FORMER YOUGHAL TOWN COUNCILLOR OLLY CASEY is set for a whale of an adventure next November when he travels to America to deliver his reminiscences on the filming of Moby Dick in Youghal to a theatre audience. Olly will be the guest of Paris-based Irish theatre company Gare St. Lazare Players Ireland, who will be performing their one-man adaption of Moby Dick in the Zeiterion Performing Arts Centre, New Bedford, Massachussets. The show runs for three performances on Fri/Sat Nov 4th & 5th during the renowned company’s ten-venue US tour  as part of ‘Imagine Ireland- a Year of Irish arts in America 2011,’ supported by Culture Ireland.

A themed lecture, walking tour, a children’s film festival and a related art exhibition will accompany the show’s run. Olly will also travel with some photos from the time and is keen to hear from anyone who has any relevant material or memorabilia that he could also bring on the trip.

Olly’s invitation comes after his recollections impressed the acting group when they performed the play at the Mall Arts Centre in April 2009 during his term as mayor. “As a 12 year- old I watched those scenes being filmed back in 1954? and I can remember it all as if it was yesterday,” says Olly. “A lot of what I recall would be undocumented and it seemed to strike a strong chord with the group. When I got the e-mail inviting ne to join them in November I was both honoured and delighted.”

Obliging

Herman Melville’s 1851 novel is often considered America’s greatest ever noel. John Huston’s 1956 film portrayal with Gregory Peck and Richard Basehart is likewise deemed a classic. Aficionados of either are sure to be intrigued by the Youghal man’s eyewitness accounts to his hometown assuming the mantle of a mid-19th century New England whaling port. “I remember seeing the repeated takes in the opening scenes and hearing Ishmael’s (Royal Dano) famous warning to Starbuck (Leo Genn): ‘At sea one day you’ll smell land where there’ll be no land and on that day Ahab will go to his grave, but he’ll rise again within the hour,’” he recalls with a chuckle.

Olly says that practically all the cast and crew lodged locally, “except Gregory Peck, who stayed in the Metropole in Cork. We’d follow them around, picking up their discarded cigarette boxes and asking for autographs. They were very obliging. If we asked ten times, they’d sign,” he recalls. Mr. Peck, for all his prowess and presence was “probably here more in a promotional capacity,” offers Olly, “as he doesn’t appear in the film until well out at sea.”

Pubs and prosperity

The filming centred round Barry’s Lane, where Paddy Linehan, proprietor of Linehan’s Bar, acquired a special dispensation to open from 6 am. “It was always jammed and Paddy, fast on the ball, erected a banner portraying ‘Moby Dick’s Saloon’ on the front of his premises. Linehan’s of course subsequently and ever since became Moby Dick’s Bar.

Across the laneway stood a pub of a different ilk. “That was Mrs. Boland’s house, its frontage altered to represent Peter Coffin’s (Joseph Tomelty) Spouter Inn,” informs Olly. “Then at either end of the lane you had the Youghal fire brigade creating rain by turning on the hoses while huge fans dispersed the spray onto the set!”

Though the town only features in the opening minutes the filming spanned June to most of August, providing an incredible boost to a local, depressed economy. “Certainly a lot of money was spent on supplies and materials,” agrees Olly. “Then there was work on the set itself. My mother, Margaret (‘Tilly’) got 30 shillings a day –that’s €9 a week- as an extra. My father John was earning £7 a week working at the gasworks so you can gauge how lucrative it was. I remember seeing hundreds gathering at the back of the town hall hoping to get hired as extras. At the same time you would get Gregory Peck dodging in and out the back and front entrances!”

Abiding memories for an ambassador

Olly’s insights are further augmented through his mother’s role as caretaker in the town, where she had close proximity to the many props and accessories stored there. Yet one of his dearest impressions of the time came many years later, as he perused some photographs of the occasion provided by council colleague Liam Burke. “I recognised my mother crossing the Market Square in her costume as an extra,” he says. “That image has really stayed with me.”

His most abiding memory from the live event however derives from watching the iconic, early morning scene of Captain Ahab’s ship, the Peaquod, sail past Youghal Lighthouse, “towards the world.” He reasons it as reflective of Walter Raleigh, to name but one, having also sailed from Youghal to visit the world.

