth, in an exceptionally good yet unfairly overlooked film.

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.

Interesting biopic of O'Casey - named John Cassidy here - based on the pre-exile, Irish part of his life. The cast is very high-powered and the cameos by Michael Redrave (as W.B.Yeats) and Edith Evans (as Lady Gregory) are superb - as is a young Maggie Smith as O'Casey's girlfriend. Julie Christie looks great, but doesn't have much to do. Rod Taylor is surprisingly good in the main role, but I feel it suffers a little from the change of director, and is ultimately unsatisfying, rather rushing towards its conclusion. It could have been a great movie, but the pacing is off. For me, the 60s Dublin locations are the real stars.