Figure 1.--Here Robbie wears the green suit his grandmother made him to school and it caused him a great deal of trouble. He picked up the name "Green britches". Click on the image to see what becomes of Robbie's green suit.

Lovely movie based on the A.J. Cronin novel about Robbie, an Scotts-Irish boy. Robbie's mother was a Scottish girl who disgraced the family by marrying an Irish Catholic. When his parents die, Robbie comes to live with his aunt's family in a small Scottish village. The film begins when Robbie arrives in Scotland in 1900. The family is staunchly Church of Scotland, but allow Robbie to go to Catholic church when he insusts. There is an emotional scene in the film, when Robbie shows up in the Catholic Chirch, the priest tells him, "I've been waiting for you Robert Shannon." Robbie's uncle is a terrible penny pincher and sells Robbie's prized possession--his tricycle. His grandmother makes him a suit out of her green petticoats (with flowers) and he is teased and bullied. (In the book I believe that the suit is made from curtains.) Robbie's great grandfather tells him to pick a fight with the most respected boy at school. He is the only boy who hasn't been teasing him--Gavin. The younger boys at the Academy (the private school) all dress alike in dark kneepants suits with Eton collars. There does not, however, seem to be a uniform as such as the school does not object to Robbie's flowered green suit. There is a school cap with a badge that all the boys wear. The little girl Robbie falls in love with wears a tam--but the boys always wear school caps. His best friend (Gavin) wears a kilt, but not at school. He wears it while hunting for eggs. It is interesting that he does not just wear a kilt for Church, but for outdoors activities like hunting eggs. The film does not address whose ide, Gavin's or his mother's that he wear the kiklt, None of the other boys in the village or depicted wearing kilts. Robbie insists on remaining a Catholic and has trouble getting his First Communion suit. The boys have a strict, but understanding schoolmaster. Robbie is beautifully played by Dean Stockwell. This is wonderfully produced classic, well worth seeing.

Filmology

Lovely movie based on the A.J. Cronin novel about Robbie, an Scotts-Irish boy. This is wonderfully produced classic, well worth seeing.

Cast

Robbie is beautifully played as a child by Dean Stockwell. Dean's performance played an important role in this film helped create his reputation as a very effective child actor. The role of Gavin is much smaller, but nicely played Richard Lyon as is the role of Alison (Robbie's friend) by Eilene Janssen. Charles Coburn does a wonderful job with the rogish great grandfather. An interesting combination is Hume Cronyn who plays the skin flint uncle and Jessica Tandy who plays his daughter. It is interesting to see the largely American cast wrestle with Scottish dialect and accents. Dean even tries a little Irish accent--but often lapses into his American accent.

Setting

The film begins when Robbie arrives in Scotland in 1900. Most of the story unfolds in a small Scottish village.

Plot

Robbie's mother was a Scottish girl who disgraced the family by marrying an Irish Catholic. When his parents die, Robbie comes to live with his aunt's family in a small Scottish village. His auntb is loving, but his uncle unsympathetic and cheap. Robbie becomes deeply attached to his greatgrandfather--Dandy. The family is staunchly Church of Scotland, but allow Robbie to go to Catholic church when he insusts. There is an emotional scene in the film, when Robbie shows up in the Catholic Chirch, the priest tells him, "I've been waiting for you Robert Shannon." Robbie's uncle is a terrible penny pincher and sells Robbie's prized possession--his tricycle. The boys have a strict, but understanding schoolmaster who immediately sees hiscacademic abilities and helps Robbie out when he is older. Robbie becomes best froends with a well-to-do boy at school--Gavin Blair. A girl he meets on the village green becomes sweet on him--Allison Keith. Here the film only deals briefly with the childhood frienship. There is one scene where Robbie, who is with Gavin and Allison, find the golden plover egg. (Collecting bird eggs was a popular activity.) Gavin had been looking for the golden plover egg for his collection. Gavin is very serious about it--the boys only take a single egg out of any nest they find. Robbie gives it to his friend. Allison helps settle a dispute when Gavin does not want to accept it. Gavin givesx Robbie his microscope. Robbie shows an aptitude for science and seeks to be a doctor. Hisvuncle, however, refused to help him.

Figure 2.--Here Robbie, Gavin, and Allison are out hunting bird eggs and Robbie has just found the golden plover egg. Notice Allison's tam and that the boys both wear their Academy caps. This suggests that boys wore their school caps even at play after school. Notice that Gavin wears a kilt for the outing. This suggests that well to do Scottish boys wore kilts out of school even for rough outdoor activities.

Costuming

There are a lot of interesting clothing details in the film and costume elements become intwined with the plot. Robbie's grandmother makes him a suit out of her green petticoats (with flowers) and he is teased and bullied. (In the book I believe that the suit is made from curtains.) Robbie's great grandfather tells him to pick a fight with the most respected boy at school. He is the only boy who hasn't been teasing him--Gavin. After the fight, Gavin has Robbie come home to get cleaned up. The famoily is well to do and the mother give's Robbie one of Gavin's old suits as his green suit is torn and blodied. He picks up the knickname :Green Breaches". The younger boys at the Academy (the private school) all dress alike in dark kneepants suits with Eton collars. There does not, however, seem to be a uniform as such as the school does not object to Robbie's flowered green suit. There is a school cap with a badge that all the boys wear. Allison, the little girl Robbie falls in love with, wears a tam--but the boys always wear school caps. Robbie insists on remaining a Catholic and has trouble getting his First Communion suit. His best friend (Gavin) wears a kilt, but not at school. He wears it while hunting for eggs. It is interesting that he does not just wear a kilt for Church, but for outdoors activities like hunting eggs. The film does not address whose idea, Gavin's or his mother's that he wear the kiklt, None of the other boys in the village or depicted wearing kilts. The only kilts depicted in the film are at the Highland gathering.

Reader Comments

A Scottish reader writes, "Missed out on this one. Some thoughts, An Irish/Catholic boy wouldn't wear a tartan (Irish kilts are plain) so Gavin wearing one would show their religious divide - and wealth divide - richer lads had kilts. The title 'Green Years' can have three meanings - Green for Catholic (Protestant is Orange). Green for the Youth (as in your Greenhorn). And the Green suit you mention. I'm staggered that a Protestant grandmother would even possess green petticoats ... but then Cronin would be trying to make the point. The curtains recall 'The Sound of Music'. I'll try to read the book/see the picture." It is not just Robbie that doesn't wear a kilt. We don't see any of the other boys in the village wearing the kilt as well. I think our Scottish reader makes a good point here, that the wealthier boys in the village wore kilts. What we are less sure about is the conventiobns. Dis they wear them to school. were they just for best or as shown in the film, were they worn as cassual wear, playing in the countryside. Another interesting question is that earlier it was the poorer boys,who wore kilts. Kilts were at one time less expensive to make than pants. Kilts could be woven at home and required very little fisnishing. We are not yet sure about the process of change concerning the popularity of the kilt in Scotland. Now we can speak to the color of petticoats, but the old dear had quite a few different ones. I think this was a hollywood addition, if I remember right it was curtain material in the book--but I read the book some time ago. As for thecname of the film, I believe "Green Years" refers to youth.

Created: February 20, 2004
Last updated: March 15, 2004