Life is hard, it was hard and for some people it will always be hard. Be glad you are reading an amazon review and not living your grandfather and grandmother's lives. Great movie.
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Under rated,but well worth a view
Added 11/27/2009
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.
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Good movie. I bought it after stopping at the mining town where it was filmed in PA.
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The Molly Maguires
Added 9/21/2009
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!
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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.
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Life is hard, it was hard and for some people it will always be hard. Be glad you are reading an amazon review and not living your grandfather and grandmother's lives. Great movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Under rated,but well worth a view
Added 11/27/2009
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.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Good movie. I bought it after stopping at the mining town where it was filmed in PA.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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