Maureen O'Hara.

[Aritosthenes]

 

    ~   Maureen O'Hara. ~

Happy Birthday (Aug. 17th) to This Lovely, Charming, Beguiling Bombshell Red Head.  Would Be One Hundred, & One. (Born, "this day",  1920. Ranelagh (sp) Dublin Ireland.)

(Personal) Favourite Role, Performance of Hers ..?

- Pick 'em.

 

*ALL Of Them...

NEVER Seen This Beauty in a Film i didnt Like..

[Bethluvsfilms]

A beautiful lady and a fine actress. 

I concur, I can't think of a film that she starred in that I didn't like (though maybe I have a short memory).

She was so lovely as the beautiful Esmerelda in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, I think that's probably my favorite role of hers. Also loved her films with John Wayne and I enjoyed her in the original PARENT TRAP very much so.

[Classic aficionado]

Maureen O'Hara was indeed a beautiful lady and a fine actress.     She starred in so many good movies.   "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was one of them.    "The Parent Trap" (1961) was certainly another, and it's been one of my favorite films.     Other favorites of mine include the lesser-known "Never To Love" - a remake of "Bill of Divorcement" with O'Hara in the Katharine Hepburn role,    "Against All Flags",   "Fire Over Africa  (Malaga)",   the original "Miracle on 34th Street" (it was a terrific treat when TCM aired it a year ago during her Summer Under the Stars day),  and last but not least "Only The Lonely".  

I wish TCM would air "Only the Lonely".   I'm surprised that TCM has never aired it, not even during her Star of the Month salutes nor during her Summer Under the Stars days either.     It also features  Anthony Quinn.     Most importantly, it's one of her very best films, and it's her final film.      It was the perfect swan song for her to star in.  

[Aritosthenes]

5 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

A beautiful lady and a fine actress. 

I concur, I can't think of a film that she starred in that I didn't like (though maybe I have a short memory).

She was so lovely as the beautiful Esmerelda in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, I think that's probably my favorite role of hers. Also loved her films with John Wayne and I enjoyed her in the original PARENT TRAP very much so.

Unless Your Already (Well) Aware of This, Madam O'Hara Also Had A Lovely Little Mystery Guest Cameo on the Enjoyable WhatsMyLine..

 

 

  *one of the Funniest, Sweetest; and Cutest Reactions to a "Dumb" Question, i've Ever Scene.

[Aritosthenes]

2 hours ago, Classic aficionado said:

Maureen O'Hara was indeed a beautiful lady and a fine actress.     She starred in so many good movies.   "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was one of them.    "The Parent Trap" (1961) was certainly another, and it's been one of my favorite films.     Other favorites of mine include the lesser-known "Never To Love" - a remake of "Bill of Divorcement" with O'Hara in the Katharine Hepburn role,    "Against All Flags",   "Fire Over Africa  (Malaga)",   the original "Miracle on 34th Street" (it was a terrific treat when TCM aired it a year ago during her Summer Under the Stars day),  and last but not least "Only The Lonely".  

I wish TCM would air "Only the Lonely".   I'm surprised that TCM has never aired it, not even during her Star of the Month salutes nor during her Summer Under the Stars days either.     It also features  Anthony Quinn.     Most importantly, it's one of her very best films, and it's her final film.      It was the perfect swan song for her to star in.  

Unless Your Already (Well) Aware of This, Madam O'Hara Also Had A Lovely Little Mystery Guest Cameo on the Enjoyable WhatsMyLine..

 

 

  *one of the Funniest, Sweetest; and Cutest Reactions to a "Dumb" Question, i've Ever Scene.

[filmnoirguy]

I liked her best in two of her comedies from the 1940s:   1948's Sitting Pretty with Clifton Webb (best actor Oscar nod),  Robert Young and Richard Haydn.  And especially   1947's Miracle on 34th Street with John Payne, Edmund Gwenn (supporting Oscar) and Natalie Wood.  I thought her best dramatic performance was in 1952's The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Barry Fitzgerald.  She once said (or wrote) that of all her performances, she would like to have received an Oscar nomination for playing Mary Kate in The Quiet Man. 

[lavenderblue19]

50 minutes ago, filmnoirguy said:

I liked her best in two of her comedies from the 1940s:   1948's Sitting Pretty with Clifton Webb (best actor Oscar nod),  Robert Young and Richard Haydn.  And especially   1947's Miracle on 34th Street with John Payne, Edmund Gwenn (supporting Oscar) and Natalie Wood.  I thought her best dramatic performance was in 1952's The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Barry Fitzgerald.  She once said (or wrote) that of all her performances, she would like to have received an Oscar nomination for playing Mary Kate in The Quiet Man. 

Those are the films I like her best in too and I might add The Parent Trap for another comedy  and The Long Gray Line for another drama.

