As the title character, Robert Shaw delivers one of the most affecting performances in his accomplished career. Best known for his scene-stealing in Jaws, ("So, eleven hundred men went into the water. Three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the twenty-ninth, nineteen-forty five...), Shaw gives his heart and soul as Ginger Coffey, a Irish immigrant who comes Montreal in search of his pot of gold. Easily the best depiction of the cold winter streets of urban Canada, the pie-eyed idealism of Coffey both infuriates the audience and endears the character to them. A rare find, if you get the chance to see this gem, don't let it pass you by. This film makes us dream about an albeit mythical time where "...all men had reached the top of the hill; there were no dull jobs, no humiliating interviews, no turndowns; no man was saddled with ungrateful daughters, there were unlimited funds to spend..you were free."
Review of The Luck of Ginger Coffey
