The Life of Riley
A fascinating insight into the life and death of
Arthur Lucan...
On 15th September 2002 at the Theatre Museum in
Covent Garden, the actor Brian Murphy, who played Arthur
Lucan in 1985 in an ITV television adaptation of Alan Plater's play On Your Way Riley,
and Slim Ingram, who was Arthur Lucan’s friend and
show manager in the 1950s, talked on stage about their
memories of him. Illustrating this event was the
screening of a rare film of Lucan & McShane in their
most famous stage sketch, Brigettes Night Out.
Slim Ingram was with Arthur when he died at the Tivoli Theatre,
Hull, in 1954, and introduced Frank Seaton, the understudy who
went on for Arthur that night. Frank remembered it as a
difficult experience, since he’d never previously
gone on for Arthur - and hadn’t really had enough
rehearsals in the part !
Slim recounted some of the difficulties Arthur experienced
towards the end of his career. He spoke of the rows with
Kitty, who was suspected on one occasion of trying to
burn down the theatre where Arthur was appearing; of
Arthur’s visit to the Carey Street bankruptcy court
(Kitty had gone through his money like water); and of the
two rival Old Mother Riley shows that existed after
Arthur and Kitty separated, with Arthur touring on his own
while Kitty toured with one of Arthur’s understudies,
Roy Rolland, in a rival Old Mother Riley show !
Yet even when Arthur was getting only £30 a week for himself,
with the balance of his income going to the bankruptcy court
to pay off his creditors, he was still sending half of it
every week to Kitty, whom he never divorced.
Brian Murphy said how much he’d enjoyed playing Arthur,
alongside Maureen Lipman as Kitty. The stage production,
On Your Way Riley - which should have been
titled On Your Bike Riley, as that’s
what everyone called it (and as that was Arthur’s
catchphrase) - had a provincial tour, and in 1985 was adapted
for television by ITV. It had first toured in 1983,
with John Halstead and Yvonne Edgell playing Lucan and McShane.
Maureen Lipman, the well known Jewish comedian, was a
surprising choice for the part of the fiery Irish Catholic girl,
Kitty McShane. But Maureen grew up in Hull, and remembered
Old Mother Riley’s connection with the city.
Brian told an amusing account of his first meeting with Frank
Seaton, who was understudying him in the play. ‘Have
you ever done any understudy work before?’, he asked
innocently. ‘Well,’ came the reply, ‘I actually was
Arthur Lucan’s understudy, and went on for him the night he
died.’ “I fell off my chair backwards,” laughed Brian.
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| This event was reported in the local newspaper |
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The Double Act
Lucan and McShane’s act was formed in Ireland. Arthur Lucan toured there as
a red-nosed baggy-trousered clown character, meeting Kitty McShane (who was born
in Dublin in 1897) in 1913.
It was in a small Dublin pantomime that Arthur first put on the costume of the
old Irish washerwoman who he would play for the rest of his life. The Dame in
the panto, “Little Jack Horner”, fell ill, and Arthur had to take
over the part at short notice.
When Arthur and Kitty began touring together, their characters were originally
called simply ‘Mother’ and ‘Kathleen’.
Their most famous sketch was ‘Brigettes Night Out’, which revolved around
the long-suffering Mother waiting for “me daughter Brigette”
to come home. By 1932 they were starring in it at the London Palladium,
and it was featured in the Royal Command Performance of 1934.
Mother waits impatiently at home for her daughter to return after a date...
“She’s left me all alone, and she knows I can only read the clock when it
strikes!” At that moment, the clock strikes three am. “Oh dear. It’s
one o’clock, three times!”
Shocked that her daughter is out so late with a man, the dismayed Mother fumes:
“Every man before wedlock should be padlocked!”
Kitty arrives home, to be subjected to a furious inquisition:
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| Mother: |
“And did he kiss you?” |
| Kitty: |
“Yes, and I liked it, and I kissed him
back!” |
| Mother: |
“Come over...
WHERE did he kiss you?” |
| Kitty: |
“Between the Post Office and the
Railway Station.” |
Kitty protests that she loves the man and wants to marry him. She plays her ace.
“After all, Mother, you know what it’s like to be in love. You’ve been
married yourself.” But Arthur effortlessly trumps her: “Yes, but I married
your father; you want to marry a STRANGER!”
Eventually Kitty decides to stay, and Mother celebrates. “I’ll give you
a party: I’ll open a tin of sardines!”
The sketch has double-talk comedy, moments of pathos - and pure slapstick as a furious
row develops in which Lucan as the old woman destroys every piece of china on the set,
hurling plates, cups and jugs until only one piece remains intact. Until, of course,
he forgets he’s holding it, and smashes it. The moment when he realises, not
daring to look, holding just the handle as he feels for the non-existent jug, is pure
theatrical magic.
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Old Mother Riley’s Films
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Front of House sets
· Click on a link to see the Lobby Cards ·
Buy these from the Rare Film Posters website
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Old Mother Riley on Video
Trade Show poster (1943)
Old Mother Riley films are available on videotape in America
from the following commercial outlets -
Mad Phat Enterprises
Click here to order
(PAL or NTSC format)
Ronnie Cramer / Scorched Earth Productions
Scroll down the alphabetical list until you reach
“Old Mother Riley”
NB: Click here
for ‘Vampire Over London’
- aka ‘Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire’
Click
here for ordering information
(PAL or NTSC format)
Half.com
They often have lower prices than the others
Click here for ordering information
(NTSC format only)
Life Is A Movie
For ordering information click here
(NTSC format only)
Movies Unlimited
They usually have more Old Mother Riley films available than the others
Click here for ordering information
(NTSC format only)
Nostalgia Family
Click here for ordering information
(NTSC format only)
Videoflicks
NB: Priced in CANADIAN dollars (because they're a
Canadian company)
Click here for ordering information
(NTSC format only)
Amazon
NB: Many of Amazon’s members will NOT ship tapes outside the USA
(NTSC format only)
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NOTES: |
These are the only places where you can get the tapes -
they are NOT available in the UK. NTSC tapes will NOT play on an ordinary UK videorecorder
(the UK uses the PAL system). These links are only provided for information - they are
NOT an endorsement of these sites (but in practice we've
had excellent service from Mad Phat Enterprises).
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WARNING: |
Some of these sites sell films on DVD as well as on videotape.
Make sure you're buying a tape.
- North American DVD’s will NOT play in a
UK DVD player - |
NTSC to PAL Conversions
A number of specialist firms in the UK will
(for a fee) convert an NTSC format videotape to the UK’s PAL format
A Web search should find some. |
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Old Mother Riley on eBay
 Search eBay UK for Old Mother Riley items
Most of the Old Mother Riley films are available at eBay
on VHS video cassette (PAL or NTSC format)
or on DVD (Region 1 or Region 2 format)
Note :
Films sold on eBay UK are usually in
UK format (PAL video & Region 2 DVD)
However, you should ALWAYS check the format with the seller
WARNING
In my opinion, eBay is rife with counterfeit goods.
Make SURE you are buying a genuine, commercially released, product.
Watch out for cheap, poor quality, pirated fakes.
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Old Mother Riley
