The Molly Maguires

The Molly Maguires, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris, is a period film about the Molly Maguires, a secret society of exploited Irish coal miners in 1870s Pennsylvania, and the Pinkerton detective who infiltrates them. The film stays broadly faithful to real events: in 1873, mining company boss Franklin Gowen hired detective James McParland to infiltrate the group, and McParland's testimony led to ten Molly members being hanged on the same day, June 21, 1877, the second largest mass execution in US history. In 1979, the state of Pennsylvania granted a full posthumous pardon to society leader John Kehoe, more than a century after his death. Made on an 11 million dollar budget, the film grossed only 2 million dollars in the US, a significant box office failure. Who it's for: anyone curious about a historically grounded drama about a secret society of Irish coal miners and the infiltrator who brought them down, culminating in a real mass execution. Who it's not for: those looking for a commercially successful star vehicle, since this Connery and Harris production was a significant financial failure.