THE MOLLY MAGUIRES
A film review by Shane R. Burridge
Copyright 1995 Shane R. Burridge
(1970) 124m.
Molly Maguire was a peasant girl in 17th century Ireland, who supposedly led an uprising against rent collectors. But this film is set in 1876, where we find Detective James McParlane (Richard Harris) being sent to a Pennsylvania mining community, largely composed of Irish immigrants, in order to infiltrate a secret society known as the Hibernians. He knows that within the society is an elite band of activists, who have called themselves the Molly Maguires, intent on sabotaging the mines in order to force the owners to upgrade their working and living conditions.
You'll be nudged one way and pushed the rest throughout much of this film, as it is difficult to know who to sympathize with. We never really "experience" the terrible work conditions or poverty that the Maguires are fighting against. The closest we come to this is during one scene at a wake, where an elderly miner's life looks to have been wasted after 42 years in the mines. But by and large, the community doesn't appear too badly off (although they could do with a decent football field). On the other hand, it's difficult to stick up for Harris' character because of the deceitful maneuvers and outright lying he does to get the trust of the Maguires' leader. Furthermore, both the Maguires and the peelers (the local constabulary) use murder as a means of getting their point across. And just to confound things, the protagonists are played by charismatic actors (Harris and Sean Connery), which we would like to see both win. Is there any chance they will team up by the film's end?
The most interesting element of the film is probably at what point viewers will decide which side deserves their sympathy. The deciding factor may be that Harris is motivated only for his own ends while Connery's actions are more political and altruistic. What unites both is that their motivations are the same--to find a better way of living than is offered by the mines. Story walks an intriguing tightrope. You'll find yourself hoping that Harris' coolly-played ruse doesn't get discovered. But then, everyone else seems to be plotting too--the community, innocous on the surface, harbors another community that is literally underground. Even the building interiors are lit as if they were mines. Both Harris and Connery play their roles wonderfully, though Samantha Eggar, who shares above-title billing with them, seems included only to provide Harris with an excuse to reveal his thoughts. Direction by Martin Ritt is effectively unobtrusive, complemented by Henry Mancini's wistful, folk-influenced score.
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