Maureen O'Hara Movies
Born in Ranelagh, Ireland, near Dublin, Maureen O'Hara was trained at the Abbey Theatre School and appeared on radio as a young girl before making her stage debut with the Abbey Players in the mid-'30s. She went to London in 1938, and made her first important screen appearance that same year in the Charles Laughton/Erich Pommer-produced drama Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She was brought to Hollywood with Laughton's help and co-starred with him in the celebrated costume drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which established O'Hara as a major new leading lady. Although she appeared in dramas such as How Green Was My Valley with Walter Pidgeon, The Fallen Sparrow opposite John Garfield, and This Land Is Mine with Laughton, it was in Hollywood's swashbucklers that O'Hara became most popular and familiar. Beginning with The Black Swan opposite Tyrone Power in 1942, she always seemed to be fighting (or romancing) pirates, especially once Technicolor became standard for such films. Her red hair photographed exceptionally well, and, with her extraordinary good looks, she exuded a robust sexuality that made her one of the most popular actresses of the late '40s and early '50s.O'Hara was also a good sport, willing to play scenes that demanded a lot of her physically, which directors and producers appreciated. The Spanish Main, Sinbad the Sailor, and Against All Flags (the latter starring Errol Flynn) were among her most popular action films of the '40s. During this period, the actress also starred as young Natalie Wood's beautiful, strong-willed mother in the classic holiday fantasy Miracle on 34th Street and as John Wayne's estranged wife in the John Ford cavalry drama Rio Grande. O'Hara became Wayne's most popular leading lady, most notably in Ford's The Quiet Man, but her career was interrupted during the late '50s when she sued the scandal magazine Confidential. It picked up again in 1960, when she did one of her occasional offbeat projects, the satire Our Man in Havana, based on a Graham Greene novel and starring Alec Guinness. O'Hara moved into more distinctly maternal roles during the '60s, playing the mother of Hayley Mills in Disney's popular The Parent Trap. She also starred with Wayne in the comedy Western McLintock!, and with James Stewart in the The Rare Breed, both directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Following her last film with Wayne, Big Jake, and a 1973 television adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Red Pony, O'Hara went into retirement, although returned to the screen in 1991 to play John Candy's overbearing mother in the comedy Only the Lonely. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 2000
The fabulous Maureen O'Hara delivers another stunning performance in this made-for-TV movie, based on Todd F. Cope's short story "The Shift." O'Hara is cast as Helen Parker, the former high school teacher of nurse Todd Cope (Eric Stolz). Like many others in his professional, Todd is having trouble devoting equal time to his job and to his family, and as a result has lost touch with his wife Denise (Trini Alvarado). Working overtime at the hospital, Todd is reunited with Helen Parker, who is suffering from a serious heart condition. When it becomes obvious that Helen has no one else to look after her, Todd assumes the responsibility himself--while Helen, sizing up the situation between Todd and Denise, sets about to prevent the couple from throwing away the golden opportunities in their lives...just as she had, so many years before. The Last Dance premiered October 29, 2000 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Eric Stoltz, (more)
Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Cab to Canada stars the indomitable Maureen O'Hara as Katherine Eure, a wealthy and very proper "little old lady from Pasadena." En route to a funeral, Katherine summons the cab driven by one Mike Donahue (Jason Beghe). In answer to the traditional "Where to, lady?," Kathryn knocks Mike for a loop when she imperiously insists upon being driven to Vancouver, British Columbia...some 3,100 miles away. During the motor odyssey that follows, Kathryn proves that she's something substantially more than just another arrogant old dowager, just as the down-to-earth Mike loses his natural-born animosity toward those better off than himself. Meanwhile, the authorities are at their wit's end, convinced that Kathryn has been kidnapped, and are prepared to mete out harsh punishment for her captor. A pre-Sixth Sense Haley Joel Osment appears as Bobby. Cab to Canada made its CBS network bow on November 29, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Jason Beghe, (more)
- 1973
The Red Pony is a 1973 TV-movie adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, previously filmed for theatrical release in 1949. Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara star as a turn-of-century farming couple. Clint Howard plays their 10-year-old son, a rebellious lad constantly at odds with his taciturn father. The catalyst for the ultimate reconciliation of father and son is the magnificent (but foredoomed) red pony whom the boy raises. Farm hand Billy Buck, the colorful character portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the 1949 version of The Red Pony, is missing from this otherwise faithful adaptation, which premiered on March 18, 1973 as a Bell System Family Theatre special. The film would later be honored with a Peabody Award for "Outstanding Dramatic Special." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Hosted by the American Film Institute, this video is a tribute to career of John Ford. Included are excerpts from: Stagecoach, Fort Apache and The Grapes of Wrath. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
