I am beyond thrilled Maureen O'Hara is Turner Classic Movie's Star of the Month! That means every Tuesday in July, I will be treated to a classic movie with one of my very favorite movie stars. Over the years, I have watched O'Hara as a film-noir femme fatale in "The Fallen Sparrow," a pirate's lady in "The Black Swan," a shy yet scrappy Irish lass in "The Quiet Man" and a wild-west woman in "McClintock!" She never plays the fainting and swooning type. Instead, she swordfights, sprints, dances, argues and charms her way through a picture. She is stunning even in black and white, but her red locks and emereld eyes are so striking in full color. It's not just that she's a familiar face to me now. I truly enjoy her acting. To me, she makes any movie better. Her co-stars aren't too shabby either with the likes of John Wayne, Dean Martin and Henry Fonda. I have yet to see all her movies, and that's why I'm so glad TCM will feature 26 of her movies . Here's a link to the movie line-up and TCM's bio....
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1008293%7C0/Maureen-O-Hara-Tuesdays-in-July.html
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| From the Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939 |
I fell in love with O'Hara's acting in the "Parent Trap." I was a little girl when I first watched the movie with my parents in our upstairs loft. I truly think I have most of the lines and moment memorized. The plot is quirky, fun and so fantastic that you almost believe it could happen. But what I remember most was Maureen O'Hara's performance and screen presence. If you haven't seen the movie in a while, O'Hara's character is portrayed as uptight and clenchingly proper in her Boston home. A single mother, she dresses conservatively and never has a hair out of place. Lots of high necklines, dress suits and multi-strand pearls. As the movie progresses and she realizes she wants to re-kindle her romance with her ex-husband, her clothing and persona are more relaxed. Some of my favorite scenes are shot in the a sprawling California ranch home of her ex-husband. At this point in the movie, O'Hara isn't holding her tongue and is playing the fiesty, hot-tempered, quick-witted character she does so well. I still snort with laughter during the scene when she socks her husband in the eye.
Shot in 1961, the movie's wardrobe for O'Hara would make the Mad Men costume department drool. Below is a photo of my particular favorite dress. Slightly off the shoulder and structured in the waist, the dress also featured a full, swing skirt to the calf. It's hard to see but she is wearing a gorgeous blue brooch of what looks like enamel forget-me-nots. Hmmm.... I don't think the flower choice was an accident now that I think about the movie's themes... Here is the best photo I could find.
I know I could find many people who have seen more of her movies than I, but I think most would agree the "The Quiet Man" is a must-see. My husband introduced me to the movie as his pick for our wedding-anniversary movie treat. It was such a romantic choice. Set in Ireland, the film transports the viewer to the rolling hills and white-washed stone cottages of the Emerald Isle. A young John Wayne cuts a handsome character as a former American boxer. He comes to Ireland to forget a few things and find his family home. When he, and we, first see O'Hara, she's tending sheep in a field plucked from an Irish proverb. Director John Ford, or the wardrobe department, knew what they were doing by putting O'Hara in a sky-blue jacket and scarlet-red skirt. How is this gorgeous woman tending sheep in the middle of the country? That's what John Wayne is thinking, too. (The Quiet Man won two Oscars, one for best Cinematography in Color and one for best direcor.) There are a few scenes that are a bit too much for me, like when Wayne drags O'Hara back to the house kicking and screaming. I get the the time period they are portraying and the movie's 1952 production date. I just look at my husband and give him the, "That would NEVER happen in this house," look.
Tidbit: There is a Quiet Man festival in the town of Cong in Ireland where much of the movie was filmed. There is also a bronze statue near the town abbey of the movie characters:)
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| The real-life Bo-Peep. |
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| A courtin' they will go. |
Watching movies from decades gone by is a past-time my husband and I share, so he was SHOCKED when I told him I had never seen "Miracle on 34th Street." I calmly explained it was not in my family's Christmas movie repertoire. When I sat down to watch it a few Christmases ago, I think I squealed, "Oh my God Maureen O'Hara is in this I love Maureen O'Hara!?!?!?" And that's when my husband grinned. He knew I would love it and I do. I always think it's interesting to portray a working, and single, mother in a movie from 1947.
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| A young Natalie Wood and O'Hara. |
Maureen O'Hara is still alive at 94 today. Her career has been storied and successful and I'm so glad she graced the screen for such a long time. Next movie on the docket? "Dance, Girl, Dance" with Lucille Ball!!
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