Captain Lightfoot

Last updated
Captain Lightfoot
Captain Lightfoot - Film Poster.jpg
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Screenplay by W. R. Burnett
Oscar Brodney
Based ona novel by W. R. Burnett
Produced by Ross Hunter
Starring Rock Hudson
Barbara Rush
Jeff Morrow
Cinematography Irving Glassberg
Edited byFrank Gross
Music by Heinz Roemheld
Herman Stein
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • February 18, 1955 (1955-02-18)(Chicago, Illinois)
  • March 26, 1955 (1955-03-26)(United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.3 million (US) [1]

Captain Lightfoot is a 1955 American CinemaScope Technicolor adventure film directed by Douglas Sirk starring Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush and Jeff Morrow and is Sirk's adaptation of a book by W. R. Burnett written in 1954.

Contents

The movie is set in the early 19th century with the hero and his brother-in-arms becoming highwaymen, robbing the wealthy around the foothills of Dublin, Ireland. Captain Lightfoot falls in love, and the ensuing drama threatens everyone's safety.

The movie was filmed around Clogherhead, County Louth, Marlay Park in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, and in the Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow. Slane Castle in Slane County Meath was used as the exterior of Ballymore Castle.

Director/writer Michael Cimino utilized the nicknames of Martin and Doherty for the main characters in his debut feature film, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974).

Plot

In 1815, Michael Martin, member of an Irish revolutionary society, turns highwayman to support it, and soon becomes an outlaw. In Dublin, he meets famous rebel "Captain Thunderbolt" and becomes his second-in-command, under the name "Lightfoot."

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>All That Heaven Allows</i> 1955 film by Douglas Sirk

All That Heaven Allows is a 1955 American drama romance film directed by Douglas Sirk, produced by Ross Hunter, and adapted by Peg Fenwick from a story by Edna L. Lee and Harry Lee. It stars Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in a tale about the social complications that arise following the development of a romance between a well-to-do widow and a younger man, who owns a tree nursery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Hudson</span> American actor (1925–1985)

Rock Hudson was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. He was a prominent figure in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Ledwidge</span> Irish poet

Francis Edward Ledwidge was a 20th-century Irish poet. From Slane, County Meath, and sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was later also known as a First World War war poet. He befriended the established writer Lord Dunsany, who helped with publication of his works. He was killed in action at Ypres in 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slane Castle</span> 18th-century building in Ireland

Slane Castle is located in the village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family seat of the Conyngham family since it was built in the late 18th century, on land first purchased in 1703 by Brig.-Gen. Henry Conyngham.

<i>Thunderbolt and Lightfoot</i> 1974 film directed by Michael Cimino

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a 1974 American crime comedy film written and directed by Michael Cimino and starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, and Geoffrey Lewis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slane Festival</span> Recurring Irish concert

The Slane Festival is a recurring concert held most years since 1981 on the grounds of Slane Castle on the outskirts of Slane in County Meath, Ireland. The castle is owned by The 8th Marquess Conyngham, who was known by the courtesy title the Earl of Mount Charles from 1974 until 2009. Slane lies between Navan and Drogheda, about 45 km northwest of Dublin. Concerts typically occur on a Saturday in August, from 12:00 to 22:00. The sloping grounds of Slane Castle form a natural amphitheatre which is ideal for concerts. As many as 70,000–110,000 people usually attend. One of the venue boundaries is the River Boyne. Two people died while trying to swim the river to gain free access to R.E.M.'s concert in 1995. The minimum age of admission to the Slane Festival was reduced in 2006 from 18 to 16 because of complaints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Toone</span> Irish actor

Geoffrey Toone was an English character actor and former matinee idol, born in Ireland. Most of his film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he did play the lead character in the Hammer Films production The Terror of the Tongs in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Rush</span> Award winning US Actress

Barbara Rush is an American actress. In 1954, Rush won the Golden Globe Award as most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American science-fiction film It Came from Outer Space. Later in her career, Rush became a regular performer in the television series Peyton Place, and appeared in TV movies, miniseries, and a variety of other programs, including the soap opera All My Children and family drama 7th Heaven, as well as starring in films, including The Young Philadelphians, The Young Lions, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and Hombre.

<i>U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland</i> 2003 concert video by U2

U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland is a concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was filmed on 1 September 2001 at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland, during the European leg of the group's Elevation Tour. The video was released on DVD in November 2003. Although Slane Concerts at the castle are traditionally held once a year, U2 played two concerts; the second one was filmed for the video, and was the band's final show on the European leg of the tour. U2 Go Home was the second of two concert videos from the tour, preceded by 2001's Elevation 2001: Live from Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Hunter</span> American actor

Ross Hunter was an American film and television producer and actor. He is best known for producing light comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959), and the glamorous melodramas Magnificent Obsession (1954), Imitation of Life (1959), and Back Street (1961).

Doherty is an Irish surname. It is anglicized of the Gaelic Ó Dochartaigh.

Lightfoot may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howth Castle</span> Castle within demesne at Howth, near Dublin, Ireland

Howth Castle and estate lie just outside the village of Howth, County Dublin in Ireland, in the administration of Fingal County Council. The castle was the ancestral home of the line of the St Lawrence family that had held the area since the Norman Invasion of 1180, and held the title of Lord of Howth until circa 1425, the Baron Howth to 1767, then Earl of Howth until 1909. The castle and estate are held since 1909 by their distaff heirs, the Gaisford-St Lawrence family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Morrow</span> American actor and World War II veteran

Leslie Irving Morrow, known as Jeff Morrow, was an American actor educated at Pratt Institute in his native New York City. Morrow was a commercial artist prior to turning to acting. Early in his career, he acted on the Broadway stage using the name Irving Morrow.

<i>Magnificent Obsession</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by Douglas Sirk

Magnificent Obsession is a 1954 American romantic drama film directed by Douglas Sirk starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. It is a remake of the 1935 film by the same name, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor. Both are based on the 1929 novel Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clogherhead</span> Fishing village in County Louth, Ireland

Clogherhead is a fishing village in County Louth, Ireland. Located in a natural bay on the east coast it is bordered by the villages of Annagassan to the north and Termonfeckin to the south. It has a population of 2,145 according to the 2016 census. It is located in the townlands of Clogher and Callystown, about 12 km (7 mi) northeast of Drogheda. As a seaside village, its main industries are fishing and farming, and there has been an RNLI lifeboat stationed in the village for over 100 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Mountcharles</span> Anglo-Irish nobleman

Henry Vivien Pierpont Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham, styled as Viscount Slane until 1974 and as Earl of Mount Charles from 1974 until 2009 and predominantly known as Lord Mount Charles, is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who is best known for the rock concerts that he organises at his home Slane Castle, and for his column in the Irish Daily Mirror under the byline "Lord Henry".

<i>Never Say Goodbye</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by Jerry Hopper

Never Say Goodbye is a 1956 American drama romance film directed by Jerry Hopper starring Rock Hudson. The film is loosely based on the play Come Prima Meglio Di Prima by Luigi Pirandello. It is a remake of This Love of Ours (1945).

<i>Taza, Son of Cochise</i> 1954 film by Douglas Sirk

Taza, Son of Cochise is a 1954 American Western film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson and Barbara Rush. The film was shot in 3D, and is one of just two films confirmed to have been released in the Pola-Lite 3D System using one projector.

References

  1. 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
  2. "Captain Lightfoot". The New Yorker .

Tony Tracy, "Captain Lightfoot (1955): Caught between a Rock (Hudson) and a Rapparee," Screening Irish America (ed. Ruth Barton), (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2009)