Kathleen Mavourneen (1930) User Reviews

Welcome to Kathleen's Hope.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 22 July 2015]

It's a great day for the Irish Shannon family when young colleen Kathleen O'Connor arrives in New York from their homeland and moves in with them. She has two instant admirers: Old boyfriend Terry (Charles Delaney), a simple plumber, and Dan Moriarity (Robert Elliott), a political big wig who makes his affections to her known. At a big society party thrown by Moriarity, Terry is co-erced into fixing the plumbing (an obvious set-up by Dan to get him out of the way), leading Dan to propose to Kathleen and demand an immediate answer. As her family and the other guests sing Irish folk songs, Kathleen must make her decision, leading her to wonder if Moriarity's wealth and power is really worth all the trouble when compared to her noble plumber.

A corny bit of Irish blarney, this tale as old as time is as creaky as early talkies come. However, O'Neil gives a sincere performance and is never cloying in her sweetness. The music is only incidental and at under an hour, this speeds by. It has a pretty impressive set for a poverty row studio feature. I can see this not being for everyone, but if you have one ounce of romance in your heart, you can't possibly not be touched. O'Neil's Kathleen is no different than any other musical heroine of the early 30's, probably closest to Marilyn Miller's "Sally". It's an Irish Cinderella tale where the prince may not be worth all the trouble and the had working boy next door is more the prize.

A Movie for Saint Patrick's Day

[boblipton · 6/10 · 19 March 2018]

A good way to wind up my old friend Dennis Casey is to start talking about the old Irish politicians in New York City. This will set him off into a red-faced rant about them sitting around the club house, getting plastered on Guinness and Bushmill and practicing their brogues to charm his elderly relatives. He will then give an impersonation, which will sound like every character in this movie ... ending with his singing, in a fine tenor, the song whose title this movie borrows.

That's what this 1930 movie from Tiffany-Stahl is like: every last hackneyed sentimental idea of the Irish, without a hint of self-aware humor in it, as Sally O'Neill (with a stage Irish accent covering her usual Bayonne voice), coming over from Ireland to marry her plumber lover, only to be courted by every last Tammany politician who spots her in her white party dress.

It's an ambitious, creaky musical from the dawn of the sound era, and doesn't wear well for these cynical times, but if you've got a sentimental streak wider than the fields of the Emerald Isle -- or have drunk enough Guinness and Bushmill, sure and you'll wind up in happy tears, like Dennis always does.

So what?

[mmcgee282 · 8/10 · 25 January 2018]

So what if this classic might offend the demo publican and independent false liberals fake support for ethnic groups for profit and political power .They hate history that goes against their political agenda and try to censorship it .When a immigrant comes to the unites states. it's a while that they get use to the new culture and integrate with it.It's also a fact that they might get prejudiced at the new country and the people they are living in ,cause they are not use to it .Eventually they except the country and it's people and culture .While a few remain bigoted cause they were just transferring their culture to the new country rather than integrating.Kathleen sound to me like another version of delicious. Sally comes from Ireland and live anew life in New York .She meets her relatives.Her Aunt Her aunt Nora and Uncle Mike.They show her off too her Irish relative .She comes in conflict between two men who wants to marry her.Charles Delaney,who is a plumber and a Irish tenor singer.He sings to her in this film.Robert Elliot ,who plays Dan Moriarty,is also in love with her.He is wealthy and the movie does not tell you how he got that way.He invites her and her relatives for a coming out party at his place.The party crowd sings some Irish tunes,like Kilarney. They also sing a Jazzy Tune about Kathleen. Moriarty proposes to her,but she also in love with Terry,but ends up marrying Moriarty.It turns out that he is a bootlegger and kills his competitor,in front of Kathleen during their wedding night.It turn out to be bad dream that Kathleen had for drinking rotten booze,right at the party.She catches terry fixing the pipes and tells him she love him .This is a low budget musical from Tiffany,who also did their only two color Technicolor feature that same year Mamba,that has not been restored yet.It's entertaining from the early years of talkies.I saw this on You tube.01/25/17