Murphy’s Town Hall Cinema Athenry 20 23rd March 1939 – The Magnificent Brute, a 1936 Universal Pictures Drama was screened in the Hall was screened in the Hall by Daniel Ryan (source: Hall Journal). Victor McLaglen, Binnie Barnes and Jean Dixon star. NB: It would be screened again on 16th November 1948 by E Smith Travelling Cinema at 9.00pm. 30th March 1939 – I Found Stella Parish, a 1935 Warner Bros Drama starring Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane and Paul Lukas was screened in the Hall by Daniel Ryan, Kilkee (source: Hall Journal). 20th April 1939 – Frisco Kid, a 1935 Warner Bros Film starring James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Ricardo Cortez, Lili Damita, and Barton MacLane was screened by Daniel Ryan (source: Hall Journal). 4th May 1939 – Colleen, a 1936 Warner Bros Musical Comedy starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Jack Oakie and Joan Blondell was screened in the Hall by Daniel Ryan (source: Hall Journal). 9th May 1939 – The Big Broadcast of 1938, a Paramount Pictures Musical Comedy starring WC Fields, Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope was screened in the Hall by J Walkin (source: Hall Journal). NB: Bob Hope’s real name was Lesley Townes Hope. 12th May 1939 – One Hundred Men and a Girl, a 1937 Universal Pictures Musical Comedy was screened in the Hall by Daniel Ryan (source: Hall Journal). Deanna Durbin, Leopold Stokowski, Adolphe Menjou and Alice Brady star. NB: It would be screened in the Hall again on 19th February 1947 by Cineroad Shows Eire and 6th January 1948 by O Smith. Canadian born Deanna Durbin’s real name was Edna Mae Durbin. 16th May 1939 – Champagne Waltz, a 1937 Paramount Pictures Musical Comedy starring Gladys Swarthout, Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie was screened in the Hall by J Walkin (source: Hall Journal). 21st June 1939 – Bulldog Drummond at Bay, a 1937 Republic Pictures Mystery movie starring John Lodge, Dorothy Mackaill, Victor Jory and Claud Allister was screened in the Hall by Billy Walsh Talkies (source: Hall Journal). NB: The screenplay is based on the novel of the same title. It was 9th novel in the Bulldog Drummond series, written by HC McNeile under the pen name Sapper and first published in 1935. 22nd June 1939 – Lily of Killarney (aka Bride of the Lake), a 1934 Twickenham Studios Musical starring John Garrick, Gina Malo and Leslie Perrins was screened in the Hall by Billy Walsh (source: Hall Journal). The film is based on the play, The Colleen Bawn, by Dion Boucicault. Talking Pictures: “Set in Ireland, a poor Landowner’s rival frames him for a murder.” Almost ten years earlier, in August 1929, The Bowyer Westwood Grand Opera Company had performed it in the Hall as an Opera in Three Acts. 33 The 21st January 1938 Farr v Braddock Fight in Madison Square Garden was also screened in the Hall on this date. Irish-American Jim Braddock was victorious on this occasion: “Apparently well beaten at the end of the eighth round, veteran Jim Braddock staged a fighting finish to his 10 round bout with Tommy Farr, of Wales, and won the decision here last night.” The Adelaide Mail 22nd January 1938, page 1. 25th June 1939 – Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, a 1937 Walt Disney Animated Feature Film, with a screenplay based on Brothers Grimm 1812 fairytale, was screened in the Hall by Leo Caslin (source: Hall Journal). NB: Adriana Caselotti provided the voice of Snow White. This Disney film was the first feature length animated movie ever made. The inspiration for Disney’s Snow White is believed to have been planted in 15 year old Walt’s mind when he saw the 1916 Silent Film adaptation of the story, directed by J Searle Dawley and starring Marguerite Clark, as Snow White (see screen capture on left). Maria Callas was a student of Caselotti’s sister, Louise. 33 The libretto, by Oxenford & Dion Boucicault, is based on Boucicault's own play The Colleen Bawn
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