When his grandson (played by real-life son Ethan Wayne) is kidnapped by scurrilous baddie Richard Boone, Big Jake (John Wayne) sets out to deliver the $1 million ransom. On the off-chance that there'll be gunplay, Jake brings along his sons Patrick Wayne and Chris Mitchum. Maureen O'Hara plays Jake's estranged wife and Bruce Cabot provides comedy relief as a scraggly Indian Scout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Richard Boone, (more)
Andrew V. McLaglen directs the Western drama The Rare Breed, based on the real-life introduction of English Hereford cattle to the American West in the 1880s. Maureen O'Hara plays Martha Price, an widowed Englishwoman who convinces rancher Alexander Bowen (Brian Keith) to use her new cattle breed. James Stewart stars as ranch hand Sam Burnett, a rambler who agrees to take the rare bull to Texas in order to breed it with the longhorns. He also accepts a bribe along the way from the lawless Taylor (Alan Caillou). The determined Martha and her daughter Hilary (Juliet Mills) demand to go along for the trip, leading to Burnett having to rescue them from several bouts of Western-style danger. Soon Bowen loses faith in the breeding idea, but Burnett has grown to believe in the bull. The bull dies after the harsh winter, but Burnett saves one of its calves. He and Martha decide to start their own cattle ranch. Meanwhile, Hilary begins a romance with Bowen's son Jamie (Don Galloway). Also starring Jack Elam as swindler Deke Simons. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1965
Originally released in Great Britain as The Battle of the Villa Fiorita, this film is not a wartime epic but a cozy domestic drama. Maureen O'Hara plays an American woman who leaves British husband Richard Todd, taking their two children along. While vacationing on the Riviera, Maureen falls in love with Rosanno Brazzi, a widowed Italian concert pianist who also has children. None of the kids are keen on this continental romance, and do their best to break up the affair. One of the children is played by pre-teen Olivia Hussey, several years before her star turn in Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet. Consistently lovely to look at, Affair at Villa Fiorita is not for those who prefer surprises in their film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
For a family picture, not to mention a story that later became the old-fashioned-values-affirming series The Waltons, Spencer's Mountain sure has a lot in it about sex. Henry Fonda gives an interesting portrayal in one of his more unusual roles, as Clay Spencer, the hard-drinkin', hard-livin', hard lovin', hard-cussin' patriarch of a fiercely independent Wyoming family living in the Grand Tetons. When he's not resisting the encroachment of organized religion on his daily life (he believes in God, but doesn't want others to tell him how to do that, or how to show respect to the Lord), he's busy trying to finish the house he promised his wife (Maureen O'Hara) to house their constantly growing brood, and trying to help his eldest son, Clayboy (James MacArthur) -- who's going to be the first Spencer to get past high school -- prepare for college and manhood, while temptation in the form of Claris Coleman (Mimsy Farmer) and Minnie-Cora Cook Kathy Bennett comes his way. There's also a good bit of human drama here, and some especially finely nuanced performances by Donald Crisp and Lillian Bronson, as Fonda's aging parents. Between their work, the CinemaScope photography, the gorgeous Wyoming locations, and a good basic story, this is a surprisingly engrossing comedy-drama of a kind that probably could not be made today, even with a top-name cast. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
George Washington McLintock (John Wayne) has a saddlebag full of trouble. The owner of the largest ranch in the territory, which also includes a mine and a lumber mill that he built up himself, should be a happy, fulfilled man, but he isn't. His wife, Katherine (Maureen O'Hara), walked out on him two years ago without a word of explanation and has been living back east and running in very fancy circles. He's getting older, a fact of which he's constantly reminded as friends around him decline in health. He's being challenged by their sons, eager to make their mark on the territory, and by the homesteaders who are pouring in with the support of the government, hoping to farm on land that's just barely adequate for cattle to graze on; he's got government officials underfoot, including an inept Indian agent (Strother Martin) and a corrupt land agent (Gordon Jones); the thick-headed, longwinded territorial governor, the honorable Cuthbert H. Humphrey (Robert Lowery), and the government back east are trying to push the Indians -- whose chiefs are some of McLintock's oldest enemies and his best and most honored friends -- by shipping them off to a reservation, where they'll be cared for like old women; and to top it all off, Katherine is coming back to secure a divorce and take custody of their 17-year-old daughter, Rebecca (Stefanie Powers), who's been at school back east and no longer likes anything to do with the West, any more than her mother does. All of that -- plus the presence of a young hired hand (Patrick Wayne) who's interested romantically in McLintock's daughter -- is the setup for a sprawling comedy Western with serious overtones, part battle-of-the-sexes and part political tract.
