The Rising of the Moon (1957)

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(76 ratings)

To make the Rising of the Moon, American filmmaker John Ford returned to his Irish roots. An obscure and highly personal film for Ford, it is comprised of three episodes--each offering insight into Irish culture and values. All are introduced by Tyrone Power. In "The Majesty of the Law," a police… More To make the Rising of the Moon, American filmmaker John Ford returned to his Irish roots. An obscure and highly personal film for Ford, it is comprised of three episodes--each offering insight into Irish culture and values. All are introduced by Tyrone Power. In "The Majesty of the Law," a police officer is assigned to arrest an Irish curmudgeon who hit the neighbor who sold him a lousy batch of homemade whiskey. But this is no ordinary arrest as the old man is a traditionalist who loathes the new directions his beloved Eire is going. Out of respect, the cop eschews his car and walks to his cottage. The two have a conversation and the old man mourns the loss of the old ways and expresses his frustration over the encroachment of modern amenities that are destroying the Irish heritage. The sympathetic cop offers to free him if the old man will pay a small fine, but though the codger has more than enough to pay it, he refuses on principal. Even when the man who filed the charges offers to pay the fine, the coot refuses to give in and stoically heads off to serve his time. As he walks with the officer to the jail, the whole town comes out to honor the old man. Set at a train station "A Minute's Wait" offers a humorous look at Irish conceptions of time as train's brief scheduled stop to pick up some lobsters for an important dinner stretches out into a long, leisurely pause. The final vignette, "1921" features members of Dublin's Abbey Theatre and tells the story of how they engineer an elaborate rescue of an Irish patriot from prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 21 min.
Directed By: John Ford
Genres: Drama, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 10, 1957 Wide

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's well-produced and well-acted, but never moving and a wee bit too stagy.

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Cast

            Noel Purcell as Dan O'Flaherty the Old Man

            Cyril Cusack as Inspector Michael Dillon

            Jimmy O'Dea as Porter

            Denis O'Dea as The Police Sergeant [1921]

            Eileen Crowe as His Wife

            Anita Bolster as His Wife [A Minute's Wait]

            John Cowley as The Gombeen Man

            May Craig as Matchmaking Aunt [A Minute's Wait]

            Maureen Delaney as Old Woman [1921]

            J.G. Devlin as The Guard [A Minute's Wait]

            Donal Donnelly as Sean Curran [1921]

            Paul Farrell as Chauffeur

            Harold Goldblatt as Matchmaking Father [A Minute's Wait]

            Maurice Good as Constable O'Grady [1921]

            Eric Gorman
            
            Frank Lawton as British Major [1921]

            Edward Lexy as RQMS [1921]

            Jack MacGowran as Mickey J.

            Joseph O'Dea as Warder [1921]

            Maureen Potter as Barmaid [A Minute's Wait]

            Tyrone Power as Introduction

            Godfrey Quigley as Christy his Boy [A Minute's Wait]

            Tony Quinn as Railroad Station Chief

            Michael Trubshawe as Col. Frobisher [A Minute's Wait]

            Maureen O'Connell as May Ann McMahon her Niece [A Minute's Wait]

            Dennis Brennan as [1921]

            Maureen Cusack as False Nuns [1921]

            Michael O'Duffy as The Singer [A Minute's Wait]
See full cast

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