Erin Go Boom

By JAY COCKS

HENNESSY

Directed by DON SHARP

Screenplay by RICHARD JOHNSON

The Queen of England is miffed at this movie. Her Majesty appears in a pivotal supporting role, opening Parliament, while an Irishman named Hennessy (Rod Steiger) is on the premises, about to blow the whole place skyward. The Queen's appearance is constructed entirely out of newsreel footage of the actual event, which the cagey film makers have intercut with their elaborate fictions. This has been accomplished so deftly, however, that the Queen appears to look up sharply as Steiger and Hollis of the Yard (Richard Johnson) struggle off to her left. Now, times are hard, and there is continuing debate over whether the royal family requires a larger allowance on which to subsist. So that audiences will be certain that the Queen has not turned to trouping to supplement her $3 million per annum state allowance, Hennessy is required to begin with a title --almost like a proclamation--assuring all that "the royal family took no part in the making of this film."

Let us leave to the Monty Python team and other functional surrealists the comic possibilities of the royal family's getting into show biz, contracting out for guest appearances and bickering over billing. (Would the Queen get first billing over the title because of royal privilege, or would Steiger outrank her because he won an Oscar?) Hennessy, the matter at hand, turns out to be a reasonably stout if rather unoriginal thriller about an Irish demolitions expert who swears vengeance on the British Empire.

His wife and beautiful young daughter are killed in a Belfast street struggle between young I.R.A. partisans and British troops. The I.R.A. has been trying for years to enlist Hennessy's technical skills in their struggle, but he has always resisted. Even after the tragedy, he remains a loner. He books himself a one-way ticket on the morning flight to London, hides out with the widow of an I.R.A. friend (Lee Remick), and starts putting together his fantastic plot.

Great Stress. The Yard gets on to him and becomes duly alarmed. The I.R.A. is even more desperate, however. If Hennessy's plot succeeds, the group will be discredited the world over. Pursued on all sides, nearly run to ground, the fanatic Hennessy is totally alone.

In situations like this, in which evidence of great stress is required, Steiger is not an actor to be trusted. He weeps frequently and unconvincingly. In fairness, he tries to restrain himself through much of the film, but he has become such a victim of his own mannerisms that he even overdoes underplaying. Similarly, Hennessy itself breaks down at crucial points. Director Don Sharp manages things well enough, however, to extract the maximum amount of tension and suspense from the kind of assassination plot that can come close to working only in movies.

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