McLintock! was made mostly to keep John Wayne's production company solvent in the wake of the losses incurred from the production of The Alamo. Wayne needed a film that could be made quickly and have mass appeal, and he got more than he bargained for in James Edward Grant's screenplay, which owed a little to both The Taming of the Shrew and The Quiet Man. Shot in the spring of 1963 and premiered in late November of that year, McLintock! proved to be one of the star's most popular and successful films of the '60s. It was a prized possession of the Wayne estate and was held unavailable for all of the '80s and beyond until they missed the copyright renewal in 1991 -- after that, it emerged in numerous substandard videocassette and DVD editions. There was an authorized VHS edition from MPI in the early '90s, and there were legitimate showings on WTBS, but until 2005 there was no decent quality DVD version. Late that year, Paramount Home Video, working under license from the Wayne estate, released a beautiful letterboxed DVD edition loaded up with extras. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
McLintock! was made mostly to keep John Wayne's production company solvent in the wake of the losses incurred from the production of The Alamo. Wayne needed a film that could be made quickly and have mass appeal, and he got more than he bargained for in James Edward Grant's screenplay, which owed a little to both The Taming of the Shrew and The Quiet Man. Shot in the spring of 1963 and premiered in late November of that year, McLintock! proved to be one of the star's most popular and successful films of the '60s. It was a prized possession of the Wayne estate and was held unavailable for all of the '80s and beyond until they missed the copyright renewal in 1991 -- after that, it emerged in numerous substandard videocassette and DVD editions. There was an authorized VHS edition from MPI in the early '90s, and there were legitimate showings on WTBS, but until 2005 there was no decent quality DVD version. Late that year, Paramount Home Video, working under license from the Wayne estate, released a beautiful letterboxed DVD edition loaded up with extras. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
Screenwriter Nunnally Johnson adapted the novel by author Edward Streeter, whose work was also the basis of Father of the Bride (1950), into this domestic comedy. James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara star as Roger and Peggy Hobbs, a St. Louis couple with a large brood who desire a seaside vacation. Renting a cottage by the ocean is just the first step in a summer fraught with disasters, including a couch potato son, a shy daughter with newly installed braces, a pair of grown daughters who have married badly, and a local yachtsman with eyes for Peggy. Not to mention the ramshackle state of the shoreline abode, Roger and Peggy's new grandparent status, and incidents involving a sexy neighbor, a sailboat regatta and bird watching. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
Sam Peckinpah's first feature as director is this modest Western, taking place in the late 1860s. Yellowleg (Brian Keith), a former sergeant in the Union army, is obsessed with tracking down Turk (Chill Wills), a Rebel army deserter who, during the War Between the States, tried to scalp him as he lay wounded on a battlefield. Yellowleg finds Turk and his sidekick Billy (Steve Cochran) in a cantina and convinces them to help him rob a bank. They journey to Gila City, where the bank is located, and find that another group of bank robbers are also in Gila City to rob the same bank. During a shoot-out with the other bank robbers, Yellowleg accidentally kills the nine-year-old son of dance-hall hostess Kit Tilden (Maureen O'Hara). Remorseful at having caused the death of Kit's son, Yellowleg forces Turk and Billy to accompany him through Apache territory to bury Kit's son at the gravesite of her husband in the ghost town of Siringo. When Billy attacks Kit, Yellowleg throws him out of their camp. Then Turk deserts. As Kit and Yellowleg finally reach Siringo, Yellowleg realizes that he is in love with her. But then, Billy and Turk reappear, having robbed the bank in Gila City, leading to a final confrontation between Yellowleg and Turk. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, (more)
- 1961