[Hibi]

21 hours ago, Classic aficionado said:

Maureen O'Hara was indeed a beautiful lady and a fine actress.     She starred in so many good movies.   "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was one of them.    "The Parent Trap" (1961) was certainly another, and it's been one of my favorite films.     Other favorites of mine include the lesser-known "Never To Love" - a remake of "Bill of Divorcement" with O'Hara in the Katharine Hepburn role,    "Against All Flags",   "Fire Over Africa  (Malaga)",   the original "Miracle on 34th Street" (it was a terrific treat when TCM aired it a year ago during her Summer Under the Stars day),  and last but not least "Only The Lonely".  

I wish TCM would air "Only the Lonely".   I'm surprised that TCM has never aired it, not even during her Star of the Month salutes nor during her Summer Under the Stars days either.     It also features  Anthony Quinn.     Most importantly, it's one of her very best films, and it's her final film.      It was the perfect swan song for her to star in.  

It's a Fox film.

[JamesJazGuitar]

No question about the talent,  beauty and film legacy of Maureen O'Hara.

Some of my favorite films (than the ones already mentioned)  are:

The Black Swan

The Fallen Sparrow

Sinbad the Sailor

A Women's Secret

Our Man in Havana 

 

[Aritosthenes]

7 hours ago, filmnoirguy said:

I liked her best in two of her comedies from the 1940s:   1948's Sitting Pretty with Clifton Webb (best actor Oscar nod),  Robert Young and Richard Haydn.  And especially   1947's Miracle on 34th Street with John Payne, Edmund Gwenn (supporting Oscar) and Natalie Wood.  I thought her best dramatic performance was in 1952's The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Barry Fitzgerald.  She once said (or wrote) that of all her performances, she would like to have received an Oscar nomination for playing Mary Kate in The Quiet Man. 

If Push Came to Shove for me. Quiet Man Would Probably Win Out as my Favorite.

[Aritosthenes]

5 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

No question about the talent,  beauty and film legacy of Maureen O'Hara.

Some of my favorite films are:

The Black Swan

The Fallen Sparrow

Sinbad the Sailor

A Women's Secret

Our Man in Havana 

 

Sinbad the Sailor is Awesome.

[Sepiatone]

Some of mine would be...

THE QUIET MAN also, 

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

Of course, her HUNCHBACK debut

McLINTOCK

MR. HOBBS TAKES A VACATION

MIRACLE ON 34th STREET

And I'm with ya ARI, on ONLY THE LONELY.  And I think TCM's problem with it was that it's mostly a JOHN CANDY movie.  But I really enjoyed it too.  And Quinn's appearance didn't hurt it any.   

Sepiatone

 

[TomJH]

I have long admired the ravishing beauty and feisty screen presence of Maureen O'Hara, going back to her charming portrayal of Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The most beautiful gypsy from County Cork I ever saw. Without question her portrayal of Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man was her finest dramatic work. It is certainly her performance that left the most lasting impression upon me.

She shared the screen with John Wayne on five occasions and their scenes had a spark and sexual chemistry that made you wish they had made more films together. The ending of Quiet Man, as well as the spanking antics in McLintock, however, would tend to make the teeth of feminists grind, I suspect. O'Hara was presented in these films, particularly The Quiet Man, as an enchanting but wild, spirited creature that it would only take someone like a he man like the Duke to finally tame.

Starting with The Black Swan in 1942 O'Hara started to appear in a number of costume/swashbuckling films (always filmed in Technicolor) where her fiery red hair and ravishing Irish good looks played a key role in the enjoyment of those films. Further titles of this nature would include The Spanish Main, Sinbad the Sailor, Bagdad, Flame of Araby, At Sword's Point and Against All Flags. O'Hara was very proud of the fact that she did much, if not all, of her own stunt work in these films, including the moments of sword play. In Bagdad she also had the opportunity to show us that she possessed a beautiful soprano singing voice. On occasion she would have the opportunity to sing in a few other films, as well.

If anything Maureen's on screen beauty, incredibly, only increased by the time of her films in the early '50s, particularly those in colour. There were times when close ups of the lady would take my breath away.

Her costume film stereotyping, however, would lead to one of the biggest disappointments of Maureen O'Hara's professional career when Rogers and Hammerstein rejected her bid to play the role of governess Anna Leonowens in the lavish film adaption of The King and I. The word coming from the play's composers was that they would not have "that pirate queen" in their film. Deborah Kerr was cast in the role O'Hara craved. Kerr was an actress who had been Oscar nominated and enjoyed greater acting prestige than O'Hara. The fact that, unlike what would have been the case with Maureen, Kerr's singing in the film was dubbed (by Marni Nixon) played little role in the casting decision.

Personally I think that Maureen had a strong enough screen presence that she could have convincingly stood up to Yul Brynner's Siamese king. And the thought of her singing "Hello Young Lovers" and other songs from that musical makes the mouth water. Here's a sample of O'Hara's singing voice. What do you think?

 

[nakano]

I used to collect lp recordings of my favorite female movie stars,several were mostly covers like Kim Novak   were instrumentals but many made lps like Rhonda Fleming and others,I had 2 by Maureen O,'Hara,I bought those on my trips overseas I had a japanese pressing lp and a UK lp of irish songs i sold them all at auction several years ago,My favorite cover was the Japan lp.She had a good voice. 

