British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Playboys, The

Synopsis
Feature film. Set in Ireland in 1957, strong-willed Tara (Wright) is an unmarried mother who refuses to name the father of her child and is therefore seen as shameful by the townsfolk. When a troupe of travelling actors, The Playboys, arrives in town she is attracted to Tom (Quinn), one of the players, to the anger of the local policeman, Constable Hegarty (Finney), who has always been in love with her. Actor-manager Freddie (O’Shea) leads the troupe and there are several scenes from their performance of Othello (it begins with a can can)and in a plot parallel Hegarty finds Tara’s handkerchief in a barn who he sees as confirmation that she and Tom have had a tryst.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain; Ireland; United States
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1992
Duration
109 mins; 9786 feet

Credits

Director
Gillies MacKinon
Producer
Simon Perry; William P. Cartlidge
Cinematographer
Jack Conroy
Screenplay
Kerry Crabbe; Shane Connaughton
Music
Jean-Claude Petit
Art Direction
Arden Gantly
Cast
Aidan QuinnTom
Albert FinneyHegarty
Milo O’SheaFreddie
Robin WrightTara

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Othello
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Travelling players

Notes

Reviews
Francke, Lizzie, Sight and Sound (vol.2 , no. 2 June 1992), p.50.

Production Company

Name

Green Umbrella Films

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

Record Stats

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