The Playboy of the Western World (film)

The Playboy of the Western World
Original film poster
Directed by	Brian Desmond Hurst
Written by	John Millington Synge (play) Brian Desmond Hurst (screenplay) Roland Kibbee (screenplay)
Produced by	Michael Killanin Denis O’Dell Brendan Smith
Starring	Gary Raymond Siobhán McKenna
Cinematography	Geoffrey Unsworth
Music by	Seán Ó Riada
Distributed by	Janus Films
Release date	1962
Running time	100 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English

The Playboy of the Western World is a 1962 film version of the 1907 play written by John Millington Synge. It was directed and co-written by Brian Desmond Hurst and stars Gary Raymond and Siobhán McKenna. Filmed in County Kerry, the film features many of the Abbey Players. The film was produced by the Four Provinces company created in 1952 by Hurst and Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin who had previously produced John Ford’s The Rising of the Moon and Gideon's Day.

Plot

A young man from a far away village appears in County Mayo announcing to all and sundry that he has murdered his father with a blow to the head. With the tale growing in the telling, the young man becomes a local hero…until his angry father comes to fetch him home.

Cast

Gary Raymond ... Christy Mahon
Siobhán McKenna … Pegeen Mike
Elspeth March … The Widow Quinn
Liam Redmond … Michael James
Niall MacGinnis … Old Man Mahon

Production notes

• The film was shot at Inch Strand in Dingle Peninsula, co Kerry. William Constable, the art director built a cottage close to the beach.

External links

• Short film on Brian Desmond Hurst's Playboy of the Western World featuring part of the soundtrack
• The Playboy of the Western World at IMDb
• The Playboy of the Western World at the website dedicated to Brian Desmond Hurst
• The Playboy of the Western World The photographer Padraig Kennelly remembers the shooting of the film