Adapted from the 1931 short story by Frank O’Connor and directed by playwright Denis Johnston, Guests of the Nation offers a sober, compassionate critique of obsessive Republicanism in post-Independence Ireland. Shot silent due to budgetary constraints, the film employs Soviet-style montage in detailing the slow build-up to the execution of two British soldiers by the IRA. Johnston, then the director of the Gate Theater, enlisted many of its members, including Barry Fitzgerald and Hilton Edwards, to appear in the film. (Also on screen, in a cameo appearance, is Frank O’Connor.) Guests of the Nation is regarded by historians as one of Ireland’s most important screen ventures.

Produced and co-directed by Shelah Richards (Gate Theater actress and wife of Denis Johnston), Larry is a tender adaptation of Frank O’Connor’s celebrated short story "My Oedipus Complex." Set in Cork in the 1950s, the film relates the conflict between a young boy and his father over the shared object of their desire—their mother and wife, respectively.