My Wild Irish Rose
Brief Synopsis
Musical biography of Irish songwriter Chauncey Olcott.
Cast & Crew
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David Butler
Director
Dennis Morgan
Chauncey Olcott
Arlene Dahl
Rose Donovan
Andrea King
Lillian Russell
Alan Hale
John Donovan
George Tobias
Nick Popolis
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Biography
Release Date
Dec
27,
1947
Premiere Information
New York opening: 24 Dec 1947
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the book Song in His Heart by Rita Olcott (New York, 1939).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 41m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
During the late 1800s, Chauncey Olcott, a tugboat operator with show business aspirations, talks his way into a dinner party for star Lillian Russell. After he sings, Lillian speaks approvingly of his voice, and with that to bolster him, Chauncey Stells his mother, Mrs. Brennan, that he intends to leave home to pursue a singing career. Mrs. Brennan gives Chauncey a watch that belonged to his father, and asks him not to use his father's name until he can honor it with success. Chauncey pawns the watch to buy a banjo and, using the stage name Jack Chancellor, travels around the country singing by the roadside. One day, he trades his carriage and some money to a singing waiter for the lease on a bar in the country. Later, he stops a runaway horse carrying beautiful Rose Donovan and immediately falls in love with her. Chauncey's plans are stymied when he learns the real owner of the bar is Nick Popolis, who demotes Chauncey to janitor, and to make matters worse, Rose is engaged to a man named Terry O'Rourke. Vowing to love Rose from afar, Chauncey joins a minstrel show. Rose brings Popolis, Terry and her father John to New York to hear Chauncey sing in the minstrel show. There, Terry discovers Chauncey's feelings for Rose and sends some of his friends to beat up the singer. After Chauncey wins the fight with the help of his friends, Rose suggests that he meet her and her father at church the next day, but before he gets there, Chauncey is arrested on a warrant sworn out by Terry's friends. Several days later, Duke Muldoon, another member of the minstrel show, pays Chauncey's bail, but by this time, he has lost his job. Searching for a new job, Chauncey again encounters Lillian Russell, and she hires him to sing in her show. Publicity rumors of a romance between Lillian and Chauncey so disturb Rose that she travels to New York to discover the truth. Although Chauncey tries to explain, Rose misunderstands, and hurt, returns home. When Lillian's show closes, Popolis, who manages the Irish singer William Scanlon, hires Chauncey to sing in the show. For the first time, Chauncey performs using his own name. On St. Patrick's Day, Scanlon is unable to sing, and Chauncey takes his place. Although the crowd is furious at first, Chauncey's voice enchants them, and Scanlon dubs Chauncey his successor by giving him a watch he received from the Prince of Wales. Chauncey's mother is so moved by his singing that she apologizes for not being more supportive. Because Donovan, an alderman, only saw Chauncey perform in minstrel makeup and under a pseudonym, he does not recognize him and asks him to sing at a political rally. Chauncey agrees, then asks Rose to elope with him. Duke is delegated to bring Donovan to Greenwich, Connecticut after the ceremony. At first Donovan is furious, but when Chauncey promises to marry Rose again in church, Donovan gives the couple his blessing.
Director
David Butler
Director
Cast
Dennis Morgan
Chauncey Olcott
Arlene Dahl
Rose Donovan
Andrea King
Lillian Russell
Alan Hale
John Donovan
George Tobias
Nick Popolis
George O'brien
Duke Muldoon
Sara Allgood
Mrs. Brennan
Ben Blue
Hopper
William Frawley
William Scanlon
Don Mcguire
Terry O'Rourke
Charles Irwin
Foote
Phil Stanton
Augustus Pitou
George Cleveland
Captain Brennan
Clifton Young
Joe Brennan
Oscar O'brien
Pat Daly
Ruby Dandridge
Vella
Grady Sutton
Brown
William Davidson
Brewster
Douglas Wood
Rawson
Charles Marsh
Stone
Igor Dega
Dance specialty
Pierre Andre
Dance specialty
The Three Dunhills
Dance specialty
Lou Wills Jr.
Dance specialty
Andrew Tombes
Barman
Monte Blue
Barman
Charles Williams
Husband
Faith Kruger
Wife
Kernan Cripps
Heckler
Johnnie Morris
Heckler
Donald Kerr
Heckler
Rodney Bell
Lame-brain
Robert Lowell
Tenor
Philo Mccullough
Theater manager
Gino Corrado
Maitre'd
Joe Bernard
Bus driver
Eddie Parker
Bruiser
George Anderson
Policeman
Jack Mower
Policeman
Ross Ford
Office boy
Eddie Kane
Webb
Tom Stevenson
Lee
George Campeau
Reporter
Herbert Anderson
Reporter
Joe Devlin
Irishman
Brooks Benedict
Irishman
Peggy Knudsen
Leading lady
Cy Shindell
Gallery god
Susanne Rosser
Tall, sexy girl
Wally Ruth
Drummer
Emmett Vogan
Doctor
Edward Clark
Justice of the peace
William Gould
Mr. O'Rourke
Brandon Hurst
Gardner
Forbes Murray
Chauncey Olcott's stage father
Winifred Harris
Chauncey Olcott's stage mother
Sylvia Andrew
Cleaning woman
Lillian Castle
Cleaning woman
Billy Green
River boat captain
Crew
Ernest R. Ball
Composer
Harry Barndollar
Special Effects Director
Jay Blackton
Composer
James A. Bland
Composer
J. Keirn Brennan
Composer
Albert H. Brown
Composer
Robert Burks
Special Effects
Ed Carrere
Art Director
Dudley Chambers
Vocal Arrangements
Murray Cutter
Orchestra Arrangement
Charles Neil Daniels
Composer
Arthur Edeson
Director of Photography
Gus Edwards
Composer
Sidney Fields
Additional Dialogue
Leo F. Forbstein
Music Director
David Forrest
Sound
Edwin Gilbert
Additional Dialogue
George Graff Jr.
