She Didn't Say No

SHE DIDN'T SAY NO While Irish actors continue to operate at the highest level in Hollywood and our film-makers, young and old, do us proud at home and abroad, a blast from the past has recently resurfaced to show off 'another' Eire.

A newly restored print of the 1958 film, She Didn't Say No, originally banned for being immoral, takes pride of place in an exhibition at the prestigious New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) from May 26 to June 17.

Newly restored to its former glory, it's a Technicolour-shot tale of Bridget Moynihan (played by Eileen Herlie) who has six children, all with different fathers, in Doon, Co Waterford.

The otherwise saintly seamstress is the sole source of scandal in the village and various attempts are made to 'punish' her for her un-Catholic affairs and to remove her from the village.

These serious issues are lightened up by the visit of a film crew to Doon to show the green glory of the Emerald Isle (though the film was shot in Cornwall).

Instead of piling on the Begorrahs it's the film industry which is made a fool of and satirised as Bridget's eldest daughter, Poppy (Ann Dicken) wangles the plum role in the production.

Looking back nearly fifty years, She Didn't Say No is both hilarious and affecting despite its numerous and untidy plot lines, with strong performances from Ray McAnally, Hilton Edwards, Ian Bannen and Jack McGowran.