loogthan
Adventurer
A true career inspiration in the arts to a refined film analyst and screenwriter.
Posts: 62
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Post by loogthan on Jun 6, 2007 16:52:28 GMT -5
I have a question about Pierce’s earlier works as well. Did he have important roles in Murphy’s Stroke or Nancy Astor? I remember I read that both might have been released on VHS; however, they certainly are hard to find.
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Post by Ace on Jun 6, 2007 20:00:58 GMT -5
Murphy's Stroke has only been released on VHS in the UK. I'm not sure if it's for first hand sale anymore. He's on the box cover but his role is a supporting one or so I've been told. I've never seen it. It's the role that lead to getting Manions though.
Nancy Astor is an 8 part BBC miniseries filmed in 1981-2. It aired in the UK in 1982 and on Masterpiece Theater in the U.S. in 1984. Pierce plays her first husband Robert Gould Shaw and is in the first two hours of the series and for a few minutes in a later episode many years later. It's a sizable role and he deservingly was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for a Mini-Series/TV Movie in 1984. It's never been released on tape or DVD.
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Post by londonstreet on Jun 7, 2007 3:06:06 GMT -5
I bought Murphy's Stroke on VHS from Amazon UK about 3 or 4 years ago, it was new. I've just checked amazon and they haven't got it neither new or used. At that time there was also a uk site specialised on horses that was selling it, but I can't remember the name.
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Post by londonstreet on Jun 7, 2007 15:41:15 GMT -5
I've watched it today....the movie is about 70 minutes long and Pierce scenes are about 15/20 minutes. Pierce sings in this one....only few lines of what I guess is an Irish song. And he taps the roof of a taxi like he usually did in Remington Steele and he goes to the toilet as in Laws of Attractions. ;D I still have problems to understand the accent, not his but of almost all the other actors.
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Post by Ace on Jun 7, 2007 16:02:13 GMT -5
Thanks. That's a pretty sizable supporting role. Much more than he has in say Love Affair or The Mirror Has Two faces and I assume he's not getting dumped in it either. ;D
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Post by londonstreet on Jun 7, 2007 17:01:01 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jun 7, 2007 19:10:09 GMT -5
Soooo young and cute. Thank you! Better to have a film with no women then just have them to dump him like a third wheel. Much more belivable too.
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Post by sparklingblue on Jun 9, 2007 11:13:39 GMT -5
Barbara, can you quote the lines from the song Pierce sings? It should be mentioned again though: He's just too cute in this one!
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Post by respectanimals on Jun 9, 2007 13:45:10 GMT -5
Here are some pics....sorry for the too bad quality, but that's all I can do Wow! Thanks for the screen caps Barb! Murphy's Stroke is the main Pierce film that I haven't had the chance to see yet, much less get my hands on, so this was much appreciated. He looks a wee bit too young and goofy for my tastes though. LOL! I think I like the current older version of Pierce best.
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Post by londonstreet on Jun 9, 2007 14:13:15 GMT -5
Sparkling, I tried to write it down, but I can't understand each word....That's what I understood: Pierce: .......is London a wonderful sight............... and the people are working by day and by night here all the people who are drinking with him join him: ................potatoes.....nor....... ..................all in the street ........................that's what I was told so...................................... ............I might as weel be ..................where the mountains of ?Moher? ..........sweet town to the sea I'm sorry I can't be of more help.
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Post by steeleinc on Jun 9, 2007 15:22:12 GMT -5
This is the very famous Irish song "The Mountains of Mourne", which has tons of verses. Debra Pierce: .......is London a wonderful sight............... and the people are working by day and by night here all the people who are drinking with him join him: ................potatoes.....nor....... ..................all in the street ........................that's what I was told so...................................... ............I might as weel be ..................where the mountains of ?Moher? ..........sweet town to the sea I'm sorry I can't be of more help. [/quote]
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Post by Ace on Jun 9, 2007 16:22:20 GMT -5
The Mountains of Mourne is also used as a musical theme for Manions of America. Pierce hums it in Steele Hanging In There and as he told an interviewer a few years ago he likes to sing it in the shower. (lyrics written in 1896 or maybe some of them -- as said the song has many versions and verses and became used as an Irish Rebel song) Oh, Mary, this London's a wonderful sight With people here working by day and by night They don't sow potatoes, nor barley nor wheat But there' gangs of them digging for gold in the streets At least when I asked them that's what I was told So I just took a hand at this diggin' for gold But for all that I found there I might as well be Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. I believe that when writin' a wish you expressed As to how the fine ladies in London were dressed Well, if you believe me, when asked to a ball Faith, they don't wear no top to their dresses at all. Oh, I've seen them myself and you could not in trath Say if they were bound for a ball or a bath Don't be startin' them fashions now, Mary Macree, Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. I've seen England's king from the top of a bus And I've never known him, but he means to know us. And tho' by the Saxon we once were oppressed, Still I cheered, God forgive me, I cheered with the rest. And now that he's visited Erin's green shore We'll be much better friends than we've been heretofore When we've got all we want, we're as quiet as can be Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. You remember young Peter O'Loughlin, of course Well, now he is here at the head of the force I met him today, I was crossing the Strand And he stopped the whole street with a wave of his hand And there we stood talkin' of days that are gone While the whole population of London looked on But for all these great powers he's wishful like me To be back where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea. There's beautiful girls here, oh, never you mind With beautiful shapes nature never designed And lovely complexions all roses and cream But O'Loughlin remarked with regard to the same That if at those roses you venture to sip The colours might all come away on your lip So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waitin' for me Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. Pssst... this reminds me-- Debra, please check your private messages on this board.
