''Girl with Green Eyes'' is a 1964 British film, which

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" ...

adapted from her novel ''The Lonely Girl''. It tells the story of a young, naive country girl's romance with a sophisticated older man. Directed by

Desmond Davis Desmond Stanley Tracey Davis (24 May 1926 – 3 July 2021) was a British film and television director, best known for his 1981 version of '' Clash of the Titans''. Early life and career Desmond Davis joined the British Army film unit serving a ...

, the film stars Peter Finch,

Rita Tushingham Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including ''A Taste of Honey'' (1961), ''The Leather Boys'' (1964), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), ...

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...

and

Julian Glover Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the ...

. As the film is in black and white the green eyes are never seen. The film studies the blossoming relationship between a young girl and a man twice her age, but with her controlling much of the relationship.

Plot

Kate Brady, a young girl just out of

convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

, moves from her family home in the rural Irish countryside to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, where she works in a grocery shop and rooms with her friend and schoolmate, Baba Brennan. The girls go dancing at clubs and date young men they meet, but the down-to-earth Baba is more socially adept than shy, romantic Kate. On a ride to the countryside with one of Baba's boyfriends, the girls meet Eugene Gaillard, a sophisticated middle-aged

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Kate is attracted to him, and when she happens to see him again in a Dublin bookshop, uncharacteristically approaches him and strikes up a conversation. A friendship, and later a romantic relationship, develops between Kate and Eugene despite their age difference. Although clearly in love, and happy to join him in bed, she is unable to have sex. The repeated inability to have sex with Eugene starts to take its toll. The relationship worsens on her discovery that he is married with a child, although separated from his wife who has gone to the United States to obtain a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

. When Kate's father learns that his daughter is seeing a married man and thus apparently committing

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

, he and his friends go to Dublin and force Kate to return to his rural home. She sneaks out on the first morning but is waylaid by a cowhand. Later when the priest begins to lecture her she runs off. She returns to Eugene. Kate's father and his friends appear unexpectedly and punch Eugene in the face, but are driven off by his no-nonsense housekeeper Josie, who fires a shotgun at the ceiling and threatens them with the second barrel, forcing them to leave. Kate and Eugene then finally succeed in consummating their relationship. He buys her a ring and Kate treats it as a wedding ring. She starts wearing make-up and wearing her hair up, looking much more sophisticated. She tells a stranger "I got married today". They live together for a time. Eventually, Kate becomes unhappy as Eugene does not share her

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

beliefs, his friends do not regard Kate seriously, and he continues to correspond with his estranged wife, for whom he still has some feelings. When Eugene's wife sends a plane ticket Kate gives him an ultimatum to choose but he does not react as she wishes and it is the beginning of the end. Kate leaves Eugene and returns to Baba, who is packing to move to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She invites Kate to come along with her. Kate hopes that Eugene will come after her and she looks expectantly at the people on the dock edge as they sail off. He does not appear. Instead he sends word through Baba that their break-up is probably for the best. He wishes he had been younger or she had been more mature. Kate narrates explaining that she has changed and that she goes to

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...

. She meets "different people, different men".

Cast

as Kate Brady *

as Baba Brennan * Peter Finch as Eugene Gaillard * Marie Kean as Josie Hannigan * Arthur O'Sullivan as James Brady *

as Malachi Sullivan * T. P. McKenna as Father Brown the priest * Lislott Goettinger as Joanna *

Pat Laffan Patrick Laffan (8 June 1939 – 14 March 2019) was an Irish actor. Laffan is best remembered for playing the lothario milkman Pat Mustard in the Channel Four sitcom ''Father Ted'' episode " Speed 3" (1998), and Mr Burgess in Roddy Doyle R ...

as Bertie Counihan * Eileen Crowe as Mrs. Byrne * May Craig as Aunt * Joe Lynch as Andy Devlin * Yolande Turner as Mary Maguire *

Harry Brogan Harry Brogan (5 May 1904 – 20 May 1977) was an Irish actor often in comic roles. He was part of the Abbey Theatre from 1939 - 1976. 1939–1976: Abbey Theatre Harry Brogan was active in Irish theatre and a permanent member of the Abbey The ...

as Jack Holland * Michael Hennessey as Davey * Joe O'Donnell as Patrick Devlin * Micheal O'Briain as Lodger * David Kelly as Ticket Collector

Critical reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote "''Girl with Green Eyes'' is another of those remarkably fresh and natural films that have come from the Woodfall organisation, which is sparked by protean Tony Richardson and which has given us such a dazzling range of pictures as '' A Taste of Honey'', '' Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'' and '' Tom Jones''. While it is not as ambitious or extensive as any of those, it is a wonderfully tender, touching and humorous little drama of a lonely Irish girl." Similarly, ''Variety'' wrote that the film "has the smell of success," and that director "Davis is imaginative, prepared to take chances and has the sympathy to draw perceptive performances from his cast."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Girl With Green Eyes 1964 films 1964 drama films British black-and-white films British romantic drama films Films about writers Films based on Irish novels Films scored by John Addison Films set in Dublin (city) Films directed by Desmond Davis United Artists films Works by Edna O'Brien 1964 directorial debut films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films