Review of The Molly Maguires

A very impressive historical drama with lots of action, interesting characters and a fascinating background, brought to the screen in grand, fast-moving style by director Martin Ritt of all people (a gentleman not noted for his speed, his sensitivity, or his ability to draw memorable portraits from his players, let alone create either a riveting atmosphere or solid suspense). I tried to watch Ritt's Norma Rae (1979) once, but failed in the attempt. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) is quite gripping, despite a surfeit of dialogue, but just about everything else Ritt had a hand in before 1970 is dead boring. He had good players too. But he didn't have the solid, suspenseful script of The Molly Maguires. True, he had worked with the brilliant cinematographer James Wong Howe on Hud and Hombre, but I didn't like these pictures. In order to enhance the stark, somber mood, Jimmy deliberately wiped any dramatic contrasts from his shots. But, in my opinion, you don't get a dark, somber mood by going all out for light and eliminating contrast. You achieve this mood with darkness and shadows – and that is exactly the way Jimmy has photographed much of The Molly Maguires. His players don't let him down either, particularly Richard Harris who comes across with flying colors in an extremely difficult role, Sean Connery as the villain you love to admire, Samantha Eggar as the girl who knows where her loyalties lie, and Frank Finlay as the policeman with ice water in his veins. Sad to say, the movie was a colossal flop on first release and torpedoed Harris' movie career. Incidentally, Kehoe wasn't hanged after all. His sentence was commuted after a public outcry and he was actually pardoned in 1979 – largely as a result of this film!