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Post by londonstreet on Jun 10, 2007 6:01:12 GMT -5
Thanks Debra and Ace....I love the rhythm of this song, I'm going to look for it and now that I've got the title it will be easier. Guess I'm going to practice my listenning to English better ;D
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Post by sparklingblue on Jun 10, 2007 11:37:05 GMT -5
Thank you Barbara and Ace for the information. He sings it in the shower, eh? Makes for a nice mental image.
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Post by Ace on Jul 18, 2007 11:40:40 GMT -5
Looks like Murphy Stroke is coming to DVD in the UK. From the BBFC:MURPHY'S STROKE Video Feature Classified 18 July, 2007 . Run Time 71m 13s Consumer Advice: No consumer advice is available for this work This work was passed with no cuts made. The BBFC has placed this work in the COMEDY genre(s). The main spoken language in this work is English. Directed by Frank Cvitanovich The cast for this work includes: Niall Toibin, Tony Doyle, Pierce Brosnan, Harry Webster. When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 71m 13s. At the time of classification The Communications Practice was the holder of the rights or the brand name for this work. This work is made up of a number of separate components. Note that since February 2001 the BBFC has measured each component separately, but older works may not have the exact details, only a list of titles. 00:00:07:00 WARNING 01:11:06:00 MURPHYS STROKE A film or video, together with associated trailers may exist in several versions and all versions known to the BBFC are listed below. Category Type Date Company Run Time Cut Title Video Video 09/04/2002 Global Visions Ltd. 71m 8s No MURPHY'S STROKE Video Video 18/07/2007 The Communications Practice 71m 13s No MURPHY'S STROKE Details are likely to be more complete and accurate for the version submitted most recently. When a film is transferred to video the running time will be shorter by approximately 4% due to the differing number of frames per second. This does not mean that the video version has been cut or re-edited. This entry was last updated 18/07/2007
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Post by Ace on Feb 13, 2008 19:37:41 GMT -5
AGAINST ALL ODDS
02/13/2008 06:52:02 PM EST DAILY MAIL
IN the lounge of a London hotel, Irish racing millionaire Tony Murphy waited for the call that would tell him whether he could add another GBP1million to his fortune. It was 4.18pm. Some 300 miles north, at Cartmel race track in the Lake District, Murphy's trainer Edward O'Grady watched as a chestnut gelding called Gay Future took its place at the starting line. It was 4.19pm.
At Plumpton in East Sussex, Tony Collins, an Ayrshire trainer from Troon, checked his watch. It was 4.20pm.
The success or failure of the biggest sting in British racing history would be determined within the next few minutes on Bank Holiday Monday, August 26, 1974.
The plot to skin the bookies - who, 34 years later, still speak in hushed tones of 'Murphy's stroke' - had been hatched a year before in a pub in Galway, on the West Coast of Ireland.
The conspirators' plan was simple. There would be lookalike Gay Futures - one fast, one slow - neither of which had raced before.
In its first race, the horse would hopefully attract high odds. The official Gay Future would be an also ran. But on the day of the race, he would be swapped for the 'ringer'.
In the early hours of the day of the Cartmel race meeting, the horses were exchanged at a service station in Lancashire.
A few hours later, 'strategic' betting in Ireland and London on the Ulverston Novices' Hurdle would ensure winnings of GBP5million in today's money. It would be racing's Great Train Robbery.
In the London hotel at 4.23pm, the telephone rang. The Cork millionaire picked it up to hear Gay Future had won by 15 lengths.
Murphy, O'Grady and Collins had pulled it off. Or so they thought.
But the sting would be thwarted by suspicious bookmakers and the unwitting indiscretion of an Ayrshire stable girl.
The tale of how the 'Cork Mafia' almost pulled off the scam is told in Murphy's Stroke, starring Pierce Brosnan - one of 12 truelife DVDs free to Scottish Daily Mail readers.
