Drama/History
2 hours and 4 minutes
Rated: PG
Written by: Walter Bernstein
Directed by: Martin Ritt
Produced by: Walter Bernstein & Martin Ritt
Cast:
Sean Connery
Richard Harris
Samantha Eggar
Frank Finlay
The year 1970 proved to be a rather important year for the careers of both filmmaker Martin Ritt and star Sean Connery. Ritt, who shot to stardom helming such films as: The Long, Hot Summer, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and of course his magnum opus, Hombre, was just off of the financial and critical failure of his mobster film, The Brotherhood. Connery, who had similarly shot to superstardom starring in the James Bond franchise, had also felt the sting of box office failure with his western Shalako having previously tanked with critics and audiences. Both Connery and Ritt were desperate to prove that they were still credible forces working within the industry. In order to do that the two men came together to work on a big-budgeted, studio backed historical drama, The Molly Maguires.
Set against the backdrop of late-1800s Pennsylvania, The Molly Maguires is a story of exploited coal miners working in perilous conditions for little to no pay for men who grew richer off of their physical labor. The film's title refers to a group of miners who fought back against the oppression often through means of violence. The film's interesting premise undeniably caught the eye of its stars and filmmaker as being a story that would translate well to the tumultuous racial conditions of 1970 (though the film's premise could parallel today's conditions even better regarding wealth inequality in America). Unfortunately for all those involved, audiences did not pick up on this and The Molly Maguires was a financial flop at the box office.
Despite this, however, The Molly Maguires is a film with many merits. For starters, as stated above, there's its social commentary. The film does a terrific job of placing its viewers into the harsh conditions that its heroes have to endure day in and day out. It is a film that in order for it to succeed in effectively getting its point across has to have the audience on its heroes' sides. Martin Ritt's pacing and direction throughout the film do a tremendous amount in accomplishing this. The film is over two hours long, and it is a slow burning two hours, but within that time Ritt tremendously is either allowing us as an audience to become better acquainted with the film's characters or showing us the dangerous conditions of their work. When the film was released many critics lamented that it was completely devoid of any humor. And while this is true and undeniably will upset some viewers and/or cause them to call the film boring and slow, the lack of humor brings the audience closer to the film's characters and setting. This was a time and place lacking much in the way of humor. These were people who did not have much to be jovial about, and Ritt does an incredible job at effectively getting that across to the audience.
Contributing to the film's excellent pacing is its smooth editing done by Frank Bracht and its absolutely gorgeous cinematography by James Wong Howe. Howe captures the coal region of Pennsylvania with such smoothness and beauty that the coal dusted sets and surrounding lush greenery have audiences completely sucked into the setting from the start. Similarly, Henry Mancini's score is truly beautiful and plays its cues effectively throughout the film.
Not surprisingly, the film's performances are topnotch. Connery and Richard Harris naturally steal the show, and the scenes that the two men share together - especially their final scene - are wondrous to behold. Harris does an excellent job portraying his deeply conflicted hero, making us as an audience forever unsure of what he may do regarding his overall motives. And while Harris may hold our interest, it is Connery who holds all the sympathy. His character's blind quest to seek justice for his fellow working man is an honorable one, even if his actions are brutal, and ultimately by the film's conclusion one can't help but feel a slight pain in their gut regarding his character's fate. The supporting cast all deliver talented performances and hold their own against these titanic leading men.
Despite its enormous amount of merits, though, The Molly Maguires does happen to have a major problem, and that would be its resolution. An effective ending would have shown Harris's character actually taking on sympathy for his comrades and thus changing his entire outlook as a character from what it was at the start of the film. Unfortunately, the film does not do that, and its conclusion hits harder than a sledgehammer to the gut. It's unforgivably surprising to the point that one cannot believe Ritt had the intention to keep Harris's character flat by the film's conclusion.
The Molly Maguires may be a slow-burning historical drama that is over two hours in length and is almost entirely devoid of all humor, but the film is a beautiful character study with an important social commentary that has grown to become even more important today than it had been when the film was released. And despite its deeply troubling and disappointing ending, it is a film that is a triumphantly carried to overcome its shortcomings through its incredible performances, outstanding technical qualities, and brilliant direction.
8.5/10
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