Martin Ritt's movie "The Molly Maguires"is about Irish immigrant coal-miners in Pennsylvania in the 1870's and it doesn't have the same reputation as the movies he made with Paul Newman, yet it's a solid job of work nevertheless, if not totally convincing. The Molly Maguires of the title are an underground (bad pun) 'terrorist' organization sabotaging the mines as a means of improving conditions. Walter Bernstein's script never really explains why they believe their actions
will
improve their working conditions; rather it becomes a tale of an agent
provocateur planted in the organization to ferret out the leaders. He
is Richard Harris and the main leader of the Maguires is Sean Connery
and they are both very good, (Harris, particularly so), but again
Bernstein never really fleshes out their characters which remain
resolutely one-dimensional. The obligatory woman, (whom Harris falls
for), is Samantha Eggar who is also very good, though again in a part
that is never fully developed. The most one-dimensional character of
all, however, is Frank Finlay's crude caricature of a policeman who is
much too obviously a sadist. The real star of the film is James Wong
Howe whose images convey something of that terrible beauty we have all
heard about and yet even these images look too clean-cut and
manufactured; black and white might have suited the film better.
Enjoyable then, but Ritt has done better.
Martin Ritt's movie "The Molly Maguires"is about Irish immigrant coal-miners in Pennsylvania in the 1870's and it doesn't have the same reputation as the movies he made with Paul Newman, yet it's a solid job of work nevertheless, if not totally convincing. The Molly Maguires of the title are an underground (bad pun) 'terrorist' organization sabotaging the mines as a means of improving conditions. Walter Bernstein's script never really explains why they believe their actions will
improve their working conditions; rather it becomes a tale of an agent
provocateur planted in the organization to ferret out the leaders. He
is Richard Harris and the main leader of the Maguires is Sean Connery
and they are both very good, (Harris, particularly so), but again
Bernstein never really fleshes out their characters which remain
resolutely one-dimensional. The obligatory woman, (whom Harris falls
for), is Samantha Eggar who is also very good, though again in a part
that is never fully developed. The most one-dimensional character of
all, however, is Frank Finlay's crude caricature of a policeman who is
much too obviously a sadist. The real star of the film is James Wong
Howe whose images convey something of that terrible beauty we have all
heard about and yet even these images look too clean-cut and
manufactured; black and white might have suited the film better.
Enjoyable then, but Ritt has done better.
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