Film Details
| Title | KERRY GOW, THE |
| Production company | Kalem Co |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Producer | OLCOTT, Sidney |
| Director | OLCOTT, Sidney |
| Script/Adaptation | GAUNTIER, Gene |
| Photography | HOLLISTER, George |
| Cast | Jack J Clark (Dan O'Hara, the Kerry Gow), Alice Hollister (Nora Drew), J P McGowan (Valentine Hay), Robert G Vignola (Darby O'Drive), Jack Melville (Raymond Drew), Eddie O'Sullivan (Patrick Drew), Sidney Olcott (Captain Sidney Kieman), George Lester (Major Gruff), Sonny O'Sullivan (Dinny Doyle), Helen Lindroth (Alice Doyle), Jack the jockey (as himself). |
| Colour | b&w |
| Sound | sil |
| Footage | 2770 |
| Release date | 1912 |
| Summary | Patrick Drew, without his children's knowledge, mortgages his farm to educate his son. Five years later he is in great distress. Valentine Hay, land agent, in love with Drew's daughter, Nora, believes he can win her, through the father; and to make his course clear he plans to eliminate Nora's sweetheart, Dan O'Hara (The Kerry Gow). Irish is in trouble with the Crown soldiers, and orders have been issued to arrest any man having arms in his possession. Hay, with his henchman Darby O'Drive, schemes to have pikes found in Dan's shop. O'Drive secures a willing tool in Kieman, an unfortunate drunkard. Learning of Drew's inability to discharge his mortgage. Hay buys it up and threatens to evict the farmer within a week if he does not promise his daughter's hand to the wily land ? agent. Dan wins Drew's consent to his marrying Nora, but the soldiers, guided by O'Drive, find the 'pikes' in Dan's shop, and he is promptly arrested. Raymond Drew, learning of the mortgage on his father's farm through an old friend, determines to enter his horse for the Kerry Purse, hoping and praying he will win the race. Dinny Doyle, O'Hara's friend, becomes suspicious of O'Drive and Hay, and watches their actions. To encourage O'Hara, Dinny rows out in a boat to the castle where O'Hara is confined, and lets the prisoner know of his presence in the vicinity. O'Hara takes a piece of paper and writes a pinpricked message reading, 'Bring clothes to-morrow night'. This he encloses in a bottle and throws out of the window. Dinny secures the clothes and takes up his position beneath the window of the Kerry Gow. Dan removes the grating from the window, crawls out on the ledge and makes a dive into the water many feet below. He quickly crawls into the boat with Dinny, and is rowed to safety. The day of the race Raymond plans to send news from the racetrack by the medium of carrier pigeons. Kieman, in a delirium, confesses his crime without implicating Hay or 0'Drive. His action, however, frees Dan from the law. O'Drive tells Hay of Raymond's entry for the Kerry Cup, and Hay determines to put in a 'ringer' against him. Shortly after the race starts the first carrier pigeon arrives at the farm with a note stating that Raymond wins the first heat. In the meantime Hay is preparing with his bailiffs to foreclose the mortgage on the farm. The second bird arrives with the message that Raymond has lost the second heat. The third bird comes in but has lost its message. Consternation reigns at the farm until word is brought that Raymond has won the third and final heat. Raymond rides at breakneck speed to the farm, arriving in time to pay off the mortgage before Hay can foreclose, and the unprincipled land agent is jailed on the further confession of the drunkard Kieman. (AKJ 13/2/1913:7). |
| Note | USA Rel 18/11/1912; IR Rel 10/12/1912; GB Rel 9/2/1913. Filmed in Ireland at the Lakes of Killamey, the Gap of Dunloe, and other locations, evidently during Gene Gauntier's brief return to the USA (hence her conspicuous absence from the published cast). Marsden's play was so popularly associated with its star, Joseph Murphy, that he is frequently referred to as its author. Gow is an Irish word for blacksmith. |
| Reference | Bio 19/12/1912:890-1 (ad); Kalem Kalender 1/11/1912:10-11; MPW 9/11/1912:530. |
| Format | 35mm |
| Language | English |
| Production credits | p.c: Kalem Co, p/d: Sidney Olcott, sc: Gene Gauntier from the play The Kerry Gow by Fred Marsden [W A Sliver], (1st perf. New York City, 12/6/1876; earlier known as Kerry Gow-Shiuv, 22/6/1876, Brooklyn, New York), c: George Hollister. |
| Location | Gap of Dunloe Lakes of Killarney Kerry |
| Genre/Category | Short Film Drama Historical Drama |
| Keywords | Rural Ireland Blacksmiths irish History Rebellions Irish Rebels Tenant Farmers |