Mother Machree


Mother Machree is a 1928 silent film, directed by John Ford, based on the 1924 work The Story of Mother Machree by Rida Johnson Young about a poor Irish immigrant in America. Rida Johnson Young had invented Mother Machree in the stage show Barry of Ballymoore in 1910. John Wayne had a minor role in the film.

Cast

The production of the film was a protracted one, the film was originally announced by Fox publicity in June 1926 with filming slated for that September. In November, it was announced that it would be premiered on December 12, 1926, tying in with the marketing campaign of the music and discs of the title song, however its release was ultimately delayed, since Fox had plans to release it with a Movietone synchronised music score and sound effects track.

Release

In May 1927, it was privately previewed at a Fox sales convention in Atlantic City, along with and 7th Heaven as a showcase of the new Movietone process, and that September a silent version was previewed at the Astoria Theatre in London. By the beginning of 1928, the delays were amounting to around $750,000, and its release was deferred until January 22, 1928 when it was premiered at the Globe Theatre in New York, its delay owing to the release schedule of the Fox Movietone features. The film is also notable for containing the first synchronous sound sequence using the Movietone process in a feature film, a short scene featuring Brian McHugh singing the title song "Mother Machree," which featured in the original stage show.

Preservation status

Only four reels out of seven of this movie survive. Incomplete prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive; and in the UCLA Film and Television Archive film archive ; reels three, four and six are presumed lost