The Rising of the Moon

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.

"The Rising of the Moon" is a collection of three stories set in Ireland. It's directed by John Ford and each segment is introduced by Tyrone Power.

THE RISING OF THE MOON.Utterly charming film.

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.

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.

Tyrone Power introduces this trio of short films shot on a minuscule budget on The Auld Sod by John Ford."The Majesty of the Law" has police official Cyril Cusack visiting Noel Purcell, an old friend, now reduced to near-poverty on his rural land.

This film, comprised of three vignettes, is about community, the community as it exists (existed) in Ireland --in short, Irish community. This strong sense of community is shown in three different contexts: rural, suburban/small town, and urban.

Rising of the Moon, The (1957) ** (out of 4) Anthology film has director Ford returning to Ireland but the end results are far from those of THE QUIET MAN. In the first story, "The Majesty of the Law" has a policeman going to visit an old friend, now living desperately poor due to something in his past but it turns out he does have the money to correct his wrongdoings but refuses.

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