Mother Machree (1928)

[ethanedwards]

MOTHER MACHREE

DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY JOHN FORD
FOX FILM CORPORATION



Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
Ellen McHugh, a poor Irish immigrant to America, finds work in a carnival
and is thus able to send her son Brian to a fine school.
But when her position is found out, the school expels Brian.
Mrs. McHugh feels compelled to allow the school principal and his wife to adopt Brian.
The widow McHugh becomes a housekeeper and raises her employer's daughter Edith,
who grows up to fall in love with Brian McHugh.
Written by Jim Beaver

Full Cast
Belle Bennett ... Mother Machree (Ellen McHugh)
Neil Hamilton ... Brian McHugh / Brian van Studdiford
Victor McLaglen ... The Giant of Kilkenny (Terence O'Dowd)
Constance Howard ... Edith Cutting
Philippe De Lacy ... Brian McHugh as a child
Ted McNamara ... The Harper of Wexford
Billy Platt ... The Dwarf of Munster (Pips) (as William Platt)
Eulalie Jensen ... Rachel van Studdiford
Pat Somerset ... Bobby de Puyster
Ethel Clayton ... Undetermined role (uncredited)
Aggie Herring ... Sideshow woman asking about legs
Rodney Hildebrand ... Brian McHugh Sr. (uncredited)
Wallace MacDonald ... Michael McHugh (uncredited)
John MacSweeney ... Father McShane (Irish priest)
Robert Parrish ... Child (uncredited)
Jack Rollens ... Undetermined role (uncredited)
Duke Morrison ... Extra (uncredited)
Joyce Wirard ... Edith Cutting as a child (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Rida Johnson Young (novel "The Story of Mother Machree"
Gertrude Orr (scenario)
Katherine Hilliker (titles) (as Katharine Hilliker) and
H.H. Caldwell titles

Original Music
Erno Rapee (uncredited)

Cinematography
Chester A. Lyons (as Chester Lyons)

Assistant Director
Edward O'Fearna

Art Department
Duke Morrison .... props (uncredited)

Other crew
William Fox presenter....copyright owner

Trivia
* Production begun in September 1926 for a silent film, with release announced for December. It did not appear, and was instead released in 1928 with a sound track, including a synchronized version of the title song being sung.

* What most likely was a silent version of the film was shown at the Astoria Theater in London in September 1927.

* Announced cost of film: $750,000.

This film was originally credited as John Wayne's debut film,
but obviously he appeared in films two years before this as an uncredited extra.
He showed early promise in these silent films with his height,
his smile, and just the way how he embodied the American west.

Movie Status
* The Library of Congress has reels 1, 2 and 5, while reels 2, 5 and 7 currently survive at the UCLA film and television archives.

Filming Locations
Unknown

[ethanedwards]

Mother Machree is a 1928 silent film, directed by John Ford,
based on a novel by Rida Johnson Young about a poor Irish immigrant in America.
John Wayne had a minor role in the film.

John Ford needed an extra prop man,
when Duke was instructed to report to the assistant dircetor.
The first day on the set Duke was put in charge
of a gaggle of geese, that Ford planned for a scene.



Young Morrison was told to release the geese
on Ford's signal and herd them into camera range,
using a large pole.
On the first few attempts, it was chaos,
with the geese wandering everywhere,
much to Duke's frustration.

The director lost his temper
He was the most awkward prop man we ever had
Ford said of Duke later

He'd drop lights,and knot up cables, and ruin takes,
but he was a nice big kid, and tried hard to please

User Review

The 21 Year Old John Wayne
23 September 2003 | by The-Lonely-Londoner (London, England)

This film was originally credited as John Wayne's debut film,
but obviously he appeared in films two years before this as an uncredited extra.
He showed early promise in these silent films with his height, his smile,
and just the way how he embodied the American west.

[ethanedwards]

Directed by John Ford (1971) Peter Bogdanovich

Duke actually states on camera, that it was on the set
of Mother Machree, (1928)
when Ford got him herding the geese,
that it was this movie where he was 'kicked'
and that it was THIS movie that was his FIRST job with Mr Ford

Duke states:

So when Mr. Ford needed a goose herder for his set,
it just fit my pistol. They had a hill made up, a fake hill for this
set of Mother Machree and the geese, were getting down under
the two by fours there, and they needed a fella to herd them out.
so that was my first job with Mr Ford

Duke went on to say

So you're a footballer player said Mr Ford, get down
on my forearms and feet, and just kicked my arms from under me,
and stuck my nose in the mud that they'd made for Mother Machree,

and the rest is history.

As production started in September 1926
this would fit with all the information from the books.

I for one cannot dispute or argue with what Duke actually said!!