''The Luck of the Irish'' is a British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Donovan Pedelty Donovan Pedelty (1903–1989) was a British journalist, screenwriter and film director. During the 1930s, Pedelty specialised in making quota quickies with Irish themes. These were generally not well received by critics.Chibnall p.31 Filmograph ...

, and starring Richard Hayward and

Kay Walsh Kathleen "Kay" Walsh (15 November 1911 – 16 April 2005) was an English actress, dancer, and screenwriter. Her film career prospered after she met her future husband film director David Lean, with whom she worked on prestige productions such a ...

. It was based on a novel by Victor Haddick, and written by Victor Haddick and Donovan Pedelty. It was made as a quota film at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

.Wood, p. 86 The production company Crusade Films had a contract to supply films for release by the British subsidiary of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Andrew Mazzei Andrew Mazzei (1887–1975) was a French-born British art director who designed the sets for more than sixty films during his career. Mazzei began his career in the late 1920s during the silent era including on the futuristic ''High Treason''. ...

Plot

An Irishman tries to save his ancestral home through the fortunes of a racehorse.

Cast

* Richard Hayward as Sam Mulhern * Nan Cullen as Widow Whistler * Charles Fagan as Sergeant Doyle * Meta Grainger as Lady O'Donnel * Harold Griffin as Simon Reid * John M. Henderson as Sir Richard O'Donnel * R. H. MacCandless as Gavin Grogan *

Niall MacGinnis Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor who made around 80 screen appearances. Early life MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913.

as Derek O'Neill * Jimmy Mageean as Sir Brian O'Neill * Charlotte Tedlie as Hortense O'Neill *

as Eileen O'Donnel

References

Bibliography

* Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

*
Luck of the Irish at Digital Film Archive website
1936 films British drama films 1936 drama films Films directed by Donovan Pedelty Quota quickies Films shot at Rock Studios Films set in Ireland Paramount Pictures films British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-film-stub