''The Dawn'' is a 1936 film made in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

, directed and produced by Tom Cooper, who also co-wrote and acted in the film. Set during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, it was the first indigenous

sound production Sound production may refer to: *Audio engineering *Creation of sound through speech, using a musical instrument, etc. *Record production *Sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involve ...

made in Ireland. It was released in the United States under the title ''Dawn Over Ireland''.

Production

''The Dawn'' was filmed by

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 Castl ...

garage owner Tom Cooper in 1934 and 1935. The cast comprised 250 amateur actors from the local area, many of them

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

veterans.

Plot

In 1866, in the runup to the

Fenian Rising The Fenian Rising of 1867 ( ga, Éirí Amach na bhFíníní, 1867, ) was a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). After the suppression of the ''Irish People'' newspaper in September 1865 ...

, Brian Malone was falsely denounced as an informer. In 1919, his grandson of the same name aims to clear the family name by serving in the IRA.

Reception

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' correspondent wrote, "''The Dawn'', in spite of various crudities, is as thrilling a show as ever I want to witness, and its amateur cast gives it a freshness which is all too rare." It was contrasted with '' Ourselves Alone'', which had portrayed "clean-limbed police" with the IRA men shown as "tough hombres"; ''The Dawn'', on the other hand, depicted the

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

as "too scoundrelly for words" and was liable to make Unionist viewers squirm. Cooper received an award from

Cork Film Festival The Cork International Film Festival, also known as the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the i ...

in the late 1970s. An original 35 mm print is stored in the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

; it was digitised and restored in 2016. Prints are also held by

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

and the

Irish Film Institute The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn (film), The 1936 films Irish War of Independence films Films set in Ireland Irish black-and-white films Irish drama films 1936 drama films 1930s English-language films Rediscovered Irish films 1930s rediscovered films