The story of Irish Film / Arthur Flynn

Includes index

From the first jerky reelers screened in 1896 to the opening of Ardmore Studios in 1958 to Section 481's tax breaks, Arthur Flynn's The Story of Irish Film is a comprehensive account of Ireland's relationship with the big screen. The history of film-making in Ireland is mainly the story of the making of feature films by foreign directors. Up to the late 1970s the Irish contribution was confined almost entirely to shorts and documentaries. Native feature film-making only began on an acceptable level after the foundation of the Irish Film Board. The notable point about the pre-Ardmore days was that the majority of films shot on location had an Irish setting, such as The Quiet Man. There were a few exceptions such as Huston's Moby Dick and Olivier Henry V. When Ardmore opened, the balance swung in the opposite direction with settings as varied as Germany, France, China and America. Arthur Flynn describes the films produced there by leading directors including John Boorman, Stanley Kubrick, John Huston and Francis Ford Coppola. It brought in the big name actors too: Cagney, Mitchum, Burton, Hepburn, Connery and O'Toole. The early 1990s saw the first indications of an unprecedented upturn in the fortunes of film-making in Ireland by both indigenous directors and foreign companies availing of the tax breaks. The success of My Left Foot, The Crying Game and The Field heralded the change, and the re-establishment of the Irish Film Board was further confirmation of the confidence of the industry.