Smiling Irish Eyes

Smiling Irish Eyes (1929) is a Vitaphone American pre-Code musical film with Technicolor sequences.[1] The film is now considered a lost film. However, the Vitaphone discs still exist.[2]

Smiling Irish Eyes
Publicity still of Colleen Moore in costume for Smiling Irish Eyes.
Directed byWilliam A. Seiter
Written byThomas J. Geraghty (story, screenplay, titles)
Produced byJohn McCormick
StarringColleen Moore
James Hall
Robert Homans
Claude Gillingwater
CinematographyHenry Freulich
Sidney Hickox
Edited byAlexander Hall
Music byLouis Silvers
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release dates
  • July 28, 1929 (1929-07-28) (sound version)
  • September 22, 1929 (1929-09-22) (silent version)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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 to 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 they wed and return to America.

Cast

Background

Smiling Irish Eyes was Colleen Moore's first musical 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.[3][4]

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.

Soundtrack
  • "Old Killarney Fair"
by Herman Ruby and Norman Spencer
Sung by Colleen Moore
  • "Then I'll Ride Home with You"
by Herman Ruby and Norman Spencer
Sung by Colleen 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 Colleen Moore and James Hall

See also

References
  • Jeff Codori (2012), Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star, McFarland Publishing,(Print ISBN 978-0-7864-4969-9, EBook ISBN 978-0-7864-8899-5).
  1. The Lodi News-Sentinel (March 6, 1930), page 23
  2. SilentEra entry
  3. Rockett, Kevin; Luke Gibbons; John Hill (1987). John Hill (ed.). Cinema and Ireland. Taylor & Francis. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7099-4216-0. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  4. "Smiling Irish Eyes (1929)". All Movie Guide. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
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