| Riders to the Sea | |
| Director: | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Producer: | John P. Flanagan Gracie Fields |
| Starring: | Sara Allgood Denis Johnston |
| Runtime: | 3710 ft 40 minutes |
| Distributor: | BBSC Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Country: | Great Britain |
| Language: | English |
Riders to the Sea is a British short film, shot in 1935 in Ireland. It is based on 1904 play of the same name, written by John Millington Synge. It was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst with Sara Allgood and Denis Johnston in the title roles.
A story set in a fishing community in Western Ireland. It concerns Maurya, a woman who loses her husband and her sons at the sea.
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]