The Hard Way (1980 film)

Last updated

The Hard Way
The Hard Way (1980) film DVD cover.jpg
Cover of the 2009 DVD release (Network)
Screenplay byKevin Grogan
Richard Ryan (as Richard F. Tombleson)
Directed byMichael Dryhurst
Starring Patrick McGoohan
Lee Van Cleef
Edna O'Brien
Music by Brian Eno
Tommy Potts
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producer John Boorman
Cinematography Henri Decaë
Editor Peter Tanner
Running time89 minutes
Production companiesBlack Lion Films (as Jack Gill Presents)
Incorporated Television Company (ITC)
Original release
Network ITV
Release19 February 1980 (1980-02-19)

The Hard Way is a 1980 British television action film directed by Michael Dryhurst and starring Patrick McGoohan, Lee Van Cleef and Edna O'Brien. [1] The screenplay was by Kevin Grogan and Richard Ryan (as Richard F. Tombleson).

Contents

A professional hitman is forced to do one last job.

Plot

Professional hitman John Connor carries out his final assassination and retires. His handler McNeal wants him for one more execution, which he promises will be the final one. Connor insists he is retired and refuses to take the assignment, until coerced by McNeal, who threatens to harm Connor's estranged wife. Connor cooperates in the preparations for the hit, but suddenly aborts the mission and flees. At the climax of the film, Connor confronts McNeal.

Cast

Production

Co-writer Richard Ryan was the initial director, but was replaced early in production by Michael Dryhurst. [2]

The film was made at The National Film Studios of Ireland (later renamed Ardmore Studios) in Bray, Ireland and on location. Connor's white cottage "Trapper" is on the Luggala Estate in Roundwood, County Wicklow. Kathleen delivers her monologue at St. Kevin's Kitchen, Glendalough, County Wicklow. [3]

Soundtrack

Critical reception

In British Crime Film: Subverting the Social Order, Barry Forshaw writes: "Dryhurst’s paring down of narrative, dialogue and performance to a bare minimum pays dividends and the film has a cold, affectless sheen which commands attention". [6]

The Radio Times gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "The scenery is breathtaking, but that scarcely compensates for the dour story and the lacklustre performances". [7]

The film was shown at the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival "Retrospective: After the Wave" event. [8] [9]

Releases

The film was released on DVD by Network in 2009. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Van Cleef</span> American actor (1925–1989)

Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, particularly the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy films For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). In 1983, he received a Golden Boot Award for his contribution to the Western film and television genre.

<i>The Prisoner</i> British science fiction television series (1967–1968)

The Prisoner is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan, with possible contributions from George Markstein. McGoohan portrays Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village after resigning from his position. The allegorical plotlines of the series contain elements of science fiction, psychological drama, and spy fiction. It was produced by Everyman Films for distribution by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Wicklow</span> County in Ireland

County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the east and the counties of Wexford to the south, Carlow to the southwest, Kildare to the west, and South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick McGoohan</span> Irish American actor (1928–2009)

Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an Irish-American actor of film, television, and theatre. Born in New York City to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England, began his career in England during the 1950s and became well known for the titular role, secret agent John Drake in the ITC espionage programme Danger Man (1960–1968). He then produced and created The Prisoner (1967–1968), a surrealistic television series in which he featured as Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wicklow Mountains</span> Mountain range in Ireland

The Wicklow Mountains form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Where the mountains extend into County Dublin, they are known locally as the Dublin Mountains. The highest peak is Lugnaquilla at 925 metres.

Eblana is an ancient Irish settlement that appears in the Geographia of Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), the Greek astronomer and cartographer, around the year 140 AD. It was traditionally believed by scholars to refer to the same site as the modern city of Dublin. The 19th-century writer Louis Agassiz used Eblana as a Latin equivalent for Dublin. However, more recent scholarship favours the north County Dublin seaside village of Loughshinny due to its proximity to Drumanagh, an important trading site with links to Roman Britain; it has even been described as a bridgehead of a possible Roman invasion. However, there is no definitive proof to tie Eblana to any location, so its exact identity remains a matter of speculation.

