I’ve seen her in so many movies now that I almost feel like I know her. She was a beautiful woman, born to star in color movies, and a smart lady well into her 80’s when she was still doing film commentaries. It is shocking that she was never nominated for an Academy Award. I’m glad she lived to get her very belated Lifetime Achievement Award this year. May she rest in peace.
O’Hara on the set of The Hunchback of Notre Dame With John Wayne on the set of The Quiet Man Va-va-voom!
Piece done when O’Hara was Star of the Month on TCM – interview interspersed with clips
As you said, Maureen O’Hara was born for Technicolor. I’m so glad she did so many commentaries and interviews for DVDs of her films. We have lots to remember!
She was one of the most down to earth great beauties ever!
A lot of people I thought would never die have passed on in in the last few years: Anita Page, Esther Williams, Joan Fontaine, Peter O’Toole, Luise Rainer, Mickey Rooney and Jacques Barzun (not an actor, he’s a historian who died at 107.) And now, Maureen O’Hara! That leaves Olivia de Haviland and Kirk Douglas.
I guess I see what you mean when you say she was meant for color films but my two favorites of hers are black and white! I love The Hunchback of Notre Dame so much! (I pick it over Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz for best movie of 1939.) And the other is Rio Grande.
I know conventional wisdom singles out Charles Laughton for all the praise – and, yeah, he’s great as Quasimodo! – but DANG! There’s a lot of fine acting in Hunchback. Cedric Hardwicke, Edmond O’Brian, Thomas Mitchell, even Harry Davenport as Louis XI. And scores of great characterizations from a lot of small roles, extras and walk-ons.
But, wow, Maureen O’Hara. It’s harder than it looks. If Esmerelda is just a pretty girl, then Quasimodo doesn’t seem nearly so noble and the story doesn’t work. O’Hara’s Esmerelda is an awe-inspiring angel, beautiful and innocent and soulful. (Patsy Ruth Miller in the 1923 version is also incredible. She doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the success of that film.)
That scene where Louis XI administers justice by having her choose a knife (and she gets the wrong one) and they play it so sincere and sober like this is the most sensible way to handle it! I’ve never seen anyone single out this scene for comment but it’s the first one that comes to my mind when I think about O’Hara’s best moments.
I agree completely about Hunchback. And O’Hara was only 19 years old at the time! She was also great in How Green Was My Valley. She makes you believe all that passion and fire is real. She will always be with us on film.
I liked her with John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow, and in a lot of other films too. Lovely tribute here, Bea. It’s sad to see another great go so soon after Joan Leslie.
She gave a touch of class to so many movies. I’m actually sad I didn’t think to do a tribute to Joan Leslie who surely deserved one as well.
I hadn’t heard about Joan Leslie. I saw her fairly recently in Yankee Doodle Dandy. I love it but I hadn’t seen it in a while and I was noticing how much Joan Leslie’s acting and theatricality added to the film that I hadn’t really noticed before.
She plays a bad girl in High Sierra! Convincingly, too!
Maureen o’hara had so much presence on screen. I may not always have liked her characters but she was on fire.
She really was the epitome of the red-head stereotype and really beautiful to boot.