The Irish in Us (1935)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Great Film overall

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Enjoyable comedy/drama from Warner Bros. with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien as Irish-American brothers who have a falling out when pretty Olivia de Havilland comes between them. I won't spoil the ending for you but, if you've seen even one Cagney/O'Brien movie before, you can probably guess who gets the girl. What makes this one work isn't the tired plot but the great cast, with longtime friends Cagney and O'Brien joined by their buddies Frank McHugh and a scene-stealing Allen Jenkins. All four of these guys are fun to watch and have a wonderful comedic chemistry with each other. Olivia de Havilland is lovely in one of her earliest roles. Mary Gordon is impossible to dislike as the saintly Ma O'Hara. It's a good movie of its type, lightweight mostly but serious in some parts. It's well-paced and the cast, as I said before, is excellent.

WELL NOW AFTER an opening like that, we wish to play Devil's Advocate today. What we are doing and the dissertation that follows are not the opinions of anyone employed by our writing staff (namely me). WELL WARNER BROTHERS Studios really had nerve and expressed some inner dislike for those of us who are descended from our ancestors from the "Emerald Isle." What we are referring to is their depictions of the Irish in America. We're referring, of course, to the likes of their pictures such as THE FIGHTING 69th, MY WILD IRISH ROSE and YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. BUT MOST OF all, we mean this THE IRISH IN US. How dare they portray a family of 3 grown-up brothers, all still living at home with their heavily brogue accented, widowed Mother (Mary Gordon). Next they put them in a blue collar, working man's neighborhood and in a tenement building yet!ADDING INSULT TO the already extremely injured reputation of the "Narrow Backs"*, the 3 sons are portrayed as Pat a NYPD Cop (Pat O'Brien), Mike a NYC Fireman (Frank McHugh) and Danny aspiring Prizefighter Manager (James Cagney). Why there's not a Brain Surgeon, a Rocket Scientist or even a Real Estate Agent among them!OKAY, THAT'S QUITE enough of our lampooning a "Politically Correct" reviewer. We hope that our extensive number of readers enjoyed it and we thank you for extending the opportunity to us this opportunity to "let it all hang out!"NOW AS FOR this Warners Pot Boiler from 1935, we found it to be as good an enjoyable comedy that it was when we saw it while in Junior High, circa 1958. It was one of those many Warner Brothers productions &cartoons that were packaged for television through Associated Artist Productions. Collectively they taught the Baby Boomer generation just who were Cagney, Bogart, O'Brien, Raft & Flynn were and what they meant to the audiences of the 1930's and '40's.THE MOVIE IS an excellent blend of several elements; but it still qualifies as being classified as a 'Comedy'; especially in the Classic sense. Although there are some serious moments here and there, the overall effect and tone are light and very enjoyable.AN ELEMENT THAT one wouldn't expect in an otherwise comic story is that of what has long been called "the Eternal Triangle." And this yet is between two brothers over one Lucielle Jackson! This was a portrayal by Miss Olivia de Haviland that was unusual; for she most often was a character of high upbringing and wealth even. her character was daughter of the Police Captain Jackson (J. Farrell Mac Donald).ANOTHER FEATURE INCORPORATED into the film is that of the work turned in by Allen Jenkins as "Car-Barn" the Boxer. He provides so much of the genuine screen laughs even though his part was that of a second banana funny man. So much of the comic business was done by Frank McHugh. BUT IT CAN be said that Mr. Jenkins really did have the "Last Laugh"; that coming in the final fade-out Knowing how to end a comedy is a most important skill. If not handled properly it can greatly diminish a film's effectiveness. WHILE THIS FILM is certainly not any that the American Film Institute will be honoring with an inclusion on one of their Top 100 lists, it is still worth viewing; as it does a fine job of showcasing early Cagney, de Havilland & O'Brien work.NOTE: * The term "Narrow Back" is slang used by native born Irish to describe one of us born here in the USA> (Origin unknown).

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.

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.