| The Brylcreem Boys | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Terence Ryan |
| Produced by | Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Brown |
| Written by | Jamie Brown, Terence Ryan |
| Starring | Billy Campbell Angus Macfadyen Jean Butler Gabriel Byrne Joe McGann John Gordon Sinclair |
| Music by | Richard Hartley |
| Cinematography | Gerry Lively |
| Distributed by | Guerilla Films |
| Release date(s) | 1998 |
| Running time | 124 min. |
| Country | Isle of Man |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 mil |
The Brylcreem Boys is a 1998 film directed and co-written by Terence Ryan about the extraordinary neutrality arrangements pertaining to Ireland during World War II, by the Éamon de Valera government. The title comes from a popular nickname for the RAF personnel during the period.[1]
Because of Irish neutrality during World War II, any Allied or Axis serviceman on active service found on Irish soil would be interned for the duration of hostilities. They were interned in adjoining camps, at Naas, County Kildare.
The film is a romantic comedy with a triangle formed by a Canadian pilot, a German pilot, both interned at the camp under extremely flexible arrangements, and a local woman.
The film stars Billy Campbell and Angus Macfadyen as the two pilots, Jean Butler as the Irish woman they fall in love with, and Gabriel Byrne as the internment camp commander Sean O'Brien.
Cast by Jo Gilbert, this was the first movie made on the Isle of Man since George Formby's No Limit in 1936.
It was also the film that established the Isle of Man Film Commission.[2]