''The Lad from Old Ireland'', also called ''A Lad from Old Ireland'', is a one-reel 1910 American motion picture directed by and starring

Sidney Olcott Sidney Olcott (born John Sidney Allcott, September 20, 1872 – December 16, 1949) was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter. Biography Born John Sidney Allcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great direc ...

and written by and co-starring

Gene Gauntier Gene Gauntier (born Genevieve Gauntier Liggett, August 26, 1885 – December 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter and actress who was one of the pioneers of the motion picture industry. A writer, director, and actress in films from mid 190 ...

. It was the first film appearance of prolific actor/director

J.P. McGowan John Paterson McGowan (February 24, 1880 – March 26, 1952) was a pioneering Hollywood actor and director and occasionally a screenwriter and producer. McGowan remains the only Australian to have been made a life member of the Screen Directo ...

Production background

The film was the first ever production by an American movie studio to be filmed on location outside of the United States. Filming took place around Cork and

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In August 1910, the

Kalem Company The Kalem Company was an early American film studio founded in New York City in 1907 in film, 1907. It was one of the first companies to make films abroad and to set up winter production facilities, first in Florida and then in California. Kalem ...

of New York City sent director Sidney Olcott and a film crew to film in Europe. In Ireland, Olcott made ''The Lad From Old Ireland'' from a script written by Gene Gauntier. Shot by cinematographer

George K. Hollister George K. Hollister (March 7, 1873 – March 28, 1952) was an American pioneer cinematographer. Biography Born in New York City, New York, little is known of his background. In 1905 he married a nineteen-year-old girl named Alice Hollister from W ...

, the film was described in the publicity releases for its November premiere as "Kalem’s Great Trans-Atlantic Drama." Laurene Santley doubles the Irish grandmother in the indoor sequence shot in the Kalem New York studio. During that trip in Ireland Olcott shot a second film : The Irish Honeymoon.

Plot

An Irish boy (Olcott) emigrates to America to escape the desperate poverty of Ireland. After finding work in construction, he finds success in politics. He returns to Ireland after receiving a letter from his sweetheart (Gauntier) just as her destitute family is being forced off their land.

Cast

as Terry O'Connor *

as Aileene *Thomas O'Connor as The landlord * Arthur Donaldson as Parish priest *

as Election agent *

Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola (born Rocco Giuseppe Vignola, August 7, 1882 – October 25, 1953) was an Italian-American actor, screenwriter, and film director. A former stage actor, he appeared in many motion pictures produced by Kalem Company and later mov ...

as Election agent *

Jane Wolfe Sarah Jane Wolfe (March 21, 1875 – March 29, 1958) was an American silent film character actress who is considered an important female figure in magick. She was a friend and a colleague of Aleister Crowley and a founding member of Agape Lodg ...

as Society woman *Laurene Santley doubles the Irish grandmother

Reception

The film was a critical and popular success, particularly with

Irish immigrants The Irish diaspora ( ga, Diaspóra na nGael) refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner and Meeder, The ...

in America. Unlike other films of the time, the Irish characters were not cartoonish caricatures, and the story was a familiar and hopeful one for immigrants. William Wright, Kalem's treasurer, recalled "Of that subject we sold in London alone 160 prints – a record-breaking achievement for a thousand-foot picture."Michel Derrien, ''Aux origines du cinéma irlandais: Sidney Olcott, le premier oeil'', p. 12. The success prompted Kalem to send a larger company under the direction of Olcott the next year in 1911, which produced 18 films that summer.

The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. I ...

noted that the film was "quite a success", but complained that the audience was not informed of and thus unable to appreciate "the important characteristics of the picture", referring to the authentic portrayal of Irish rural life.

References

External links

*
''The Lad From Old Ireland''
sur

Irish Film & TV Research Online Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Kalem Company filming in Ireland

website dedicated to Sidney Olcott
Restored film
by Trinity College, Dublin at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lad From Old Ireland, The 1910 films 1910 drama films American silent short films Films directed by Sidney Olcott American black-and-white films Irish black-and-white films Kalem Company films Silent American drama films Irish drama films 1910 short films 1910s American films