Murphy’s Town Hall Athenry 51 16th March 1954 – Strangers On A Train, a 1951 Alfred Hitchcock Thriller Noir starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker was screened in the Hall (source: the Hall Journal). The film was based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 novel of the same name. Hitchcock's cameo occurs 11 minutes into the film, where he is seen boarding a train carrying a double bass in a soft case. 24th 25th March 1954 – Athenry Players performed The Wise Have Not Spoken in the Hall, a play by Paul Vincent Carroll (source: Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 27th March 1954, page 3: 92 “Athenry players open their season on Wednesday and Thursday of this week with Paul Vincent Carroll's The Wise Have Not Spoken. They have a very strong cast and have great hopes for the production at the Scarriff Drama Festival in which they are to compete on Sunday next.” 5th & 6th April 1954 – The Quiet Man (1952), starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, was screened in the Hall, (source: the Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 3rd April 1954, page 11).93 19th April 1954 – Athenry Players again performed Paul Vincent Carroll’s The Wise Have Not Spoken in the Hall (source: Hall Journal). It is worth noting several of the Players, including Dick Murphy’s daughter Joan, would later be awarded Certificates of Merit for their 28th April 1954 performance of this play in Sportex Hall Athlone as part of the All-Ireland Drama Festival. Connacht Tribune 2nd October 1954, page 5, reported the following under the heading Players Get Drama Awards: “Athenry Productions resumed activity on Tuesday night when, at an informal tea in the Old School, the president, Mr Stephen Jordan, presented four members with certificates awarded at the All-Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone. Although handicapped by the illness of one of their players, whose part had to be read from the stage, the Athenry club won seventh place at the Festival with their presentation of Paul Vincent Carroll’s The Wise Have Not Spoken. Presented with their certificates were Michael Bray, Tuam (Francis McElroy), Tom Armstrong (Fr Tiffney), Kitty Lardner (Catherine McElroy) and Joan Murphy (Una McElroy)...” 94 27th April 1954 – Monkey Business, a 1952 ‘screwball’ comedy, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn and Marilyn Monroe was screened in the Hall, (source: the Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 24th April 1954, page 11). This film is sometimes referred to as Howard Hawks' Monkey Business, in order to distinguish it from the Marx Brothers 1931 film of the same name. 28th May 1954 – Song of the Thin Man, a 1947 Comedy starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick & Nora Charles, was screened in the Hall (source: the Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 22nd May 1954, page 11). This was the sixth and final film in the MGM Thin Man series based on the characters created by Dashiell Hammett. 8th June 1954 – The Emperor Waltz, a 1948 Musical directed by Billy Wilder, starring Bing Crosby and Joan Fontaine was screened in the Hall, (source: the Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 5th June 1954, page 13). The film was inspired by a real-life incident involving Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. NB: The Hall advert placed on page 13 of the 5th June 1954 Connacht Tribune also contains an interesting note, as follow: “Patrons please note that the Management have now installed two of the most up-to-date projectors and sound equipment.” 16th July 1954 – Show Boat, a 1951 Musical starring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead and Leif Erickson was screened in the Hall (source: the Hall Journal, see also Connacht Tribune 10th July 1954, page 11). It was based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name. 92 NB: Louis D’alton’s Players had performed this same play in the Hall 2 years earlier, in late February 1952 93 This movie was screened again in March 1955 94 The Certificates of Merit were awarded in May 1954 but were not distributed to the recipients until later in the year, as reported above.
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