Review
Desima Connolly is enthralled by the stories of some of the Irish stars of yesteryear.
- Emeralds in Tinseltown: The Irish in Hollywood
- Appletree Press
Emeralds in Tinseltown: The Irish in Hollywood
American culture’s fascination with all things Irish is well known and irrefutably due to the massive influx of immigrants that permeated every faction of society, including the arts. Written by husband and wife Steve Brennan and Bernadette O’Neill, Emeralds in Tinseltown takes the reader on an enjoyable and beautifully illustrated whirlwind tour of the Irish influence in Hollywood.
They begin by declaring an Irish stamp on landmarks now synonymous with Hollywood. From the naming of the aspirational Mulholland Drive in honour of Belfast-born William Mulholland who nurtured the drought-ridden townscape that was soon to be the homeland of the international movie industry, to Irish-American John Roche who envisaged a large white lettered sign reading Hollywoodland perched symbolically on the hills above Los Angeles.
There is a touching poignancy in entertaining profiles of now forgotten, innovative directors of the silent era and first pioneer adventures, including Herbert Brenon, Rex Ingram and William Desmond Taylor. Combined with factual and anecdotal portraits of a host of Irish players such as directors John Ford, John Huston and the ‘Irish Mafia’ (whose most famous members included Jimmy Cagney, Pat O’Brian and Spencer Tracy) to modern ‘hellraisers’ Richard Harris and Peter O’Toole, we are introduced to actors and filmmakers of character, determination and individuality who challenged the might of the dominant studios, forging contractual rights along the way.
The myth of the patriotic, romanticised Irish rebel is woven throughout the book, and has proven to be a lucrative business for many emeralds. The thirst for imported Irish talent was immense, from the Kalem Film Company, dispatched to Ireland in 1910 to produce films appealing to immigrant audiences back home such as ‘Rory O’More’ and ‘Ireland the Oppressed’, to the influx of sought-after Abbey Theatre actors (including Barry Fitzgerald, Sally Algood and Una O’Connor) in the 1940s.
Other Hollywood players that fitted the mould included George Brent, Greer Garson, George Murphy, Maureen O’Sullivan and Maureen O’Hara to name but a few. Grace Kelly, Gene Kelly, Anthony Quinn, and Gregory Peck are also featured, however the definition of true emeralds becomes a little blurred when the Irish roots of those gems lie generations back.
Brennon and O’Neill finish by congratulating the contemporary Irish film industry, sustained by the establishment of RTÉ in 1961, the founding of the Ardmore Film Studios in County Wicklow, and the Section 35 tax incentive scheme which collaboratively produced such home-grown successes as ‘My Left Foot’, ‘The Field’ and ‘In the Name of the Father’.
Returning to the symbolism of those infamous Hollywood landmarks, perhaps they now project a more jaded image, conjuring associations of ‘bankability’, indulgence, superficiality and less so now, glamour. Sprawling across two centuries of filmmaking, Emeralds in Tinseltown depicts the ‘Old Hollywood’, where studios ran the game, and actors fought hard, often from immigrant backgrounds, to achieve their success. Though of course, there was always scandal and decadence, you cannot help but yearn for the gritty substance of personality and narrative that the book reminds us once existed.
Desima Connolly
