DR DakotaCelt - re Playboy of the Western World.
I can thoroughly recommend "The Empress of Ireland" by Christopher Robbins. It is about the life of Director Brian Desmond Hurst" - funny, informative and at times very moving.
I will check it out...
I love the score from the 1963 version. IT was rather fascinating. It was also great to see one of the greats in Irish pipering, Leo Rowsome. It was done by Sean O Riada and his group, Ceoltoiri Cualann. Ceoltoiri Cualann was the forerunner to the Chieftains led by Paddy Moloney. Huge fan of Irish Music, specially the Chieftains.
It was one of the first movies to incorporate true traditional Irish music from an orchestral point of view. The music is from actual folk melodies and no incorporation of American-Irish vaudevillian influences.
The other movie that incorporated Irish music was Lovespell (AKA Tristan and Isolde). It was the first movie to use Irish traditional instruments for the score. The Chieftains were involved also in Kubrick's film, Barry Lyndon. They won an Oscar for their work on that one. They also contributed music to the movie, The Grey Fox, where they won a Juno award.
DRJRand55, you are welcome!