Brendan Behan acts as guide to Dublin as he tells tales about the city. Documentary depicting the inner city Dublin of playwright, Brendan Behan, using a 'reconstructed' commentary and interviews with relatives.
I have always loved to listen to Brendan Behan talks, his writings, his truth, his great wisdom, his wit. Imagine the shock when recently I learned that I am related to Brendan Behan and his family through his uncle Peader Kearney who wrote "Amhrán na bhFiannhen, it took me quite a time to get up off the floor but yet in a sense comfortable state of shock and I hope that this feeling will never wear off
He said to the sister on his death bed " thank you sister and i hope all your children grow up to be Bishops " . I love my Irish heritage and its humor . RIP Brendan
I really enjoyed this video goin around dublin and moore street where my grannie and aunt were dealers my brothers sister and myself were born in bham but had wonderful times in dear old dublin mom and dad met brendan years ago in moore street!
For those wanting to know the date and who produced it, it is in the opening shot, MCMLXVI = 1966. Norcon Film Productions was established in 1963 by the late Norman Cohen and is a London based company.
Some great expressions there "It's a quare ould world, but as the man said, it's the best we have to be going on with" and "Every cripple has his way of walking".
Hi Diolúin o'h! I would like to include your video in the bibliography of the thesis i'm writing about Behan. Could you please tell me the source and the year it was realeased? Thank you so much :)
Behan always said he was a drinker with a writing problem !...he was in the rotunda and a woman compared it to his beer belly " Mr Behan the last time a saw a stomach like that it was on a woman ...and she was pregnant !"..... to which replied " O' indeed madam it has been ...and she is !!".
1966, the film Cat Ballou was being shown in the Ambassador (check video time 16:53), that was released in 1965, released in Ireland in 1966. "Reconstructed" means, Brendan Behan died in 1964, the documentary was made in 1966, two year after his death, they obviously got his comments about the places for the video before that, meaning he wasn't alive at the time of it's making. So the video footage is made around his story, his comments are reconstructed to fit the visual image, he might have talked about the Rotunda first, and then Kilmainham at another time, they reconstructed it to fit there visual story.
The narrator on the film footage is a great and sorely missed Irish (though not Dublin) actor - Ray McAnally. Always saddens me to watch this great wee film - seeing the places asociated with Behan to a soundtrack of someone pretending to be Behan. Even if that someone was such a great actor/Irishman in his own right
