Maurice Elliman arrived in Dublin in 1892 as a penniless refugee from Tsarist Russia. He started out by projecting magic lantern shows in travelling fairgrounds. By the time he died some fifty years later, he was hailed as a pioneer of cinema and ‘the father of the Dublin film trade’ (Dublin Evening Mail).

His son, Louis Elliman, would become Ireland’s ‘Mr. Show Business’, early 20th century Ireland’s greatest impresario. Expanding the business his father had begun, Louis turned it into a national entertainment empire, comprising over 30 cinemas and major Dublin theatres, among them the celebrated Royal and the Gaiety. He brought to Ireland leading lights from the worlds of theatre, opera, dance and music worldwide, giving Irish audiences entertainment equal to any on New York’s Broadway or London’s West End. When World War II closed the seaways to international stars, Louis nurtured homegrown talent, many of whom later shone on global stages.

Interwoven with this story of the evolution of Ireland’s entertainment industry is the intimate saga of an immigrant family finding its feet, along with a rare glimpse into Hollywood at its mightiest – its ruthless studio heads and glittering stars – captured in Louis’s journal of his lavish, high-profile Tinsel Town visit in 1950.