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Riders to the Sea (film)

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Riders to the Sea
Directed byBrian Desmond Hurst
Written byBrian Desmond Hurst
Wolfgang Wilhelm
Patrick Kirwan
Francis Stewart
Based onplay Riders to the Sea
by John Millington Synge
Produced byJohn P. Flanagan
Gracie Fields
StarringSara Allgood
Denis Johnston
Distributed byBBSC
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • 13 July 1936 (1936-07-13)
Running time
3710 ft
40 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Ireland
LanguageEnglish

Riders to the Sea is a 1935 British-Irish short film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and is a film adaptation of the 1904 play of the same name, written by John Millington Synge. It starred Sara Allgood and Denis Johnston.

Plot

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Set in a fishing community in Western Ireland, revolving around the berieved widow Maurya, a woman who lost her husband and sons at the sea.

Cast

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Production notes

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Critical response

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Writing for The Spectator in 1935, Graham Greene praised Fields for her courage and generosity in financing this independent film, however he faulted the film's apparent independence from the viewer, and described the film as "altogether too private" in its presentation. Greene (who admitted a personal disinclination toward Synge's plays) predicted that even Synge's admirers would struggle with the film and suggested that "something has gone badly wrong with the continuity; the loss of act divisions has upset the sense of time".[1]

References

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  1. ^ Greene, Graham (20 December 1935). "Riders to the Sea". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 39–40. ISBN 0192812866.)
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