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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 6205
Released: April 27, 2004 |
| Our Price: $4.39 |
| Used Price: $2.30 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Based on a true story of the Irish-American secret society of militant coal miners in Pennsylvania who battle their exploitation with violence and even murder.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 27-APR-2004
Media Type: DVD
Description of The Molly Maguires:
An expensive box-office flop when released in 1970, The Molly Maguires can now be appreciated as a compelling drama with potent political undertones. The talent involved is first-rate all the way: In addition to the volatile teaming of Sean Connery and Richard Harris on opposite sides of a Pennsylvania miners' war, director Martin Ritt and screenwriter Walter Bernstein were at the height of their Hollywood powers, determined to give viewers a visceral, grittily authentic drama about the exploitation of Irish immigrant miners in the centennial America of 1876. Connery's secret gang, the Molly Maguires, retaliates by destroying mines and equipment; Harris infiltrates the group as an informer hired by the coal-company owners, leading to his inevitable crisis of conscience. Pub brawls and manly action give the film its meat-and-potatoes appeal, and discerning viewers will appreciate the story's careful pacing and moral ambiguity; ironically, those qualities were blamed for the film's commercial failure. --Jeff Shannon
The Molly Maguires Reviews:
Under rated,but well worth a view 
2009-11-27 - This is a serious film about morality and social injustice and perhaps not surprisingly it flopped at the American box office in the 1960's. Set in the Pennsylvanian coalfields of the 1870's it revolves around two characters:Jack Kehoe, the leader of the Molly Maguires,a secret society dedicated to violently fighting the enormous exploitation that was the lot of the miners working in the coalfield; and James McParlan,who as the undercover agent for the Pinkerton Detective agency is prepared to shed all common notions of human feeling and loyalty in pursuit of a "higher" justice and more obviously his own American Dream
There is a strong cast including Frank Finlay and Samantha Eggar giving support to the two leading performances of Sean Connery and Richard Harris who is particularly successful at conveying some of the inner conflicts within his character's situation.
However the real quality of the film lies in other directions.It deserves its oscar nomination for art direction and the authenticity of the set placed in the almost abandoned Pennsylvania town of Ecksly is amazing.The pace of the film is more European than Hollywood and this is particularly evident in the strangely beautiful opening which with its well crafted choice of shots and sequences establishes the background of the drama.
You may choose to side with the underdog refusing to be buried by the industrial machine or you may ultimately judge the Molly Maguires to to be violent thugs and murderers.However, the final shot of the film with the gallows rehearsal as McParlan finally turns his back on all that he has done leaves little doubt that the inner life of this man will have to pay a cost for the deaths he has brought about.
I too enjoyed Henry Mancini's unobtrusive but effective score.
This is an undervalued film that is at last like that other great flop, "Heaven's Gate",getting some of the attention it deserves.Indeed the beautifully filmed rugby match between the Welsh and Irish miners performs a similar function to the skating in "Heaven's Gate", reflecting something of the spirit and ethos of an immigrant community.Well worth a viewing. There is much to enjoy.
The Molly Maguires 
2009-09-21 - A riveting and accurate portrayal of the early labor fight in the coal mines of Pennsylvania during the late 1870s. Sean Connery at his finest!
Roonie
2009-04-09 - We live in Bangor, Pa. and love to go to Jim Thorpe, Pa. We have toured the jailwhere the Molly Maquires were hung. We are also Irish and found this movie phenominal.
Background for Family History
2009-03-24 - I bought the DVD of Molly Maguires (1970) to study the branch of my family from eastern Pennsylvania. Much of this film was made in Eckley, Carbon County, where my great-grandmother was born in 1862. My great-grandfather was born in Minersville, Schuylkill County in 1859. He was in charge of the mules that pulled wagon-loads of coal in the mines. The action of the film opens in 1876.
Jack Kehoe (Sean Connery) and three other miners commit acts of violence against the mine-owners' property. A long strike had failed to better their pay and working conditions. Detective James McParlan (Richard Harris) charms his way into the inner circle to gather evidence against this secret society. To show that he is committed to their cause, McParlan beats up a superintendent so badly that he dies. In retaliation, mining police shoot one of the leaders and his wife, both asleep in bed. Eventually, the three other leaders are tried and convicted of murder with McParlan as chief witness.
Although there is a romance between McParland and Miss Mary Raines (Samantha Eggar), the real emotional bonding is between Kehoe and McParlan. McParlan feels the injustices the miners suffer, but he ultimately sides with law and order. This well-plotted tragedy was a commercial failure and did not advance the careers of Connery and Harris.
Artistically, however, the film has many gripping scenes. During the long opening sequence when the four "Mollies" light a long fuse deep in the mine, we wonder if they will reach ground level before the explosion goes off. At a secret meeting when the four tell McParlan to kneel down, we wonder if they are going to shoot him for being a spy. When Kehoe takes a suit from the company store for Mary Raines' dead father, we wonder if McParlan will stop the robbery.
The real Jack Kehoe was not a miner, but the owner of a saloon. In the film, the bartender is played by Malachy McCourt, brother of Frank, the author of "Angela's Ashes." At the urging of a great-grandson, Jack Kehoe was pardoned in 1979 by Milton Shapp, then Governor of Pennsylvania. (Some material from Wikipedia.)
The Molly Maguires 
2008-11-19 - It's an interesting story of what happened during the time of the coal barrons and how horribly the miners were treated. However, it seriously lacks any excitement and I found myself wondering when it was going to end. I love the cast, but I really think the director could have made better use of their talent.
