Quand se lève la lune

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.

.A movie made of sketches.which is pretty rare in the English/Irish films,except for the horror flicks ,and in Ford's filmography;French (Duvivier) and Italians (Risi) are more familiar to that kind of stuff.

Ford's film has one great quality:his shorts become better and better.

I must confess I found the first segment pretty boring:unlike the two others ,it does not have an "universal" appeal .It is very talky and only the splendid Irish landscapes (it was filmed on location,Tyrone Power told us so in his presentation of the film)redeem it a little.

Things go much better with the second segment:one minute's wait in a tiny railway station which actually will last a very looong time.Several miniplots intermix (a mature couple going to a wedding ,a ghost story ,marriageable son and daughter ,a hockey team whose bus has broken down,a she-goat,lobsters ,and more ) and the very last picture is worthy of a Tex Avery cartoon. "The quiet man" in miniature.

Ford saved the best for the last:mainly during the first half ,he has a very fine way to blend tragedy (an Irish rebel will be hanged by the English ) and comedy (those nuns are wearing high heels!).A positive "remake" of "the informer" this segment is witty,sometimes hilarious,and even suspenseful.It ends of course with the traditional song "rising of the moon" a policeman used to sing although he found it a bit subversive.

This movie is to Ford what the album "Irish Heartbeat " is to singer Van Morrison :a work of love for his homeland.

When John Ford set out to make what was to turn out to be his last completed Irish film he had high hopes of using Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, and Barry Fitzgerald to star in each of the stories that make up the trilogy in The Rising Of The Moon. Unfortunately all three of them had prior commitments though I suspect in the case of O'Hara she was not getting along with Ford at the time. Read her memoirs to find out about their odd relationship.

However he did get Tyrone Power to appear and do narratives for the three stories that were filmed. The stories certainly are a rich mixture of Irish fiction from the first quarter of the last century. If you recognize the players they are from the famous Abbey Theater Company of Dublin and if you saw The Quiet Man you'll pick out many a face and voice from the cast of characters there.

The first story is the least of the three, in His Majesty The Law a police inspector played by Cyril Cusack has a distasteful duty to perform in serving a warrant on Noel Purcell, a rather proud gentleman who cold cocked a man who sold him some bad home made moonshine.

The second is entitled A Minute's Wait concerns a train bound into some country region of Ireland that is continually being held for a minute's wait while all sorts of bizarre passengers and freight are loaded on to the train. While this is going on the passengers are having one really good time in the station pub. You wouldn't think that in Ireland a train station wouldn't have a pub? Everyone just expects all these things as part of the system except for a married English couple who are the ones constantly downgraded from what passes for first class accommodations on this Irish railway. It's all quite whimsical and amusing.

The last story 1921 is set during the rebellion that year and it involves the escape of a known IRA man minutes from his date with the hangman. The escape is perpetrated by a group of Irish players not unlike the Abbey Theater. Although the audience knows well who the escapee is through his disguise that's half the fun in seeing that the occupying Black and Tan force is so clueless to what's going on around them. Donal Donnelly plays the escapee Sean Curran, a role that was intended for Tyrone Power had he been able to do it. Power was probably too old for the part in any event and the younger Donnelly was a better fit.

Yet the lack of marquee names is the reason that this film is not better known. I'm sure now that it has appeared on TCM it will be broadcast with The Quiet Man on St. Patrick's Day.

At least I hope so.

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.

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.