Whenever an American film focuses on Ireland, or anything Irish, expect stereotypes.  Then again, saying so can also be construed as a stereotype.  After all, there is The Guard (2011), which manages to avoid at least some of these blanket ideas about the Emerald Isle.  Then again, that is more the exception to the rule.  Some of the most popular movies on the subject, like The Boondock Saints (1999), lean in to almost every aspect of Irish culture with which you might be familiar.  This also applies to Hollywood’s Golden Age, with examples like The Quiet Man (1952) trotting out fake and real Irish accents alike.  The same is true for today’s film, Top o’ the Morning (1949), which you could have probably guessed based solely on the title.  Sadly, it does not have as much of a Catholic flavor as the rest, but let me tell you about it anyway.

At the Top o’ the Morning, Sergeant Briny McNaughton (Barry Fitzgerald) is told of the most Irish crime of all time: the Blarney Stone has been stolen from its place on the castle walls.  The aging officer of the Garda (the Irish word for their police force) is concerned, but more excited for a case to prove his mettle as a representative of law enforcement.  Along with his assistant, Hughie Devine (Hume Cronyn), they head to the ancient ramparts, only to be superseded by Inspector Fallon (John McIntire).  The higher-ranking cop sends Sergeant McNaughton home, but he vows to continue investigating the matter.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, word of the theft of one of Ireland’s premier tourist attractions reaches the insurance company at which Joe Mulqueen (Bing Crosby) works.  As one of their investigators, he is sent to Ireland to help with the recovery of the famed rock.  As you do, his first act when he gets to the country is to take up his painting, a hobby at which he is demonstrably terrible.  His peaceful setting is interrupted by the local boys, who offer to help him carry his easel and colors into town.  His washing of his pallet in the nearby river sends the hues downstream to where Conn McNaughton (Ann Blyth), Sergeant McNaughton’s daughter, is doing her washing.  She has a start when she sees him, with his painter’s knife dyed crimson.  Regardless, they have a pleasant exchange, and as he departs she remembers a series of prophecies given her by Biddy O’Devlin (Eileen Crowe), the local . . . um, prophetess?  I am not sure what to call her, but she seems to know all the steps that will be taken before Conn finds the man who will be her husband.  As for that potential groom, as soon as Joe walks into the town square, he is arrested by Hughie.  This is per Sergeant McNaughton’s orders.  Once in their office, Joe is put into a cell basically for being foreigner and showing too much interest in Blarney Castle.  Being Bing Crosby (in real life, of course), he sings his way out of jail and into an invitation to a party later that night hosted by Sergeant McNaughton.  The soiree is part of a ruse on Sergeant McNaughton’s part to distract Joe while Hughie and his boss search Joe’s room at the inn.  Back at the festivities, Conn dances with Joe, with Biddy looking on, and there are a few more signs that are fulfilled in this moment.  The romance in the air has Joe wanting to propose marriage immediately, this being a movie from Hollywood’s Golden Age, after all. Conn, to her credit, preaches a slower approach, wanting to have more of these steps come to pass.  Joe is fine with this, leaving for his room and finding Hughie and Sergeant McNaughton at work.  The device that has the Garda suspicious is Joe’s dictaphone, which also leads to them finding out the true purpose of Joe’s presence.  Upon playing what Joe has recorded to this point, Sergeant McNaughton hears some unflattering words about himself.  These are smoothed over the next morning with a visit to the office and the mention of a $5,000 reward for the recovery of the Blarney Stone.  Still, Joe is trying to keep the fact that he is an investigator quiet, particularly since he is working with Inspector Fallon.  It becomes bigger than a missing artifact when strange occurrences begin happening around town that are attributed to the absence of the Blarney Stone.  One of these is the death of one of Hughie’s cousins, an occurrence to which the young police officer does not react to in the most grieving of manners.  Seeing the lack of sadness raises Joe’s suspicions, though Sergeant McNaughton remains convinced that it is the village outcast, Cormac Gillespie (Tudor Owen), who is behind the crime.  In discussing these things in private, Inspector Fallon and Joe devise a plan to reveal the real culprit.  Unfortunately, it involves demoting Sergeant McNaughton and promoting Hughie.  Doing so upsets Conn, who had been witnessing more of the prophecy come true, though much of this is a matter of interpretation.  Either way, when her father comes home with the news of his lost position, he also reveals Joe’s actual profession.  Feeling lied to, Conn asks Joe to leave.  Distressed, Conn visits Biddy and learns of the last sign, which involves the potential suitor singing in the woods and dying.  In the film, it is put in a more poetically Irish fashion.  At any rate, she believes this means Joe, prompting her to head to that same area.  It so happens to be the same place where Inspector Fallon and Joe are laying their trap for Hughie.  I am not entirely clear what happens here, but the long and short of it is that Hughie gets nervous by the young boy “singing out” his presence and bashes the kid over the head with a rock.  He then attempts to murder Biddy for some reason, but is stopped before doing so.  Anyway, he reveals the fact that he took the Blarney Stone, but claims as he is being arrested that it will never be found.  Yet, as they are leaving and new love is blossoming between Conn and Joe, the re-instated Sergeant McNaughton sits on the lost rock and earns his reward.

The recovered Blarney Stone in Top o’ the Morning is only one of the many superstitions that are covered in the film.  In case you are unfamiliar with the legends, if you kiss the famous rock, you are supposed to be given the gift of eloquence.  There is, though, a connection with the Bible, as those same tales also claim that it is the stone that Jacob in the Old Testament used as a pillow when he dreamed of his ladder to Heaven.  Like so much in Ireland, at least according to film, there is a mixture of fantasy and faith.  Could the Blarney Stone be Jacob’s pillow?  It is possible, but it does not matter as long as the focus remains on God.  This is where the movie muddles things.  After Sergeant McNaughton’s party, Conn and Joe are outside where she first discusses the prophecy regarding her love life.  Upon fending off his immediate suggestion that he is the one, she says that she will pray to St. Anne.  This makes sense since St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, is the patron saint of unmarried women.  The problem is Conn’s desire to be faithful to the signs that must be fulfilled instead of relying on God.  To be fair, God can use such local superstitions in order to reveal Himself.  This is not unheard of in Biblical or Church History.  St. George, for example, is said to have defeated a dragon, and he is often depicted performing this deed.  Unfortunately, like Conn, people get caught up in that story instead of realizing that it is meant to be about conquering inner-demons, whatever that may mean for someone, and returning to the Faith.  Interestingly, when Biddy tells Conn about the last step, she recommends that the young lady pray to God that it does not end with Joe’s death.  We are not shown her doing so, but I suppose we can surmise that she follows through with this suggestion.  Thankfully, her prayers are answered.  However, I would caution anyone who would put stock into any beliefs that purport to do things that God can overcome.

Aside from all the superstitions in Top o’ the Morning, the film is not too bad.  There are the Irish stereotypes to deal with, of course, and it is a little amazing that there is not a single priest in the cast.  Nonetheless, there are little signs of Catholicism that I have discussed, and a Holy Water font near the door, things a Catholic like me notices.  Anyway, you could do worse.