The Irish in Us

I usually enjoyed the old WB comedies for their great supporting casts, but although THE IRISH IN US is nicely paced with a good cast, there is too much of Frank McHugh for my taste. McHugh is given lots of low comedy scenes that he plays for laughs but makes the comedy seem much too forced at times. Much more bearable is Allen Jenkins as a punch-drunk fighter who goes crazy every time he hears a bell ringing.

As for the star trio, Cagney, de Havilland and O'Brien, they've all done better work in other Warner programmers. Here they are stuck with rather routine assignments which they carry off with customary charm and skill. De Havilland is considerably toned down from her first role in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and shows that she caught on quickly to the more restrained acting technique required by the screen.

Mary Gordon does a nice job as the warm-hearted Irish mother of Jimmy and Pat, anxious to have her sons on good behavior when Pat's girlfriend, Olivia, pays a visit. She and de Havilland have a warm element in their performances that helps the comedy glow.

All in all, an entertaining, if routine Warner comedy with the usual stock players doing their best.

The Irish in Us has Mary Gordon as a buxom Irish-American mother with three proud sons. Pat O'Brien a cop, Frank McHugh a fireman, and James Cagney a man with big ideas. The O'Hara family is built along the lines of the Beebe family in three years later in Paramount's Sing You Sinners that had Elizabeth Patterson as Mrs. Beebe with her three sons, Fred MacMurray, Donald O'Connor, and Bing Crosby. The only difference between the O'Haras and the Beebes is that the O'Haras aren't musical.

But they are a charming bunch even though Olivia DeHavilland comes between Cagney and O'Brien. As in the Crosby and Hope films, guess who she winds up with in the end?

Cagney's latest idea is to be a boxing promoter and he's got this punch drunk fighter played very endearingly by Allen Jenkins on whom he pins his hopes. Cagney's done a little boxing in the past himself, a fact that stands him in good stead at the climax.

This is the only time in the Cagney/O'Brien series of films that the two of them ever were blood relations and they even get Frank McHugh in there as well. Olivia DeHavilland has very little to do in this film, but sit around and look pretty. She does that very well, but it was films like this for her that made her fight for better parts that she knew she was capable of. This film while entertaining is strictly a testosterone affair.

The Irish In Us if it ever comes out on VHS and/or DVD should be seen back to back with Sing You Sinners if that ever comes out on VHS or DVD. You can't go wrong with either.

The stars here never give a bad performance, so that I had fun watching this film despite a routine dissension-causing romantic rivalry between James Cagney and his brother, Pat O'Brien, for lovely Olivia de Havilland and an improbable ending. My only complaint was the character of Allen Jenkins, a fighter who starts swinging crazily every time he hears a bell. That got to be a bit tedious, although it was an important part of the plot. O'Brien plays a policeman while his younger brother, Frank McHugh, plays a fireman. They're sort of a microcosm of the Irish in New York City, with Cagney playing a would-be fight manager of Jenkins, and Mary Gordon trying to keep her family together. McHugh and Jenkins provide much of the comedy and the boxing match at the end was very well staged and quite exciting. You can't really go wrong with this film.

Filmmakers sometimes forget: A newspaper reports that Harvey Perry is the welterweight champion, but he's introduced into the ring as the middleweight champion.

Lifetime best friends James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Frank Mchugh and other good buddy Allen Jenkins hook up in this rather far fetched punchless comedy about an Irish mother and her three unmarried boys still living at home. I can only imagine the fun the guys had making this picture together, it's a shame it doesn't transfer to the screen.

Two of Ma O'Hara's (Mary Gordon) sons have secure jobs as a fireman (McHugh) and cop (O'Brien) while a third (Cagney) is trying to make it as a fight manager with a screw loose pug (Jenkins). When a woman (Olivia DeHaviland) comes between Cagney and O'Brien, the former moves out causing Ma, to fret.

The boys all predictably do what's expected of them; Cagney is energized and fast talking, O'Brien brooding and introspective, McHugh elfin, Jenkins punchy. The plot moves from silly to absurd fast and the sentimental tug with strains of When Irish Eyes are Smiling always near by is blatant. DeHaviland as a confident, modern woman seems almost out of place with her cool rational compared to the entire O'Hara clan in a film so dedicated to a target audience the closing credit plays over a shamrock. The Irish in Us is one bowl of lukewarm blarney.

Years ago, I read James Cagney's autobiography. In it he talked about 'the Irish mafia'--a group of very close friends he had on and off camera. This is a rare case where all four members of this group were together in the same film--Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Frank McHugh and Allan Jenkins (fine, I don't think Jenkins was Irish--but he was still a member of this group of friends). It looks like the friends had a lovely time making the film but it is an awfully lightweight and rather brainless film. Enjoyable...but brainless.

Ma O'Hara (Mary Gordon) has three grown sons that live with her: Danny (Cagney), Pat (O'Brien) and Mike (McHugh). While Pat and Mike respectable jobs, Danny, the youngest, is a bit of a dreamer and hopes to make his fortune managing boxers. However, he has nothing to show for his efforts and Ma is hoping he'll soon follow in his brothers' footsteps.

Into this family come two people. First, a brainless boxer named 'Carbarn' (Jenkins)--and he's the least likely looking boxer I can recall having seen in film. Second, Pat brings home Lucille (Olivia de Havilland) and plans on marrying her. However, they barely know each other and Pat is seriously premature. To make it worse, Lucille has already met Danny...and is quite interested. So what's to become of all these characters? Well, it all comes to a head at one of the most ridiculous boxing matches on film where a first-time fighter gets to fight the champ!!!

The whole picture is ridiculous and mindless...but also kind of fun. It's a turn your brain off and enjoy sort of time-passer. Agreeable but very, very slight due to the fluff-like plot that never seems the least bit real. What saves it is the likability of the actors...period.