Though not by sea, the lone traveller that will be Olly Casey will depart Youghal for the wider world next November as an ambassador for the town in similar vein. “Yes, I’m conscious that in a personal capacity I am promoting Youghal to some extent,” he agrees. “And it would be great if something positive for the town were to arise from it. We’ll wait and see.”

Lauded show

As for the other one-man performance, Gare St Lazare’s adaption sees actor Conor Lovett, accompanied by original music from Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh on fiddle, viola and uileann pipes “catche the humour and the wisdom of Ishmael’s commentary,” according to Zeiterion’s website, adding, “It is everything Moby Dick should be.”

The critics seem to agree: “A Must-see. Lovett holds us spellbound as he captures the humour as well as the wisdom of Melville,” swoons the Irish Examiner;  “A distillation of Melville’s genius,” urges the Irish Times. “Mesmerizin,” echoes Eamon McCann and “Lovett’s capacity to hold an audience is remarkable,” considers” the Guardian. Wait until they see Olly…..!!

Olly Casey is keen to hear form anyone who could lend memorabilia for his journey; Please contact him on 086-8105739

 

Cra’ze Ireland, it’s called. A new group of YouTubers headed by Seán Creagh, touring the country on the trail of some of the biggest names in film history ever to come to Ireland. First stop, Youghal!

Last Sunday (4th Sept. 2011) saw the start of this groups new “road-trip” film campaign. A group of seven actors, artists and film enthusiasts arrived in Youghal in search of the site where John Huston directed the 1956 classic, Moby Dick.

The film was, naturally enough, quite an attraction at the time it was filmed. People came from Cork City and all around to witness the event. But it’s wonderful to see that, over fifty years later, it is still bringing curious visitors to the town! Starring Oscar Award winner Gregory Peck as the fearsome but intriguing Captain Ahab, Moby Dick was the ideal film for emerging film-maker Seán Creagh to begin with. He and his team aimed to retell some of the important historical facts surrounding the film and also to put their own spin on the classic with a short re-enactment.

Gregory Peck was, of course, the star of the film. However, it should not be forgotten that Youghal itself took on an important role in the film: it played the part of the American shipping town New Bedford. Cra’ze Ireland began their day by capturing some of the more scenic elements of the town by itself. Elements like the iconic clock tower emphasise just how historic and important the location is even without the influence of Hollywood. After all, Edmund Spenser wrote part of The Fairie Queene during his visit; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle named a character from one of his later Holmes stories Inspector Youghal as a tribute to the town, and Sir Walter Raleigh left behind a fine legacy, having been its mayor for two years and (more crucially, from an Irish perspective) having chosen it as the planting ground for Europe’s very first potato.

After taking advantage of the area’s rich heritage, the troop of film-makers began to look at landmarks like Moby Dick’s. The aptly named pub is a lasting beacon of the influence that John Huston’s visit had on Youghal. He would sit in the pub every morning and devise his day’s filming plans. His actors we, by all accounts very friendly with the locals. Spectators came from all over Ireland and Britain to see the shoot. The inspiration that Huston brought has left a visible mark on the town in places such as the pub, and has added greatly to its charm.
Click on the video clip below to see an excerpt from the 1954  film Moby Dick. This is the complete part that was filmed in Youghal

History lesson complete, it was time for Cra’ze Ireland to make some history of its own. Never modest in his ambitions, director Seán Creagh has been making his name in the theatre world for the last three years and now he is setting his sights on the film industry. His theatrical debut was a gutsy performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, no less. While a risky move, the play’s outstanding success won him a lot of interest and praise. Still a believer in taking the bull by the horns, he is tackling the Shakespeares of the film world: John Huston, John Ford, Stephen Spielberg… Cra’ze Ireland plans to tour the country, re-staging and telling the history of such classics as The Quiet Man, Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart, and making them available on YouTube.

