The Molly Maguires (1970) Who are the Molly Maguires? Well, they are part of some little-known American history and Irish history. To keep things short and simple, they were a secret organization of coal miners in coal-abundant locations such as Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The name came in the 1840s during a tenant protest in Ireland, but the name didn't stick until the 1860's. Working conditions were very poor for the miners and worker discrimination was prevalent. Basically this very secret organization formed as a response to these conditions and the lack of reforms. The Molly Maguires often used violence or intimidation tactics mine owners and supervisors. This little-known film, aptly named The Molly Maguires tells the story about this group towards the end, approximately in 1875 when a Pinkerton detective infiltrated the organization. I went to school in a Luzerne County, Pennsylvania where supposedly these organizations existed, so I find it awesome that a movie exists telling a story about a piece of American history that no one knows about.This is a film that not many people have seen. Whether at the time of release or today. So mark my words when I say this is a truly underrated gem. I really enjoyed the story it told and despite being a Hollywood film, I learned a lot about the subject. The film doesn't have a large cast, but it features fine work in the lead roles by two magnificent actors: Sean Connery and Richard Harris. The film also possesses strong cinematography work from James Wong Howe. The film is beautifully shot and he somehow makes the rather dreary northeastern Pennsylvania locations seem strikingly beautiful. Also playing an emotional impact on the film is the score by Henry Mancini. Music is important in the film because the opening sequence is fourteen minutes long and we don't hear any words spoken until the end of those minutes, so music was a substitute for spoken words. There are some very memorable themes in the music and they pack quite an emotional punch.Martin Ritt directs a film that takes occurs towards the demise of the Molly Maguires. The leader of this secret organization is named Jack Kehoe (Sean Connery), and his intentions are good ones. He and his and of Irish-American miners fight against the oppressive mine owners for reforms but the owners are not very cooperative. They hire a Pinkerton detective named James McParland (Richard Harris) who is assigned to go undercover as a member of the Maguires and infiltrate their secret society, but McParland must hope he truly knows what side he is on.The film doesn't feature a big cast despite it's rather high eleven million dollar budget (very expensive by 1970's standards). But it does have two huge movie stars in Connery and Harris. Despite this being somewhat of a small film, they deliver amazing performances. Connery is one of the greatest actors ever to live and he brought his A-game here as the violent, charismatic leader of the Maguires. Harris, on the other hand, plays a soft-spoken detective who successfully undermines the organization and he essentially sacrifices his dignity and personality to bring the members of the organization to justice. Connery and Harris have excellent chemistry together. One of my favorite scenes with the two is in one of the final scenes in the prison cell. Just seeing the two square off under different circumstances was just great to watch.The Molly Maguires is a criminally underseen movie, so you guys should see it whenever possible. It's a piece about a secret organization that plays a pivotal role in the beginning of labor unions as we know them today. If you think treatment at jobs today are bad, just watch the film to see how bad they were in the 1860's and 1870's. I don't condone the actions of the Molly Maguires, but I understand where they were coming from and why they used violence to help make their lives better. Anyhow, this is a very good movie and an underrated one too. It has fine acting, a great musical score, good direction, and beautiful cinematography. One final fact before I conclude the review is that some of the scenes were filmed in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania-about ten minutes away where I went to school.My Grade: A

While reading some reviews here one reviewer pointed out that "this is a film that wouldn't be made today". How sad yet true a statement indeed! This film is rich in history and politics, two subjects that (seemingly) don't interest todays movie-going public. What does it say about a culture when the people have become so detached to their own history?The Molly Maguires was filmed at the very beginning of what I think is the greatest American movie decade ever, and I'm not alone in that opinion as the most recent (2007) AFI list of the top 100 films of all time contains more from the 70s than any other single decade (19!). As if hungover from the 60s, this post-revolutionary period gave birth to many great young directors making films that had an independent and political feel...this was the end of the old "studio system" of Hollywood, and was the beginning of the new independent film movement in America that still exists to this day.This film really succeeds in capturing the atmosphere of a bygone era. This is one of those movies that you just relax (maybe on a rainy afternoon) and let wash over you...appreciate the cinematography (notice the excellent tracking shot of the miners walking out of the mine after planting the explosives near the beginning) and fine acting by all involved. When I was done watching this I wanted to know more about the Molly Maguires. Is that a complaint? Actually I think its a compliment. A good story should leave you wanting to know more about the subject matter.Jack Kehoe (Sean Connery) is the leader of a secret cult of Irish coalminers in 1870s Pennsylvania, James Mckenna (Richard Harris) is an undercover detective sent in to capture the secret cult known as the Molly Maguires, who has lost a strike and begun committing acts of sabotage and murder against the Mining company. This film is rich in period detail and quite engrossing, this is the kind of film you want to watch again and see what dialog you might have missed as the Irish dialects are rather thick. This is also a violent film, but the violence is raw and sudden...believable, not stylishly choreographed and seemingly pandering to the audience like in todays movies. The early days of the American labor movement were quite violent indeed, whether our public schools teach it or not.Mckenna is a very ambitious man and makes its clear to us early on that he will do whatever he has to for career advancement. As he says..."I'm tired of being on the bottom looking up all the time, I want to look down". However, as he gets inside the miners and develops a bond with Kehoe, we see that despite his personal motives, he has actually started to care about these miners. In a poignant scene when the Molly Maguires are bent on desperate retaliation, Kehoe fervently tries to talk them out of it and he's serious (as he admits later to his handler), and we in the audience can tell. But the Molly Maguires are destined for self-destruction. Not even an (unknown to them) enemy can dissuade them from their fate. So this isn't a feel good type of movie. The conclusion doesn't necessarily leave a good taste and might not be that pat ending that modern movie-goers are used to seeing. This is the essence of real history however, the labor struggles in America seldom had a happy ending, and though at times it seemed like labor eventually won, here lately it sure doesn't look that way. Things aren't quite as clear as we like... the line between the good and the bad is often quite fuzzy. The Molly MaGuires is a perfect example of this....it is also a great example of beautiful filmmaking. This may not quite be an American classic, but its real close.One last thing...I really got some great insight reading the other reviews here on this film, they were very interesting, thanks.

The Molly Maguires is a movie which has become better over the years. I am surprised that it was commercially unsuccessful in it's day, since it's absolutely no worse than similar movies of those years such as "Ryan's daughter", "Emperor of the north", or much appraised movies of later years like "Matewan", which explores the same topic of conflict between oppressed working class and the system that's exploiting them. This film is beautifully photographed, and the acting is brilliant, especially from Richard Harris and Sean Connery. The sets are magnificent, and the viewer can feel and sympathize with the burden of the coal miners and their families working and struggling against the system that is grinding them down, and that they can not change, even if they give their lives in the course of that struggle. This film deserved much more and I just think that this is a classic that has to be recognized. 9/10

This movie is near and dear to me having grown up in Northeastern Pennslyvania and having forefathers who worked in the mines. This is a great movie depicting the realities of the working class and to have an ending that is typical of the lives of those Irish Americans in NEPA. "Don't look for happy endings Tom, it's not and American story, it's an Irish one." (Brad Pitt, Devil's Own) One question I would like to know the answer to, is when McKenna and Miss Mary Raines go to "the city", what city is being referred to? I grew up in Scranton, PA and for the time period it was the largest city in the area. Philadelphia seems to far away, but maybe they were referring to Harrisburg.