The remarkable story began when Murphy arrived at the Galway pub and ordered O'Grady to find a fast horse to train in secret. Then they acquired another Gay Future to carry the name officially and be trained in public.
Collins's Troon stables was given the job. As far as the Jockey Club was concerned, Collins had the real Gay Future. At first, he was an unwitting accomplice.
THREE decades on, Collins, 71, recalled: 'I was on nodding terms with O'Grady.
He phoned and said he was sending a horse called Gay Future for me to train.' When it arrived, Collins realised it was a dud. 'Useless,' he said. 'I had some slow horses and it couldn't keep up with them. I rang O'Grady, who told me to persevere.' Gay Future showed no improvement.
When he again called O'Grady, the Irishman revealed they were 'planning a coup'.
Collins said: 'They asked me to go along with it. I thought it would be nice to give the bookies a bloody nose. Cartmel was chosen for the 'stroke'. The meeting was one of a dozen that day. With bigger races at fashionable tracks, the little hurdles race 'would slip under the bookmakers' radar'.
The conspirators went to enormous lengths to ensure that a bundle was riding on Gay Future - without lowering the odds.
Collins said: 'Apart from Gay Future, I entered two horses - Opera Cloak and Ankerwyke - at Plumpton and Southwell. They were a smokescreen and it was never intended they would run.
'I was in the dark about the syndicate's betting plan but they were placing doubles and trebles on the three horses.' Bookmakers regard trebles as 'mug' bets. But they didn't know the other two horses wouldn't run.
On the morning of the race, six conspirators - each with GBP6,000 - went round London placing doubles and trebles of GBP5, GBP10 and GBP20.
Under Turf rules, when the 'smokescreen' horses were withdrawn, all bets went on to Gay Future. The horse now had a massive amount of money on it.
There was another vital element.
The conspirators had to prevent punters on the course betting on the horse. If they did, it would reduce the odds.
Cartmel punters tittered as Gay Future emerged sweating from its box. They didn't know O'Grady had lathered its legs with soap..
The sniggers turned to guffaws when 'rookie' jockey Mr TA Jones fell off in the parade ring.
An incompetent rider on a nervous horse? No chance. So few backed Gay Future, which held at 10-1. But the 'rookie' rider was Timmy Jones, one of Ireland's finest jockeys, who rode to victory.
The scam had worked. So far.
Collins said: 'The syndicate was to rendezvous at the London hotel and when I arrived the party had started.' The celebrations were short-lived. The big bookmakers were already suspicious of the betting patterns and refused to pay out. ONE of Collins's stable girls was about to put the nail in the coffin.
The press had got wind of a con and a journalist phoned the stables. The girl unwittingly revealed that Opera Cloak and Ankerwyke - which should have been at Plumpton and Southwell - were grazing in a field nearby.
The police were called. Murphy and Collins were arrested and appeared at Preston Crown Court on fraud charges. O'Grady was safely back in Ireland.
Even then they might have got away with it. The judge, Mr Justice Caulfield, a racing enthusiast, bent over backwards to help them. He described Collins as 'a man of many fine qualities' and told Murphy: 'You remain a sportsman to the end.' He virtually instructed the jury to acquit but there was a wave of anti-Irish feeling - the IRA bombing campaign was at its height - and they were found guilty, fined GBP1,000 and 'warned off ' British race tracks for ten years.
Collins said: 'The Irish never recognised the ruling and Murphy attended meetings. They said I was welcome, too, but I didn't step on to another track until I went to Ayr ten years later.' And how much did he pocket from the 'stroke'? 'Buttons,' he said: 'I backed Gay Future in singles through my normal accounts.'
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Post by Brosnans Fans on Jan 31, 2009 8:30:29 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Oct 7, 2009 14:50:53 GMT -5
Pierce Brosnan Files: Mini-SeriesI've uploaded Pierce's "Nancy Astor" work - the two and a part episodes he was in. They're slightly higher quality vids - and therefore bigger. The two larger are 80-90mb (about 35min each) and the third is about 14mb.
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Post by Ace on Dec 30, 2009 0:44:04 GMT -5
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loogthan
Adventurer
A true career inspiration in the arts to a refined film analyst and screenwriter.
Posts: 62
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Post by loogthan on Mar 7, 2010 18:09:40 GMT -5
I just watched Murphy’s Stroke on DVD the other day (the version available from the Daily Mail) and Pierce looks adorable in it. The toasting at the end in the car reminded me of Remington and Daniel in Sting of Steele. One could almost imagine this role as a prequel to Remington Steele – perhaps an episode before Remington decides to follow the Royal Lavulite to the States.
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