Quand se lève la lune

1. `The Majesty of the Law' - Frank O'Connor & Frank S. Nugent.

This is the story of a proud Irish small-holder and his 'encounter' with the Law. It humorously portrays rural Irish people, the nature of village relationships, small-town disagreements, the people's attitude to the law and the officials' accommodation of those ways. Noel Purcell, as the small-farmer, and the other village people over-act in a typically stage-irish manner. ( `Is it yourself?' - `It is, to be sure.' and many, many other oirish lines that have become classics.) Cyril Cusack gives a much more subtle performance (one of his few!).

2. `A Minute's Wait' - Michael J. McHugh. Another funny story of rural Ireland has the Ballyscran to Dunfaill train at the station for its scheduled one minute stop. As the title suggests the story looks at the Irish attitude to time-keeping, and how in rural Ireland time could wait for man, . for prize goats, for Bishop's dinners, and most importantly, for a pint of porter (just the one, of course). A rare chance to see the great Jimmy O'Dea again - `Merciful hour!'

3. `1921' - Adapted from The Rising of the Moon by Lady Augusta Gregory. This is the more serious story of a young patriot who is to be hanged by the `Black and Tans' (a vicious paramilitary force which terrorised Ireland during the last years of British control). The story does show, and is true to, the different attitudes of the various factions at the time. The vicious Black and Tans, the more considerate British military, the double standards of the RIC Royal Irish Constables and collaborators, and the belligerence of the oppressed Irish people. While the acting is much more subtle than the previous short films, `1921' is let down by being poorly written and adapted. There are some great shots of 1950s Dublin, including the Liffy bridges and the Four Courts.

These three films owe their success to an ensemble cast of Irish actors most of whom cropped up again and again whenever Ireland used to be depicted in theatre, film or television.

Representing an early style of theatre acting that needed to be clearly heard at the back of the auditorium without microphones, Noel Purcell in "The Majesty of the Law" gives the tone to most of the acting in these three films by beautifully blasting the other actors with an outsized performance. Cyril Cusack offers a rare subtlety. In "A Minute's Wait" watch dozens of actors flowing back and forth on a platform in rural Ireland as the principals share performances in true ensemble fashion.

The first two films are glorious comedies with only the faintest kernel of truth. But, no matter, by suspending disbelief, you can settle down and let the blarney flow over you.

The third film "1921" which starts with a potential execution, a strange addition to the other light stories, nevertheless manages to haul in the blarney yet again in order to lighten the tone. And no one expects even this one to end badly. There is a final song even.

All three films contain plenty of comic dialogue and, best of all, are shot on location and, despite being in black and white, we get to see much of a real Ireland - even if it's mostly in the background.

The Rising of the Moon (1957), directed by John Ford, is actually three short films about Ireland.

The first is "The Majesty of the Law," from a story by Frank O'Connor. O'Connor was an outstanding author, and the story itslef is worth reading. Ford keeps O'Connor's concept, but adds many embellishments. I wasn't impressed by these additions, but I was impressed by Ford's direction, which was outstanding in all three segments.

The second story, "A Minute's Wait," is by a less-known Irish writer, Michael J. McHugh. It's a fairly repetitious piece about a train that, for many reasons, never quite leaves the small station where it has stopped. It's the comic relief film. An English colonel and his wife are on the train, and they are presented as perfect stereotypes. At one point a sports team arrives, with great fanfare. The colonel tells his wife that it's probably the local cricket team. Of course, it's actually a victorious team that competes in the Irish sport of hurling. One reason not to fast-forward is to listen to the most bizarrely worded marriage proposal that you'll ever hear.

The third segment is adapted from Lady Augusta Gregory's play, "The Rising of the Moon." Lady Gregory was an English aristocrat who lived in Ireland, and adopted the Irish revolutionary cause as her own. She was the founder of he famous Abbey Theatre, which still exists today.

This segment has two serious plots. One is obvious--an Irish revolutionary is about to be executed. The other is less obvious but, in my opinion, it's the more important plot. It involves an Irish Constabulary sergeant and his wife. We see them first at the very beginning of the story, and again at the very end.

We saw this movie on the small screen, where it worked well. It's uneven, and not a masterpiece, but it's worth seeing. It has an anemic IMDb rating of 6.8. I think it's much better than that.

This trio of short stories, narrated by Tyrone Power, and directed by John Ford, is a delight to the eye and ear of the lovers of the Irish theater and story telling style. Each of the three stories is varied in its style and content. The title story, "The Rising of the Moon," is a patriotic drama taken from Lady Augusta Gregory's 1907 play of the same name. It accounts for a time in Irish history prior to independence from Britain. The small monologues between the hard-working Irish Catholic policeman (played by Ward Bond, if memory serves,) and his loyal wife are wonderful. "The Magesty of the Law" plays to the typical Irish satirical humor and warmth of spirit and "A Mintutes' Wait" is just wonderful, raucous Irish humor at its best. Each story is replete with Irish and Irish-American film and theater stars of that period who so often populate John Ford's films. Many are supreme character actors we know we have seen somewhere before... Truly a film style and an era long gone. Thank you, John Ford.

THE RISING OF THE MOON.

Utterly charming film. Even better than the Brit's, QUARTET.

No 'name' stars, but they could never have given the characters the same authenticity and humanness that we enjoy from all the interpretive acting projected in each of the three episodes.

For sure, we get the best of the Irish character actors, either from the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, or even from the Outer Hebrides Playhouse ( just kidding), with all giving awesomely enjoyable performances.

Of course with John Ford at the helm, how could THE RISING OF THE MOON miss its place in the film firmament.

PS Correction from a previous review. The bobby/cop in the third episode was Dennis O'Day, not Ward Bond, whom you can catch as a cop in GWTW.