Blarney At The Box Office

Just two movies about Ireland, Agnes Browne and The Closer You Get, became the latest offbeat films catering to American audiences' interest in all things Irish.

The last 10 years or so have brought a string of Irish-themed movies to U.S. theaters, dealing with politics and rebellion (Michael Collins, In the Name of the Father), myth and legend (Into the West, The Secret of Roan Inish), music (The Commitments, Hear My Song) and the oddities of Irish families (Dancing at Lughnasa, The Snapper).

"There seems to be an enormous amount coming out of Ireland these days. Dare I say a glut?'' said Anjelica Huston, director and star of Agnes Browne, the story of an impoverished Irish widow coping with seven children. "There's a lot of good stuff from Ireland these days, very much like the wave of films that came out of Britain in the '60s."

The actress lived her early years in Ireland and starred in the last film by her father, legendary director John Huston, an adaptation of James Joyce's The Dead, about a lively Dublin holiday gathering and its aftermath.

Some Irish movies have become breakout hits, such as Waking Ned Devine and The Crying Game, which received five Academy Award nominations, including best picture and a screenplay Oscar for writer-director Neil Jordan in 1992.

Ireland has caught Hollywood's interest in decades past with such classics as John Ford's The Informer and The Quiet Man, perhaps the quintessential St. Patrick's Day flick. The Quiet Man starred John Wayne as an American boxer who returns to the Irish town of his birth and takes up with the locals, including hot-tempered Maureen O'Hara.

"If you're looking for an actress who represents Ireland, Maureen O'Hara would be it," said Sean O'Malley, a member of the Sons of Erin of Westfield, Mass.

"A beautiful woman, she's got that temper, and certainly the fiery red hair. And playing with John Wayne, who's all-American, I think in anybody's mind, you can't beat it," he added.

The Irish-born Jordan, whose other movies about Ireland include Michael Collins and The Butcher Boy, is among a cadre of directors who have sparked Hollywood's current interest in Ireland.

Others include Jim Sheridan, who co-produced Agnes Browne and directed My Left Foot and The Boxer, Alan Parker, director of The Commitments and Angela's Ashes, and Stephen Frears, who made The Snapper and The Van.

Feeding interest in the island has been news coverage of peace efforts in Northern Ireland after 30 years of "The Troubles" over British rule. Frank McCourt's Pulitzer-winning memoir Angela's Ashes and Irish fiction by such authors as Roddy Doyle (The Commitments, A Star Called Henry) also have contributed. And msic by Irish performers such as U2, the Pogues, Van Morrison and the Cranberries has helped drive Ireland's renaissance.

"I think we're the flavor of the month now," said Phyllis Towey Brugnolotti, who grew up in Ireland and now is assistant librarian at the American Irish Historical Society in New York City.

When she went to college in London in the 1950s, "it was very bad to be Irish. It was the lowest level of society," Brugnolotti said. She said it was a different story last summer, when she visited England and a woman overheard her Irish accent at a bookstore in Cambridge.

"This woman said, 'You're Irish, aren't you? You're so lucky,'" Brugnolotti said. "It was funny, because we never thought of ourselves as people to be envied."

Both Agnes Browne and The Closer You Get deal good-humoredly with some of the hard knocks of Irish life.

The Closer You Get involves a group of lonely bachelors on Ireland's isolated west coast who advertise for brides in an American newspaper.

Huston's title character in Agnes Browne comes to grips with life on the dole after her husband's death and a tragedy involving her best friend.

The movie has a dreamy ending involving Agnes' obsession with seeing singer Tom Jones in concert.

"There's a fairy-tale quality," Huston said. "A little epiphany at the end."

By David Germain;