The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
Langrishe, Go Down (1978)
Harold Pinter
TV script
English
Pinter's adaptation of Aidan Higgins' novel of the same name about three sisters living in a decaying mansion in the Ireland of the 30's. The arrival of a German student begins a subtle invasion of their private world.
Date of Composition: 25 January 1970 - 1978
Adapted From: Langrishe, Go Down (1966)
Adapted Work Note: Jack Emery asked Pinter whether he considered writing the screenplay in Ireland. Pinter replied: "I didn't need to. I had my Ireland in me. And I had Aidan Higgins's Ireland in me. There was no need to refresh myself...I was over there in '49, '50 and '51 with Anew McMaster (The Irish actor-manager and subject of the Pinter prose piece 'Mac'). In fact, by a pure coincidence, they shot the film in the Waterford area. So when I went there I actually hadn't been there for about 28 years." Pinter said of the adaptation: "An independent producer called Max Rosenberg came to me with Langrishe, Go Down, a novel by Aidan Higgins, on which he had taken an option. It was a brilliant, haunting book and I much enjoyed adapting it. Naturally, the finance could not easily be found and it languished as a project for some years. Finally, David Jones at the BBC came across the script and was determined to direct it. He did, in Ireland, in 1978. The film was true to both the script and the book and I thought it tough and delicate. Jeremy Irons scored a bull's-eye with his portrait of the unscrupulous German student."
Linked Works
Langrishe, Go Down
Linked Places
No Linked places have been added to this work record yet.
Publishers
Methuen on (1982)
First published in The French Lieutenant's Woman and Other Screenplays (The Last Tycoon, Langrishe, Go Down)
Faber and Faber Ltd on (1991)
Republication of The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Other Screenplays.
Characters
Otto Beck (Age: Unknown, Male)
Helen Langrishe (Age: Unknown, Female)
First Man on Bus (Age: Unknown, Male)
Second Man on Bus (Age: Unknown, Male)
Lily Langrishe (Age: Unknown, Female)
Imogen Langrishe (Age: Unknown, Female)
Joseph Feeney (Age: Unknown, Male)
Maureen Layde (Age: Unknown, Female)
Barry Shannon (Age: Unknown, Male)
Mr Langrishe (Age: Unknown, Male)
Mrs Langrishe (Age: Unknown, Female)
Priest (Age: Unknown, Male)
Resources
No resources have been added to this work record yet.
Sources
BFI Online
https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b737399dc
URL
Plot summary from BFI Online page.
British Library
URL
Harold Pinter's Official Website
http://www.haroldpinter.org/films/films_langrishe.shtml
URL
Source for Adapted Work Note.
A Harold Pinter Chronology
William Baker, A Harold Pinter Chronology, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2013.
Academic book
Composition dates.