The first half of this 1961 Walt Disney Presents episode shows the work that went behind the delightful animated opening titles of the upcoming Disney theatrical feature The Parent Trap. Famed studio artists Bill Justice, X. Attencio, and T. Hee are seen bringing the titles to life, from storyboard to final print; as a bonus, excerpts from The Parent Trap are previewed, and Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello are shown recording the film's hit title song The rest of the episode consists of Disney's Oscar-winning "True-Life Adventure" short subject Nature's Half Acre, originally released theatrically in 1952. Narrated by Winston Hibler, the film follows the four seasons of nature, from the viewpoint of several species of birds, insects, and plants. "Title Makers and Disney's Half Acre was Walt Disney's final TV-anthology episode for the ABC network, and the last one telecast in black-and-white. Beginning in the fall of 1961, the producer's series would air on NBC under the title Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, (more)
Graham Greene wrote this witty comedy inspired by Cold War paranoia. Jim Wormald (Alec Guiness) is an Englishman selling vacuum cleaners in Cuba on the cusp of the revolution. Hawthorne (Noel Coward), a British intelligence agent, is looking for information on Cuban affairs and recruits Jim to act as a spy. Jim has no experience in espionage and no useful knowledge to pass along, but Hawthorne is willing to pay for his services, and since Jim's daughter Milly (Jo Morrow) has expensive tastes, he can use the money. To keep Hawthorne happy (and his paychecks coming in), he turns in reports on the Cuban revolution that are copied from public documents, "hires" additional agents who don't exist, and presents blueprints of secret weapons that are actually schematics of his carpet sweepers. However, Hawthorne and associate "C" (Ralph Richardson) think that Jim is doing splendid work and encourage him to continue; meanwhile, Capt. Segura (Ernie Kovacs), the elegantly corrupt chief of police, has been fooled by Jim's charade into believing he's a real spy -- and has also become attracted to Milly. Our Man in Havana also features Burl Ives and Maureen O'Hara in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, (more)
The Wings of Eagles is filmmaker John Ford's paean to his frequent collaborator--and, it is rumored, drinking buddy--Cmdr. Frank "Spig" Wead. John Wayne stars as Wead, a reckless WW1 Naval aviator who (it says here) was instrumental in advancing the cause of American "air power". In private life, Wead becomes estranged from his wife Minnie (Maureen O'Hara) after the death of their baby. Drinking heavily, Wead tumbles down the stairs of his home, and as a result he is apparently paralyzed for life. With the help of happy-go-lucky Navy mechanic Carson (Dan Dailey), Wead is able to regain minimal use of his legs, but it seems clear that his Naval career is over. Fortunately, he manages to find work as a prolific Hollywood screenwriter, and after the attack of Pearl Harbor he is called back to active duty to oversee the construction of "jeep carriers". Not one of John Ford's more coherent films--in fact, it's downright sloppy at times--The Wings of Eagles nonetheless contains several highlights, not least of which are the "I'm gonna move that toe" scene with John Wayne and Dan Dailey, and Ward Bond's inside-joke performance as irreverent film director "John Dodge". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Dan Dailey, (more)
- 1956
Filmed on location, Lisbon was the second directorial endeavor of actor Ray Milland. The story revolves around a Portugal-based American smuggler, Capt. Robert John Evans (Milland). Hired by attractive Sylvia Merrill (Maureen O'Hara), Evans agrees to sneak behind the Iron Curtain to locate Sylvia's husband Lloyd Merrill (Percy Marmont). It is understood that Evans is to bring Merrill back dead so that Sylvia can collect her husband's vast fortune, but the tables are turned on Sylvia and her wily co-conspirator, Aristide Mavros (Claude Rains). Put simply, the film is Casablanca and To Have and Have Not in reverse. Other participants in the film's various and sundry intrigues are Francis Lederer as the last-reel dispenser of justice, and Yvonne Furneaux as Rains' buxom mistress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1956
This very lightweight comedy focuses on young orphan Willie Taylor (Tim Hovey). Upset with the prevarications of the adult world, Willie launches a truth-telling campaign at school, with the blessings of his pretty teacher Joan Madison (Maureen O'Hara). Things begin to get dicey when Willie publicly reveals a slightly dishonest real-estate deal mastermined by his Uncle Arthur (Barry Atwater). Crusading reporter Ernie Miller (John Forsythe) transforms little Willie into a big celebrity, and in so doing wins the love of Joan. A good supporting cast helps smooth over the lumpier passages of Everything but the Truth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, John Forsythe, (more)
