Smiling Irish Eyes
Encyclopedia
Smiling Irish Eyes known as Hymyilevät silmät in Finland
, is a sound
(All-Talking) American musical film
with Technicolor
sequences.The film is now considered a lost film
, however the Vitaphone
discs still exist.
role, and only her second sound film
. Produced by her husband at the time, John McCormick (1893-1961), the film featured Moore as Kathleen O'Connor, an Irish
woman who follows her musician sweetheart
Rory O'More (James Hall) to New York City
.
This film is similar to an earlier film Moore made for Samuel Goldwyn
, Come On Over (1922), directed by Rupert Hughes
. As in Smiling Irish Eyes, Colleen played an Irish girl whose betrothed crosses the ocean to start a new life in America before sending for her. In both films, the boyfriends do not send for her right away, in both she travels to America only to find the boyfriend seemingly besotted by another girl. In both, cases this is a misunderstanding. In Come On Over, Colleen's character reluctantly remains in America where she learns that her boyfriend is actually helping the father of the "other woman" quit drinking. In Smiling Irish Eyes, Colleen's character returns to Ireland, followed by the boyfriend, who convinces her back in Ireland that it was a misunderstanding. They marry and return to America.
Following this film, Moore made another film directed by Seiter, Footlights and Fools
(1929). This latter film also had Technicolor sequences, and is now considered a lost film, although the Vitaphone discs survive.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, is a sound
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
(All-Talking) American musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
with Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
sequences.The film is now considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
, however the Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
discs still exist.
Plot
Rory O'More leaves his sweetheart Kathleen O'Connor back in the old country while he travels to America to establish himself. He is a musician, and hopes o make it big. Kathleen grows tired of waiting and travels to America, only to find him on stage performing "their" song and kissing another woman. Kathleen returns to Ireland, followed by Rory, who explains everything. In the end the wed and return to America.Cast
- Colleen MooreColleen MooreColleen Moore was an American film actress, and one of the most fashionable stars of the silent film era.-Early life:...
- Kathleen O'Connor - James HallJames Hall (actor)James Hall was an American film actor. Born James E. Brown in Dallas, Texas, Hall began his film career during the silent film era. He made his sound film debut in the 1929 film The Canary Murder Case, opposite William Powell and Louise Brooks. In 1930, Hall co-starred in Howard Hughes' epic film...
- Rory O'More - Robert HomansRobert HomansRobert Edward Homans was an American film actor. He appeared in some 400 films between 1917 and 1946.He was born in Malden, Massachusetts and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
- Shamus O'Connor - Claude GillingwaterClaude GillingwaterClaude Benton Gillingwater was an American stage and screen actor. He first appeared on the stage then in 92 films between 1918 and 1939....
- Michael O'Connor - Tom O'BrienTom O'BrienThomas O’Brien, Tom O’Brien, or Tommy O'Brien may refer to:*Thomas D. O'Brien, co-founder of William Mitchell College of Law*Thomas J. O'Brien , Illinois politician...
- Black Barney - Robert Emmett O'Connor - Sir Timothy
- Aggie HerringAggie HerringAggie Herring was an American actress. She appeared in 119 films between 1915 and 1939.She was born in San Francisco, California and died in Santa Monica, California.-Selected filmography:* Daredevil Jack...
- Granny O'More - Betty FranciscoBetty FranciscoBetty Francisco was an American silent-film actress, appearing mainly in dramatic/romantic films...
- Frankie West - Julanne JohnstonJulanne JohnstonJulanne Johnston was an American silent film actress born in Indianapolis, Indiana.Johnston is known for being on William Randolph Hearst's yacht The Oneida during the weekend in November 1924 when film director and producer Thomas Ince later died of heart failure...
- Goldie Devore - Edward EarleEdward EarleEdward Earle was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in almost 400 films between 1914 and 1956.He was born in Toronto and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 90.-Selected filmography:* The Purple Dress...