 

 

[Bethluvsfilms]

2 hours ago, TomJH said:

Without question her portrayal of Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man was her finest dramatic work. It is certainly her performance that left the most lasting impression upon me.

She shared the screen with John Wayne on five occasions and their scenes had a spark and sexual chemistry that made you wish they had made more films together. The ending of Quiet Man, as well as the spanking antics in McLintock, however, would tend to make the teeth of feminists grind, I suspect. O'Hara was presented in these films, particularly The Quiet Man, as an enchanting but wild, spirited creature that it would only take someone like a he man like the Duke to finally tame.

 

 

 

As a woman, I don't mind admitting that THE QUIET MAN and MCLINTOCK are probably my 2 favorite screen pairings of her and John Wayne.

And what the hey, I'll also say that  I love it when he spanked her little bottom in MCLINTOCK.  I don't think that makes me an anti-feminist. I just like a fun, entertaining movie. 

Neither movie were meant to have a message in them, just something to be viewed.

Though I wonder how Maureen herself would have viewed the #Metoo movement. I think I have a pretty good idea how Wayne would have looked at it.

[JamesJazGuitar]

I didn't list any of the Wayne \ O'Hara films as favorites since other than The Searchers and Liberty Valance,  I'm not a fan of Wayne westerns,  especially Wayne as a solider.

I was never able to watch The Quiet Man from beginning to end but I have seen large sections of this film;   sound production values and solid acting but just not my cup of tea.

I also find Barry Fitzgerald to be more annoying than enjoyable.    

[Aritosthenes]

8 hours ago, TomJH said:

I have long admired the ravishing beauty and feisty screen presence of Maureen O'Hara, going back to her charming portrayal of Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The most beautiful gypsy from County Cork I ever saw. Without question her portrayal of Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man was her finest dramatic work. It is certainly her performance that left the most lasting impression upon me.

She shared the screen with John Wayne on five occasions and their scenes had a spark and sexual chemistry that made you wish they had made more films together. The ending of Quiet Man, as well as the spanking antics in McLintock, however, would tend to make the teeth of feminists grind, I suspect. O'Hara was presented in these films, particularly The Quiet Man, as an enchanting but wild, spirited creature that it would only take someone like a he man like the Duke to finally tame.

Starting with The Black Swan in 1942 O'Hara started to appear in a number of costume/swashbuckling films (always filmed in Technicolor) where her fiery red hair and ravishing Irish good looks played a key role in the enjoyment of those films. Further titles of this nature would include The Spanish Main, Sinbad the Sailor, Bagdad, Flame of Araby, At Sword's Point and Against All Flags. O'Hara was very proud of the fact that she did much, if not all, of her own stunt work in these films, including the moments of sword play. In Bagdad she also had the opportunity to show us that she possessed a beautiful soprano singing voice. On occasion she would have the opportunity to sing in a few other films, as well.

If anything Maureen's on screen beauty, incredibly, only increased by the time of her films in the early '50s, particularly those in colour. There were times when close ups of the lady would take my breath away.

Her costume film stereotyping, however, would lead to one of the biggest disappointments of Maureen O'Hara's professional career when Rogers and Hammerstein rejected her bid to play the role of governess Anna Leonowens in the lavish film adaption of The King and I. The words coming from the play's composers was that they would not have "that pirate queen" in their film. Deborah Kerr was cast in the role O'Hara craved. Kerr was an actress who had been Oscar nominated and enjoyed greater acting prestige than O'Hara. The fact that, unlike what would have been the case with Maureen, Kerr's singing in the film was dubbed (by Marni Nixon) played little role in the casting decision.

Personally I think that Maureen had a strong enough screen presence that she could have convincingly stood up to Yul Brynner's Siamese king. And the thought of her singing "Hello Young Lovers" and other songs from that musical makes the mouth water. Here's a sample of O'Hara's singing voice. What do you think?

 

What A Pretty Smile. (duh.)

 

       Thanks Sir.

[Hibi]

Those dogs were well trained! I miss those old variety shows. You would see all kinds of performers. They really went all out in the production for her song.

[TomJH]

It's lovely seeing the obvious affection that Maureen felt for John Candy and the respect he showed her in this interview. It's also painful to realize that this gifted Canadian comedian would be dead less than three years later at age 43.

[DougieB]

She lost none of her appeal when she moved into parenting roles in her maturity. It made her even more relatable, if possible. The Parent Trap was mentioned, and I also loved her in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) as the wife of Jimmy Stewart and the mother of two teenagers. As expected, she was the calm at the center of a family vacation which got off to a rocky start. 

[NipkowDisc]

there is a shot of her beautiful shapely legs in The Deadly Companions.  wish somebody would post it.

one of the great things about Maureen O'Hara is that she was bold and unafraid to project her womanly attributes.

she would give us slobbering wolves what we wanted and was completely unapologetic about it.

she was not afraid to be a real woman in front of the camera.