Murphy’s Town Hall Athenry 31 23rd to 26th June 1941 – Anew McMaster’s Travelling Dramatic Company played the Hall for 4 nights, performing a different play each night: Love From A Stranger, a play in Three Acts adapted by Frank Vosper, from Philomel Cottage, a short story by Agatha Christie (Harold Pinter played Nigel Lawrence) David Garrick, a Comedy in Three Acts by Thomas William Robertson Othello, a Tragedy in Five Acts by William Shakespeare 56 The Bells, a play in Three Acts by Leopold David Lewis (associated with Sir Henry Irving) 13th July 1941 – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a 1939 comedy directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold, was screened in the Hall by the Caslin Travelling Picture Company (source: Hall Journal). This film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, winning one Oscar for Best Original Story. 17th August 1941 – From The Manger To The Cross, 57 was screened in the Hall by The African Missionary Sisters, Cork (source: Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 16th August 1941, page 7): “It packed the vast Albert Hall, London, for three months three times daily, and later played to record crowds in the London West End Cinema, The Cameo.” 31st August 1941 – Leo Caslin Travelling Picture Company screened The Man They Could Not Hang in the Hall, a 1939 horror film starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard, a scientist who develops a procedure for bringing the dead back to life. The cast includes Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox, and Roger Pryor (source: Hall Journal). 28th September 1941 – Behind Prison Gates, a 1939 Columbia Pictures Gangster movie, starring Brian Donlevy, Julie Bishop, and Dick Curtis was screened in the Hall by Leo Caslin Travelling Picture Company (source: Hall Journal). 8th October 1941 – Carl Clopet Productions, a popular Touring Drama Company were booked in to perform in the Hall for 1 night only (source: Hall Journal): Rebecca, a play in Three Acts by Daphne du Maurier 58 20th to 26th October 1941 – The Shannon Players (Alec de Gabriele & Company) performed the 7 plays listed below, across 7 consecutive nights in the Hall (source: Hall Journal): Little Pal, by H McKennon Death Takes A Holiday Kathleen Mavourneen, by Alec de Gabriele The Bandolero, by PE Brown The Green Goddess Eileen Allanah, by Louis D’alton Flapper Meeting 11th November 1941 – Boy Meets Girl, a 1938 Warner Bros ‘screwball’ comedy starring Jimmy Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Marie Wilson, Ralph Bellamy and Ronald Reagan was screened in the Hall by L Caslin Travelling Picture Company (source: Hall Journal). NB: The screenplay was based on the 1935 stage play of the same name. 14th December 1941 – Castle on the Hudson (aka Years Without Days), a 1940 Film Noir starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien was screened in the Hall by L Caslin Travelling Picture Company (source: Hall Journal). NB: This movie was a remake of 1932 Spencer Tracy film, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing. 11th January 1942 – It All Came True, a 1940 comedy crime caper starring Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart, was screened in the Hall by L Caslin Travelling Picture Company (source: Hall Journal). NB: It is based on the Louis Bromfield 1936 novel Better Than Life. 20th January 1942 – Music in My Heart, a 1940 Columbia Pictures romantic musical starring Tony Martin and Rita Hayworth was screened in the Hall by L Caslin Travelling Picture Company (source: Hall Journal). 56 Full title: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice 57 “Only sound film made of the Life of Our Lord”, as per the advertisement in the Connacht Tribune 16th August 1941. 58 Adapted for the stage by du Maurier herself, from her 1938 Gothic novel of the same name. It was later adapted for the big screen by Alfred Hitchcock.
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