Events in the year 1960 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blessington</span> Town in western County Wicklow, Ireland

Blessington, historically known as Ballycomeen, is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow, Ireland, near the border with County Kildare. It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin, and is situated on the N81 road, which connects Dublin to Tullow. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.

The Hard Way may refer to:

Flynn is an Irish surname or first name, an anglicised form of the Irish Ó Floinn or possibly Mac Floinn, meaning "descendant or son of Flann". The name is more commonly used as a surname rather than a first name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireland national international rules football team</span>

The Ireland international rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football. The team is made up of Irish players from the Gaelic Athletic Association and Australian Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunlavin</span> Village in County Wicklow, Ireland

Dunlavin is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland, situated about 50 kilometres (30 mi) south-west of Dublin. It is centred on the junction of the R412 and R756 regional roads. It was founded around the end of the 17th century and became a prominent town in the area for a time. The village is in a civil parish of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood, County Wicklow</span> Village in County Wicklow, Ireland

Hollywood is a village in west County Wicklow, Ireland. It is 15 km (9 mi) south of Naas on the Wicklow Gap road near its junction with the N81 road. It is known for its pre-1950s themed fair which takes place in August of every year. A population of less than 100 people registered in the 2002 Census, though the community draws from a larger area which consists of about 500 people. The village is in a civil parish of the same name.

Francis James "Frank" Maher was a British stuntman who was best known for his roles as a stuntman or stunt coordinator in many British television shows including Danger Man and The Prisoner; he was frequently the stunt double for the series star Patrick McGoohan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valleymount</span> Village in County Wicklow, Ireland

Valleymount is a small village in western County Wicklow, Ireland. The name 'Valleymount' does not appear before 1839. Previously, the village was known as 'the Cross of Ballymore' or simply 'the Cross', with 'cross' referring to land belonging to the church.

<i>Trouble with Sex</i> 2005 Irish film

Trouble with Sex is a 2005 Irish drama film set in Dublin and co-written by Catriona McGowan and Fintan Connolly. It stars Aidan Gillen and Renée Weldon, who won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Liffey Swim</span>

The Liffey Swim, currently titled the Jones Engineering Dublin City Liffey Swim, is an annual race in Dublin's main river, the Liffey, and is one of Ireland's most famous traditional sporting events. The race is managed by a voluntary not-for-profit organisation, Leinster Open Sea. The 100th Liffey Swim over a 2.2 km course took place on Saturday 3 August 2019, starting at the Rory O’More Bridge beside the Guinness Brewery and finishing at North Wall Quay in front of the Customs House.

Leonard Ian Abrahamson is an Irish film and television director. He is best known for directing independent films Adam & Paul (2004), Garage (2007), What Richard Did (2012), Frank (2014), and Room (2015), all of which contributed to Abrahamson's six Irish Film and Television Awards.

Shane O'Meara is an Irish actor, known for his roles as Connor Mulgrew in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road and Sean Donoghue in the BBC medical soap opera, Doctors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offaly county football team</span> Gaelic football team

The Offaly county football team represents Offaly in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Offaly GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Leinster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

References

  1. "The Hard Way". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  2. Flynn, Arthur (2004). The Story of Irish Film. Currach Press. pp. 141–2. ISBN   9781856079143.
  3. "The Unmutual Reviews: The Hard Way (DVD)". The Unmutual. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  4. "Music For Films". Discogs. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  5. "The Liffey Banks". Discogs. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  6. Forshaw, Barry (2012). British Crime Film: Subverting the Social Order. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 146–7. ISBN   9781137005038.
  7. Parkinson, David. "The Hard Way". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  8. Carrelll, Severin. "Edinburgh film festival to screen 'lost and forgotten' British movies". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  9. Dale, Paul. "EIFF launches its 2010 programme". Edinburgh Festival, The List. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  10. "Hard Way, The". Network on Air. Retrieved 1 March 2022.