- 1955
The exciting, metaphorical world of bull-fighting provides the setting for this dramatic tale of an aging toreador faced with a difficult decision after his illustrious reputation is nearly destroyed when he introduces his young rival and protege and suddenly runs from the ring. The distraught old matador finds comfort in the tender arms of an American fan. Unfortunately, her old boyfriend gets jealous and proclaims the fighter a coward. In time, the matador and his student enter the ring together for a final battle. It is here in the unforgiving arena that the true nature of their relationship is revealed. The film's director Budd Boetticher, gives the film added realism as he, a former matador, also worked as the technical advisor. Originally, the bull-fighting scenes were more graphic, but squeamish censors intervened and the scenes were heavily edited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, (more)
- 1955
To say that Lady Godiva is historically inaccurate is a moot point, since most historians agree that the whole Lady Godiva story never happened. At any rate, Maureen O'Hara stars in the title role, as the rebellious Saxon wife of a Norman nobleman. To show her fidelity to her people, and to protest Norman taxation, Lady Godiva rides naked through the streets of Coventry. All the elements of the original middle-ages legend are in attendance, including the blinding of "Peeping Tom" (about the only effective moment in the whole film). Whatever audience titillation there might have been in the dreary climactic ride was dissipated by tons of studio publicity which insisted that Maureen O'Hara wasn't really naked under her long red tresses. Lady Godiva is interesting only for its supporting cast, including such veterans as Victor McLaglen and a few newcomers like Clint Eastwood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, George Nader, (more)
- 1954
In this adventure, set in North Africa, a secret agent must find a band of smugglers. The man who recommended her for the job is another American agent who works in foreign law enforcement. Only he knows her real identity and he is soon killed leaving her to break up the ring with the assistance of another agent masquerading as a smuggler. The are also assisted by a friendly saloonkeeper. The story was shot on location in Tangiers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, MacDonald Carey, (more)
The title character of this western can only be one of two actresses: Maureen O'Hara or Rhonda Fleming. But Fleming apparently had something else to do, so O'Hara won the coin-toss. She plays a dance-hall gal who protects the identity of a cattle rustler--mainly because she's the same crooked business herself. Complications ensue when O'Hara falls in love with the very sheriff (Alex Nicol) who intends to bring the rustler to justice. Redhead from Wyoming was filmed in Technicolor; the producers would have been insane not to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Alex Nicol, (more)
War Arrow is another of Universal's efficiently produced A plus/B minus Technicolor westerns of the early 1950s. Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler star as, respectively, army major Howell Brady and his former sweetheart Elaine Corwin. As Elaine awaits anxiously on the sidelines, Major Brady trains a group of Seminole Indians to aid the army in quelling an impending Kiowa uprising. Commanding officer Col. Meade, a man with a deep abiding hatred for all Indians, thinks that Brady is crazy to trust the Seminoles. Well, he might be, but it's best to wait until the climactic battle scene to decide whether or not Brady knows what he's doing. The ever-reliable Henry Brandon is a tower of strength as Maygro, the Seminole chief whose daughter Avis (Suzan Ball) falls in love with Brady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Jeff Chandler, (more)