- Ralph Prescott - Fred KelseyFred KelseyFrederick Alvin "Fred" Kelsey was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He appeared in 404 films between 1911 and 1958, often playing policemen or detectives . He also directed 37 films between 1914 and 1920...
- County Fair Manager - Barney Gilmore - County Fair Manager's Assistant
- Charles McHughCharles McHughCharles Stephen McHugh was an Australian politician. Born in South Australia, he was educated at Catholic schools before becoming a clerk and an official with the Australian Workers' Union. He served on Thebarton Town Council before being elected to the Australian Senate in 1922 as a Labor Senator...
- County Fair Manager's Assistant - Madam Bosocki - Fortune Teller
- George 'Gabby' HayesGeorge 'Gabby' HayesGeorge Francis "Gabby" Hayes was an American radio, film, and television actor. He was best known for his numerous appearances in Western movies as the colorful sidekick to the leading man.-Early years:...
- Taxi Driver (as George Hayes) - Anne SchaeferAnne SchaeferAnne Schaefer , was an American actress. She appeared in 147 films between 1911 and 1938.She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 86.-External links:...
- Landlady (as Ann Schaefer) - John Beck - Sir Timothy's Butler
- Oscar ApfelOscar ApfelOscar C. Apfel was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in 167 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.-Biography:...
- Max North - Otto LedererOtto LedererOtto Lederer was a Czech-born American film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1912 and 1933.He was born in Prague, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He was married to actress Gretchen Lederer...
- Izzy Levi - William H. Strauss - Moe Levi
- David Thursby - Scotch Barker
- Dan Crimmins - The Trouble Maker
Background
Smiling Irish Eyes was Colleen Moore's first musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
role, and only her second sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
. Produced by her husband at the time, John McCormick (1893-1961), the film featured Moore as Kathleen O'Connor, an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
woman who follows her musician sweetheart
Significant other
Significant other is colloquially used as a gender-blind term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about marital status, relationship status, or sexual orientation, as it is vague enough to avoid offense by using a term that an individual...
Rory O'More (James Hall) to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
This film is similar to an earlier film Moore made for Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
, Come On Over (1922), directed by Rupert Hughes
Rupert Hughes
Rupert Hughes was an American historian, novelist, film director and composer based in Hollywood. Hughes was born in Lancaster, Missouri. His parents were Felix Turner Hughes and Jean Amelia Summerlin, who were married in 1865. His brother Howard R. Hughes, Sr., co-founded the Hughes Tool Company....
. As in Smiling Irish Eyes, Colleen played an Irish girl whose betrothed crosses the ocean to start a new life in America before sending for her. In both films, the boyfriends do not send for her right away, in both she travels to America only to find the boyfriend seemingly besotted by another girl. In both, cases this is a misunderstanding. In Come On Over, Colleen's character reluctantly remains in America where she learns that her boyfriend is actually helping the father of the "other woman" quit drinking. In Smiling Irish Eyes, Colleen's character returns to Ireland, followed by the boyfriend, who convinces her back in Ireland that it was a misunderstanding. They marry and return to America.
Following this film, Moore made another film directed by Seiter, Footlights and Fools
Footlights and Fools
Footlights and Fools is a sound film billed by Warner Brothers as an all-talking musical film, released in Vitaphone with Technicolor sequences.-Production background:...
(1929). This latter film also had Technicolor sequences, and is now considered a lost film, although the Vitaphone discs survive.
Soundtrack
- "Old Killarney Fair"
- by Herman Ruby and Norman Spencer
- Sung by Coleen Moore
- "Then I'll Ride Home with You"
- by Herman Ruby and Norman Spencer
- Sung by Coleen Moore
- "A Wee Bit o' Love"
- by Herman Ruby and Norman Spencer
- Sung by Coleen Moore
- "Smiling Irish Eyes"
- by Herman Ruby and Ray Perkins
- Sung by Coleen Moore and James Hall
External links
- Smiling Irish Eyes at Irish Film & TV Research Online
- Smiling Irish Eyes at SilentEra
- Smiling Irish Eyes at Answers.com