In June 1997, Peck, who rarely gave interviews in his last years, sat down with Irish America Editor Patricia Harty. An edited version of that interview follows. "Will you pour?" The gentleman sitting across from me cracked a smile as I nodded and lifted the teapot, wondering if I would be able to complete the task without making a fool of myself. I felt as if I was in a … [Read more...] about Gregory Peck: A Class Act
Film & Television
First Word: Heroes for Our Time
"You cannot put a rope around the neck of an idea. ... You cannot confine it in the strongest prison cell that your slaves could ever build." – Sean O'Casey on the death of Thomas Ashe. ℘℘℘ Just as I was getting annoyed that no one on the Larry King tribute to Gregory Peck mentioned the actor's Irishness, he mentioned it himself. "It must be that Irish stubborn streak in me," … [Read more...] about First Word: Heroes for Our Time
The Magdalene Sisters
A disturbing movie by Peter Mullan on what happened to the "wayward" women of Ireland. Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters opens ironically with a wedding scene. But it is not a happy occasion. Margaret is lured by her cousin Kevin to an upstairs room where he rapes her. Kevin is chastised, but it is Margaret who has "shamed" her family and is carted off the next morning by … [Read more...] about The Magdalene Sisters
McCourt Returns to Teaching
Frank McCourt has been giving accent coaching to veteran American actor Paul Newman. After a dinner one night, Paul told Frank that he was playing an Irish character and would like some `accent' coaching. It was arranged that Paul would visit Frank at his apartment where Frank proceeded to read Paul's lines into a recorder. They then enjoyed coffee and a chat as Paul regaled … [Read more...] about McCourt Returns to Teaching
Liam: The Shock
of Recognition
Los Angeles Times film reviewer Kenneth Turan wryly observed that Liam, director Stephen Frears's British film about an Irish family in 1930s Liverpool, "does a better job of re-creating the ambience of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes than that film did." Avoiding the dramatic and visual monotony that makes Alan Parker's 1999 film of Angela's Ashes such an unrelievedly dreary … [Read more...] about Liam: The Shock
of Recognition