Main Cast: Noel Purcell, Cyril Cusack, Jimmy O'Dea, Denis O'Dea, Eileen Crowe
Release Year: 1957
Country: US/IE
Run Time: 81 minutes
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Anita Bolster - His Wife [A Minute's Wait]; John Cowley - The Gombeen Man; May Craig - Matchmaking Aunt [A Minute's Wait]; Maureen Delaney - Old Woman [1921]; J.G. Devlin - The Guard [A Minute's Wait]; Donal Donnelly - Sean Curran [1921]; Paul Farrell - Chauffeur; Harold Goldblatt - Matchmaking Father [A Minute's Wait]; Maurice Good - Constable O'Grady [1921]; Eric Gorman; Frank Lawton - British Major [1921]; Edward Lexy - RQMS [1921]; Jack MacGowran - Mickey J.; Joseph O'Dea - Warder [1921]; Maureen Potter - Barmaid [A Minute's Wait]; Tyrone Power - Introduction; Godfrey Quigley - Christy, his Boy [A Minute's Wait]; Tony Quinn - Railroad Station Chief; Michael Trubshawe - Col. Frobisher [A Minute's Wait]; Maureen O'Connell - May Ann McMahon, her Niece [A Minute's Wait]; Dennis Brennan - [1921]; Maureen Cusack - False Nuns [1921]; Michael O'Duffy - The Singer [A Minute's Wait]
Credit
Ray Simm - Art Director, Jimmy Bourke - Costume Designer, John Ford - Director, Michael Gordon - Editor, Eamonn O'Gallagher - Composer (Music Score), Colin Garde - Makeup, Robert Krasker - Cinematographer, Michael Killanin - Producer, Frank S. Nugent - Screenwriter, Lady Gregory - Play Author, Martin J. McHugh - Play Author, Frank O'Connor - Short Story Author
