Comments on: Brendan Gleeson as Winston Churchill in ‘Into the Storm’ – An Interview

By: Ann Carroll

Ann Carroll — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:05:52 +0000

bit of personal memory:
monsignor shannon (of wealthy Irish lineage) of st.thomas apostle catholic parish,( serving University of Chicago neighborhood’s arriviste yankee- irish gentry) entered the classroom of us 13 yr olds to ask a show of hands – “how many of your parents support germany against england?”. all hands up.
this, before pearl harbor. the well-bred msgr. shannon then launched a war of his own, to right our teenaged heads to defeat nazi millenial blood-lust. the monsignor single-handedly turned hundreds of feckless irish-american louts into fighting irish yanks- at Leyte Gulf, Mindanao, The Bulge, my 3 eager uncles among them,
…
Msgr himself a hero of sorts.
Unpopular at first, but then respected, after we beat Shickelgruber. (Chicago took in a large migration of slavic Poles, camp survivors., and oddly, mostly litterati…people of superior mentation).

A man of full discretion, he met weekly (Thurs. afternoons at 4, had the maid turn down the bed, then gave her and the young sacristan the half-day off)—with the wife of pres, of Hyde Park Bank. The maid was my relative.

The Monsignor never made bishop, so he just faded away to a wealthier far-off suburb after the war. But the pious women of St Thomas Apostle parish had only kind words of him in his wake- for at least 50 yrs….my grandmother, my mother, and surely the banker’s wife.

By: roman thomas

roman thomas — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:52:57 +0000

He said it’s funny how Americans forget how England stood up to the Nazis. Maybe he should remember how the Irish never stood up to the Nazis, actually let them roam around and go to school in Ireland.

And if England didn’t declare war against Germany cause they attacked Poland, whom England never helped, but actually sold out, then they wouldn’t have been in that mess.

By: MNiC

MNiC — Sun, 15 May 2011 08:08:58 +0000

I know that I’m a bit late to comment, but I just saw this remarkable programme last night. The interview was very interesting, however I think there’s one piece of information about Brendan Gleeson that will expand upon something he says.

Gleeson’s first major role was actually another tv programme on an historical figure, Gen. Michael Collins in “The Treaty”. What is truly ironic about him also playing Churchill was that Collins was responsible for negotiating a new Irish Free State and it was Churchill that was the main bulldog on the British side, fighting the proposal tooth and nail. So when he says “coming from my background” I think he means not just as an Irishman, but as one who played a man whose reputation and life was dealt a fatal blow by Churchill’s doggedness.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:01:19 +0000

“Shalom [sic] without a ski lift. ” It seems likely that Mr. Gleeson actually said “slalom” at this point.

[thanks for the catch! -- Ed.]