Their first “road-trip”, Moby Dick, is a prime example of this. While there have been plenty of documentaries over the years, showing us again and again in different ways the prosperity, the inspiration and the joy that John Huston and Gregory Peck brought, Seán believes that something is being lost. A historian can tell you it was exciting, but are you excited? A documentary can show you the past, but what does that have to do with me now? Gregory Peck was the name in 1956, but we all know that what exhilarates one generation can actually seem boring to the next. Cra’ze Ireland aims to revive some of the feelings attached to the films. Moby Dick happened in 1956, but it happened again last Sunday. The way to keep Ireland’s cinematic history alive, Seán says, is to update it, to relive it, to keep it relevant.
Click on the video below to see a short documentary on the making of Moby Dick in Youghal

Cra’ze Ireland were thrilled to meet the locals in Youghal, who provided insight into the John Huston classic and proved that Moby Dick is still very much alive in the hearts of the people. One young lad told tales of his grandfather who had a small part in the film. When the final product airs on YouTube shortly, the director hopes that Youghal will look proudly on his team’s humble contribution to the town’s proud and ongoing history.

Following the Steps of Giants
by Tess Healy Maguire

ON SUNDAY LAST (4th Sept. 2011) Sean Creagh, Cork filmmaker and head of Craze Productions, asked me to join him in Youghal to kick off his new film series.  Starting with John Huston’s film Moby Dick, he plans to revisit places where cinematic classics have been shot in Ireland.

Combining clips from the original films, staged re-enactments, anecdotes and historical trivia, he offers a fresh perspective on both the films and the towns involved.  As I live only a few miles away, I couldn’t resist joining him.  Though the wind and rain tried to sweep us into the sea, we made our way to the Clock Gate for some background shots.  Looking at this beautiful old building, it’s easy to forget it was once used as a prison.

A carved stone slab reminds us that here the hangman plied his trade.  The nearby Paddy Linehan’s pub served as the base for John Huston, the cast and crew of Moby Dick when the film was shot in 1954.  Paintings on the walls and small plaques mark the event.  Gregory Peck played the iconic Captain Ahab.  Such was the popularity of this Oscar winning actor that people would take the train from Cork to Youghal in the hope of catching a glimpse of the man at work.  Hollywood royalty or not, if Mr Peck wanted to call home, he had to join the queue at the pub to take his turn on the one phone available.  Every morning director Huston would go to the pub and plan the day’s shooting.

One of the film’s most memorable scenes, the women waving good bye to their men, was shot just a few feet away in Youghal harbour.  Audiences viewing the finished product cannot imagine how long it can take to capture the few minutes or seconds that appear on the screen.  Our re-enactments were pared down to a handful of actors simply dressed, placed in the spots where cinema legends had used crowds, cameras and cranes to create the illusion of New Bedford whalers.  For this type of “guerrilla filmmaking”, the huge multiple cameras and boom microphones are replaced by a pair of handheld digital cameras and a tiny sound recorder.  Lighting is whatever nature provides so the changeable seaside weather provides an extra challenge.

Despite the sunshine, the cutting wind gave our performances the shivers Herman Melville’s New England coast demanded.  We held our positions and shot the scene.  Our Captain Ahab, Cork actor Raymond Brothers, balanced carefully on his fake peg leg on the edge of the pier.  The gusting wind fought hard to take our captain off to sea.  There were no screens, green or blue, to keep us from the bracing breeze or provide a way to drop in the computer wizardry now standard in feature films.  Of course with films of any size, you shoot the scene from as many angles as you can with and without the actors.  Shots and recordings must be taken of backgrounds and any natural sounds needed.

After all that, you re-shoot because the car horn drowned out the dialogue, the rain returned, an inquisitive dog visited or any of the varied, unpredictable little incidents that turn a minutes work into an hour.  Passersby paused to watch, take photos and share stories.  When told what we were filming, a young boy informed us that his grandad worked on the original.  Despite the hurry-up-and-wait of filming, we managed to get all the outdoor shots done before losing the light.  All the varies pieces will be whittled and woven together during the editing process to create the final short film.

Chilled and tired, Sean and the rest of the cast retired to the pub to try to capture a last bit of the legend before catching a Cork-bound bus.  I crept home to wrap myself around a large mug of tea.  Moby Dick will be followed by a trip to Cong to find The Quiet Man.  Hopefully I’ll defrost before the film debuts on YouTube.

Click on image to enlarge -Pictures: Youghalonline