One Step Beyond - S02E12 - "The Stone Cutter"

 

Produced at the same time as the more well-known The Twilight Zone (1959), this series was an extension of the tradition of radio horror and supernatural dramas such as Light's Out, The Mysterious Traveler and The Witches Tale. As with the Twilight Zone and the radio programs each tale was book-ended by an introduction and conclusion by a host. However, rather than creating fictional stories with supernatural twists and turns, this program sought out "real" stories of the supernatural, including ghosts, disappearances, monsters and the like, re-creating them for each episode. No solutions to these mysteries were ever found, and viewers could only scratch their heads and wonder, "what if it's real?"

Elderly Simon Lockhart (Arthur Shields) is convinced that he will die in just a few days, because a mysterious stone cutter has already chiseled that date onto his tombstone.

 

 

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

 

A merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.

Aboard the freighter Glencairn, the lives of the crew are lived out in fear, loneliness, suspicion and cameraderie. The men smuggle drink and women aboard, fight with each other, spy on each other, comfort each other as death approaches, and rescue each other from danger.

This film's opening prologue states: "With their hates and desires men are changing the face of the earth - but they cannot change the Sea. Men who live on the Sea never change - for they live in a lonely world apart as they drift from one rusty tramp steamer to the next, forging the life-lines of Nations -."

Arthur Shields plays the role of 'Donkeyman'.

 

 

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

 

At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.

Life is hard in the Welsh mining town and no less so for the Morgan family. Seen through the eyes of the family's youngest, Huw, we learn of the family's trials and tribulations. Family patriarch Gwilym and his older sons work in the mines, dangerous and unhealthy as it is. Gwilym has greater hopes for his youngest son, but Huw has his own ideas on how to honor his father. Daughter Angharad is the most beautiful girl in the valley and is very much in love with Mr. Gruffydd, who isn't sure he can provide her the life she deserves. Times are hard and good men find themselves out of work and exploited by unseen mine owners.

Arthur Shields (Mr. Parry) and John Loder (Ianto Morgan) fought on opposite sides of the Easter Rising of 1916: Shields fought with the Irish republicans while Loder was a second lieutenant in the British Army. Furthermore, Loder was the son of General William Lowe, the British officer to whom Pádraig Pearse surrendered on April 29, 1916. Shields had previously played Pearse in The Plough and the Stars (1936).

Arthur Shields plays the role of 'Mr. Parry', starring alongside Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald, among others.

"How Green Was My Valley" famously beat Orson WellesCitizen Kane (1941) to a Best Picture Oscar.

 

Ar Son Na Poblachta | RTÉ One | Monday 18th January, 2016

 

This was a documentary series that aired on RTÉ One, 7.30pm, Ar Son na Poblachta. The first episode of the series focuses on the life and career of actor and revolutionary, Arthur Shields. An actor and stage manager at the Abbey Theatre and as a 17 year-old was caught up in the fervour of the Rising as it broke out around the corner from the Abbey Theatre, on O’Connell Street. The Hardiman Library holds the Shields Family Archive, comprising records relating to Arthur Shields and his brother William, more commonly known by his acting-name of Barry FitzGerald. The archive is a fascinating visual and written account of Arthur’s role in the Easter Rising, his Abbey Theatre career as well as the part he and his brother Barry played in the Irish invasion of Hollywood in the 1930s, becoming two of the major screen-stars of a golden age for Hollywood. 

 

 

'Your Show Time' - The Adventure of the Speckled Band, 1949, Sherlock Holmes, Short Film

 

Filmed dramas of famous literary short stories by authors such as Guy de Maupassant, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, etc.

Arthur Shields played the role of 'The Bookshop Man'.

 

 

T13 Arthur Shields Archive at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway

 

Video exhibition of material from the Shields Family Archive, held at the James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway, focusing on Arthur Shields, participant in the Easter Rising of 1916 and actor, director and stage manager at the Abbey Theatre Dublin.
Copyright James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway.

 

 

‘Reabhloidithe Hollywood’

 

‘Reabhloidithe Hollywood’ - Directed by Brian Reddin.

"The extraordinary story of how two Irish rebels became Hollywood stars. George Brent was a debonair leading man and Arthur Shields a reliable character actor. However, becoming Hollywood actors wasn't the only thing these men had in common. They shared a love of Ireland and freedom, which lead them to join the fight for Irish Independence."

 

 

Going My Way Official Trailer - Bing Crosby Movie (1944)

 

Youthful Father Chuck O'Malley led a colorful life of sports, song, and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy, but his level gaze and twinkling eyes make it clear that he knows he made the right choice. After joining a parish, O'Malley's worldly knowledge helps him connect with a gang of kids looking for direction and handle the business details of the church-building fund, winning over his aging, conventional superior, Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald).

Fitzgerald was nominated by the Academy for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards for the same performance, for the same film, the only time this has happened. Fitzgerald won the Oscar in the supporting category but lost in the lead category to co-star Bing Crosby. Due to wartime metal shortages, Fitzgerald received a plaster Oscar (instead of a gold-plated britannium one) for his performance. A few weeks after he won, he broke the head off his plaster Oscar while practicing his golf swing.

 

 

A Conversation between Barry Fitzgerald and Sean O'Casey (1959).

A conversation between Barry Fitzgerald and Sean O'Casey (1959).