Returning to the Ireland of his birth, director John Ford fashions a irresistable valentine to the "Auld Sod" in The Quiet Man. Irish-American boxer John Wayne, recovering from the trauma of having accidentally killed a man in the ring, arrives in the Irish village where he was born. Hoping to bury his past and settle down to a life of tranquility, Wayne has purchased the home of his birth from wealthy local widow Mildred Natwick, a transaction that has incurred the wrath of pugnacious squire Victor McLaglen, who coveted the property for himself. By and by, Wayne falls in love with McLaglen's beautiful, high-spirited sister Maureen O'Hara. Her insistence that Wayne conduct his courtship in a proper Irish manner-with puckish matchmaker Barry Fitzgerald along for the ride as "chaperone"--is but one obstacle to their future happiness: the other is McLaglen, who spitefully refuses to give his consent to his sister's marriage, or to honor the tradition of paying a dowry to Wayne. Wayne could care less about dowries, but the tradition-bound Maureen refuses to consummate her marriage until McLaglen pays up. Under any other circumstances, Wayne would have punched out the bullying McLaglen long ago, but ever since his tragedy in the ring he has been reluctant to fight. Local priest Ward Bond conspires with several locals to trick McLaglen into paying his due. They intimate that widow Natwick, for whom McLaglen carries a torch, will marry the old brute if he'll give his consent to the marriage and fork over the dowry. But McLaglen finds he's been tricked and the situation remains at a standoff, with the frustrated Wayne locked out of his wife's bedroom. When Maureen accuses him of being a coward and walks out on him, our hero can stand no more. He marches Maureen to McLaglen's home, indicating that he plans to whale the tar out of both brother and sister. As a huge and appreciative crowd gathers the cornered McLaglen truculently tosses the money in Wayne's direction. Big John hands the bills to Maureen, just as she knew he would, and she ceremoniously destroys the money, just as he knew je would. Having proven their love for each other, there is nothing left for Wayne and Maureen to do but head home and perform their nuptual duties. But first there's the matter of giving McLaglen the thrashing he deserves....and it is this spectacular donnybrook, which covers several acres of land and at least two "pit stops" so that the combatants can quench their thirst, which convinces Natwick that the defeated McLaglen is truly worthy of her love (her logic is on a par with everyone else's in the film!) Though it tends to perpetuate the myth that all true Irishmen live only to fight, drink and make love, The Quiet Man is grand and glorious fun, enacted with gusto by a largely Hibernian cast and directed with loving care by a master of his craft. Written by Frank Nugent and graced with a lilting musical score by Victor Young, the film won Oscars for Archie Stout's Technicolor photography and for John Ford's direction-a real coup for "poverty row" Republic Pictures. If you haven't already luxuriated in this wonderful film, be sure to catch in on the tube next St. Patrick's Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1952
Besotted by alcohol, Australian cattle-station owner Michael McGuire (Finlay Currie) is led to believe that crooked gambler Richard Connor (Peter Lawford) is his long-lost son. Connor and his partner-in-crime Gamble (Richard Boone) go along with the gag, convincing McGuire's daughter Dell (Maureen O'Hara) that they've arrived to help the old man save his livestock, when in fact they're planning a major swindle. The scheme goes awry when Connor falls genuinely in love with Dell. The arrival of mounted policeman Leonard (Chips Rafferty) sets the ball rolling for an onslaught of violence, renunciation and redemption. Vividly filmed on location in Australia, Kangaroo was remade in Africa as The Jackals in 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Peter Lawford, (more)
- 1952
After James Stewart's financial windfall attending his "percentage of profits" deal on Winchester 73, Errol Flynn decided to cash in by making his own deal with Universal Pictures, accepting a moderate fee up front and a huge chunk of the gross for Against All Flags. Set in the 16th century, the film casts Flynn as a British naval officer unjustly condemned for desertion. He escapes punishment and joins Anthony Quinn's pirate band, wherein he and Quinn vie for the attentions of glamorous female buccaneer Maureen O'Hara. Flynn incurs O'Hara's wrath when he rescues a lovely middle-eastern princess (Alice Kelley) from slave traders, but O'Hara still comes to Flynn's aid when he is left to die by Quinn. Flynn and O'Hara team up to thwart Quinn's evil schemes, whereupon it is revealed that Flynn's "disgrace" was a ruse, concocted by the British government to stem pirate activities in Madagascar. Though suffering several injuries during shooting, Errol Flynn was back in his old fighting form in Against All Flags, requiring a double only in a few scattered longshots. The film was poorly remade in 1967 as The King's Pirate, with Doug McClure inadequately filling Errol Flynn's seven-league boots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
