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Amazing stories about The Quiet Man from Maureen O’Hara – My Blog

Documentary makers spoke to Maureen O’Hara, John Wayne’s son, and John Ford’s son about the making of The Quiet Man.

Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne may have produced several other movies together as the leading stars but it is The Quiet Man that will always stand out as the iconic duo’s crowning glory. In fact, it was the film’s director John Ford who first introduced the pair at one of his parties, in 1941.
Of course, you can’t make a movie like The Quiet Man with such strong characters as Ford, O’Hara, and Wayne involved without creating tons of interesting stories from the set and from the production. In the documentary below, we hear from Maureen O’Hara herself, as well as The Duke’s son Patrick Wayne and Ford’s son (also named Patrick) about the ins and outs of filming The Quiet Man, how things were on set, and what it was like working with each other, especially with the temperamental Ford.
The documentary was created by June Parker Beck, a close personal friend of O’Hara’s and editor of the Maureen O’Hara Magazine who has worked for the past 25 years in collecting audio and recordings of the Dublin-born actress.

Among the stories is that of how The Quiet Man struggled to find a studio to make it. As O’Hara tells it, Ford appeared on the set of a film she was filming in 1944, and with a handshake, she had her role as Mary-Kate.
As the years went on, however, O’Hara and Wayne joked that they’d be too old to play the roles if it didn’t happen soon but Ford continued to struggle to make up funding. According to the studios, the movie was a silly little Irish story, claims O’Hara, and they felt it wouldn’t make a penny.
It was only when Wayne convinced Ford to let him take the film concept to Republic Studios that they stood any chance and the opportunity would only be given to them if they struck a deal. The studio would not back The Quiet Man until the same cast of O’Hara and Wayne and director Ford would agree to make a black and white western beforehand to make up for the money the studio was sure they were about to lose on Ford’s passion project.How “The Quiet Man” came to be
And so “Rio Grande” was made by Ford, O’Hara, and Wayne, all just so they could work together on the Irish movie that would earn them all, the studio included, a pretty penny with its success.
The set itself was a family affair, O’Hara, Patrick Ford, and Patrick Wayne claim, both the latter spending much time on the set with their fathers. This is the way Ford liked to run his films, the documentary explains, as the director knew that it took a lot to put up with the way he treated actors, at times, and that only family would understand this.
Ford liked people around who he was accustomed to, states O’Hara, which also meant that you were accustomed to him. Referring to it as who was “in the barrel” with Ford, on any given day you could fall victim to his abuse, something which the former “Queen of Technicolor” states you put up with because of the brilliance of his direction and because of the comradery it built on set in helping the person who was suffering from his wrath that day.Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne were great friends as well as co-stars
On the other hand, John Wayne was more than a pleasure for O’Hara to work with yet again, with Patrick Ford believing The Quiet Man to be the movie where The Duke truly showed off his acting chops.
“They [Wayne and O’Hara] had the perfect professional relationship,” Ford states. “They understood each other as actors and they had tremendous respect for one another but never in any personal romantic way.”
“He loved me as a human being,” O’Hara says of her friend Wayne, recalling how he used to say, “She [O’Hara] makes me act because she makes me react.”

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Bruce Dern paid homage to Western past as ” Man Who Killed John Wayne ” – My Blog

Over the years, Bruce Dern has made quite a career in film. From acting to producing and just about every facet of the industry. One of his most notable roles, earlier in his career was when he killed John Wayne. That film, 1972’s The Cowboy, came up in his Goliath series.Dern’s series, Goliath features Billy Bob Thornton and others in a legal drama, unlike many others.


Throughout the series, the production crew has tried their best to incorporate some of the film legend’s old material into the show. A man who has worked with everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to John Wayne, Quentin Tarantino and more, has a lot to reflect on.

However, it was how they paid homage to that old John Wayne film that really surprised Dern. During the fourth and final season, Billy McBride has a dream in which Dern appears. Riding a horse and wearing a very familiar outfit.“But what they did that I didn’t know, they went back to Western Custom and got the 1972 exact costume I wore in The Cowboys when I killed John Wayne,” Bruce Dern said.

“They did stuff like that. I was totally surprised. I said, ‘S***, I’ve seen this stuff before.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, you wore it in The Cowboys when you killed John Wayne.’ Oh, my God.’” He continued, “Each day they’d come up with little things like that particularly for me. I really appreciated that. And that is Larry Trilling and big-time Billy Bob Thronton. He’s all about what was there before. I mean, we’re not inventing the wheel, so to speak. We’re trying to find new ways to communicate things. And I enjoyed the opportunity to do that.”Bruce Dern Made a Lot of Enemies Killing John WayneWhile the action was just part of a movie, The Cowboy had quite an influence on how many Western fans viewed Bruce Dern. Taking out The Duke is no small task. It comes with a lot of repercussions. Especially the way his character did it, shooting Wayne in the back after losing a fistfight…in front of a bunch of kids.