Composer
Steve Graham
Composer
Ray Heindorf
Music numbers orch and Conductor by
William Jacobs
Producer
M. K. Jerome
Composer
Stanley Jones
Sound
Natalie Kalmus
Technicolor col Director
Ted Koehler
Composer
Mitchell Kovaleski
Technicolor col Associate
James Leicester
Montage
Edward Madden
Composer
Peter Milne
Screenwriter
Irene Morra
Film Editor
Chauncey Olcott
Composer
Leroy Prinz
Music numbers created and Director by
Lyle Reifsnider
Set Decoration
Seymour Rice
Composer
William J. Scanlan
Composer
Robert B. Smith
Composer
Max Steiner
Addl Music comp and Adapted by
Andrew B. Sterling
Composer
John Stromberg
Composer
Dan Sullivan
Composer
Travilla
Wardrobe
Charles Vance
Dialogue Director
Harry Von Tilzer
Composer
James J. Walker
Composer
Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer
Perc Westmore
Makeup Artist
Rida Johnson Young
Composer
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Biography
Release Date
Dec
27,
1947
Premiere Information
New York opening: 24 Dec 1947
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the book Song in His Heart by Rita Olcott (New York, 1939).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 41m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Award Nominations
Best Score
1947
Articles
My Wild Irish Rose
Songwriter Chauncey Olcott might never have been to Ireland, but his infatuation with the Emerald Isle was expressed in songs like "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and "Mother Machree". This biopic of the popular Gay Nineties performer doesn't stint on musical numbers (including a few, perplexingly and cringingly, in blackface), but the story is bound together by a spurious love triangle between Olcott's early patron Lillian Russell (Andrea King) and Rose Donovan (Arlene Dahl). "Perhaps the Warner Brothers, who produced this velvety-hued Technicolor hodgepodge of clichés, couldn't find sufficient dramatic incident in the life of the popular singer . . . to justify sticking to biographical facts," huffed the New York Times. Regardless, crowds wooed by the trailer's promise of "Color, Colleens, and Killarney!" went to the theaters in droves, making this a gigantic moneymaker for Warner Brothers and opening the door for leading man Dennis Morgan to do other bright musicals like the Doris Day picture It's A Great Feeling (1949).
My Wild Irish Rose
Songwriter Chauncey Olcott might never have been to Ireland, but his infatuation with the Emerald Isle was expressed in songs like "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and "Mother Machree". This biopic of the popular Gay Nineties performer doesn't stint on musical numbers (including a few, perplexingly and cringingly, in blackface), but the story is bound together by a spurious love triangle between Olcott's early patron Lillian Russell (Andrea King) and Rose Donovan (Arlene Dahl). "Perhaps the Warner Brothers, who produced this velvety-hued Technicolor hodgepodge of clichés, couldn't find sufficient dramatic incident in the life of the popular singer . . . to justify sticking to biographical facts," huffed the New York Times. Regardless, crowds wooed by the trailer's promise of "Color, Colleens, and Killarney!" went to the theaters in droves, making this a gigantic moneymaker for Warner Brothers and opening the door for leading man Dennis Morgan to do other bright musicals like the Doris Day picture It's A Great Feeling (1949).
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Chauncey Olcott was born in Buffalo, New York in 1860. He began his professional career in 1876 with the Thatcher, Primrose & West minstrel shows and became a well-known soloist before studying singing in London in 1890. In the United States, Olcott starred in Irish musical plays such as The Minstrel of Clare and The Heart of Paddy Whack, and popularized such songs as "My Wild Irish Rose" and "Mother Machree." He divorced his first wife, Cora, and then married Margaret O'Donovan. Olcott died on March 18, 1932. Hollywood Reporter news items add the following information about the production: The property, including all of Olcott's songs, was purchased from Charles R. Rogers Productions. Alexis Smith was to play a leading role. Nelson Eddy and Lee Sullivan were considered for the role of "Chauncey Olcott." According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, Dennis Morgan's nine-year-old daughter made her screen debut in the film, but she is not listed in the film's credits. Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner received an Oscar nomination for their musical score.
