Hennessy *** (1975, Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, Richard Johnson, Trevor Howard, Eric Porter, Peter Egan) – Classic Movie Review 10,731

Director Don Sharp’s controversial 1975 British topical action thriller Hennessy stars Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, Richard Johnson, Trevor Howard, Eric Porter and Peter Egan.

British soldiers kill Irish explosives man Niall Hennessy (Steiger)’s wife and daughter in Ireland, so he decides to take revenge by blowing up the Houses of Parliament and the monarch at a State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, in this workable thriller that attracted a lot of media attention and notoriety when some cinemas refused to show it because of its IRA theme and the Queen’s appearance in newsreel footage.

Johnson, who provided the original story, plays Inspector Hollis, our man who has to co-operate with IRA chief Sean Tobin (Porter), who does not want the public outcry, to try to stop old Hennessy in his nefarious plan.

The compelling Steiger gives a lift to this fair, pretty tense thriller with solid performances from a decent cast of reliable actors and taut direction from a capable action film-maker. It is set in 1972.

It is well crafted. John Gay writes the screenplay, and there is good work on the score by John Scott and cinematography by Ernest Steward.

Hennessy (1975) was released on 31 July 1975 in New York City as the first theatrical movie of Patrick Stewart, followed by Hedda, released in December 1975.

When the film was submitted to the BBFC, it was rejected because it appeared that Queen Elizabeth II was acting in the film. But American International Pictures producer Samuel Z Arkoff got the board’s approval by adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie stating that Queen Elizabeth’s appearance was done using newsreel footage and that the Royal Family had not participated in the making of the film: ‘This motion picture incorporates extracts from a news film of The Queen at a State Opening of Parliament which, when photographed, was not intended for use in a fictional context. The Directors of Hennessy Film Productions Ltd would therefore like to make it clear that the Royal Family took no part in the making of this film.’

However, then the film’s English distributor EMI stated they were ‘a defender of the palace’ and refused to handle the film and the J Arthur Rank Organisation joined the boycott, so the film played in only a few British cinemas.

Remick accepted a star supporting role as it reunited her with Steiger and writer john Gay from No Way To Treat a Lady.

 © Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,731

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com