While the dramatics of the scene was a perfect example of those old classic Westerns, Dern never really shook the reputation with a certain generation of fans. However, while working with John Wayne, Dern received direct orders to disrespect Wayne on set.“But right at the start, he says to me, ‘I want you to do us a favor.’ He was including himself, [director] Mark Rydell, and the scriptwriters.” Dern explained that during the pep talk, “He [Wayne] gave me carte blanche to just treat him like a turd.” All so the kids acting on set as the cowboys would be scared of the bad guys.

Bruce Dern got into the role and listened to the orders that Wayne gave him. Now, the movie is a Western classic, and infamous in the minds and hearts of John Wayne fans everywhere.

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John Wayne or Jeff Bridges, who plays the role of Rooster Cogburn well? – My Blog

Two movies made 50 years apart, both based on a novel by the same name. Two different iconic actors took turns playing the rough-and-tumble marshal Rooster Cogburn in their respective versions of “True Grit.” John Wayne played him in the 1969 version, Jeff Bridges in 2010. Both were celebrated critically. Now, Duke’s official Instagram account is comparing the performances to see which one did it better.Of course, the question was posed by the John Wayne account. So it’s safe to say the people who responded in the comments were at least slightly biased toward the 1969 version.


Then again, both Rooster Cogburn actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. So it’s really anybody’s game.“John Wayne & Jeff Bridges were both nominated for Oscars for their performance as Rooster Cogburn. Which version of the movie is your favorite, 1969 or 2010?” the Instagram caption read.

In the world of remakes, few movies do as much justice to their original counterparts as the 2010 version of “True Grit” from the Coen Brothers. There was no consensus among fans whatsoever. But some of the most popular sentiments seemed to be that the 1969 “True Grit” with John Wayne as Cogburn featured the more iconic performance. Though, many fans thought the 2010 movie was closer to the source text than the original.

“I have to fall on the side of the Duke. BUT, that’s the BEST remake of a film, I’ve ever seen! Loved them both,” a fan replied to the Instagram post.“2010 Much richer film and truer to the book’s feel. Wayne was robbed of an Oscar for the Searchers and this was a lifetime achievement award,” another added.Two Versions of ‘True Grit,’ Two Very Different Approaches to Character . One of the biggest complaints John Wayne fans had of Jeff Bridges’ approach to Rooster Cogburn was how disheveled he appeared.

“Jeff Bridges was horrible had marbles in house mouth and portrait Roster as a slob,” another fan replied to the post from John Wayne’s estate.But a different fan pointed out that, indeed, the portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the novel by Charles Portis was one of a slobbish man.This isn’t to say that the Bridges performance is better for accuracy. It’s just that Henry Hathaway, the director of the 1969 “True Grit,” and the Coen brothers took different approaches to their movies. As a result, the actors contrasted greatly in their portrayals of Rooster Cogburn.

At the end of the day, however, the win may have to go to John Wayne on this one. After all, we’re still waiting on Jeff Bridges to reprise the role in a sequel. Duke did it in the 1975 film “Rooster Cogburn.”

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John Wayne’s ”expensive” sayings made the fans ”nod”’. – My Blog

John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979) was an American movie Actor, director, and producer, known in movies like Stagecoach, Angel and the Bad Man, Red River, and The Shootist.They say that life is a good teacher and through them who lived this life we can learn a lot, especially from great people like John Wayne a.k.a Duke.Today I am going to share with you Wayne’s 5 rules you should be remembering in your daily life:


1. Money cannot buy happiness but its more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.
This is a long debate everywhere, rich people say that “those who say money can buy happiness are the ones who don’t have” and broke people reply that “you don’t know how miserable we are just because we don’t have coins in our pocket”.John Wayne made it clearer that though money cannot buy happiness but when unhappy moments arrive money can make someone comfortable.


2. Forgive your enemy but remember the bastard’s name.
Forgiving your enemy is in your favor, most of the time carrying such burden in your heart is more painful while the bastard doesn’t even know.Just to be careful, put their names somewhere in your mind. Once a soldier always a commando and once enemy, I don’t know.

3. Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they’re in trouble again.
Do what is right, help people but never expect something in return.According to John Wayne, the only thing you can expect from people is that if you have helped them in the hard times, they will remember you when they’re in trouble again.

4. Many people are alive only because it’s illegal to shoot them.
Everyone has enemies and some people do harm to us to the level we even wish to kill them. Not only our enemies would be killed if to kill was not illegal but also some innocents and powerless people.About this rule, something you have to learn is that we’re surrounded by people that don’t kill us only because it’s illegal.
5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.
Haha this rule is somehow funny but it is true on the other hand. You will find people telling you stop drinking alot it will solve nothing but at least you’ll have that sedative moment.Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.

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