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Tag Archives: Maureen O’Hara
“I had not directed anything before. In fact I hadn’t told anyone to do anything before.” — Dorothy Arzner
“I’d rather do a picture for a small company and have my own way than a B picture for Paramount.” — Dorothy Arzner It’s her birthday today. Here’s an excellent interview with her from 1974. I have written quite a … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Clara Bow, Dorothy Arzner, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Rosalind Russell, women directors
4 Comments
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2020, Part 1
What a year. Hard to say “the worst” because I was at least somewhat mentally stable during 2020, but this year was an assault. An assault after a couple of years of exhausting assault. It was an assault on us … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, RIP
Tagged Arizona Dream, Aubrey Plaza, Australia, Derek Mahon, Dorothy Arzner, Eavan Boland, England, Faye Dunaway, Germany, H.D., hockey, Iranian film, Jane Austen, Jean Arthur, Jerry Lewis, John Sturges, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Demme, Josephine Decker, Kurt Russell, Lili Taylor, Linda Manz, Little Richard, Lucille Ball, Martha Coolidge, Maureen O'Hara, miracle on ice, Nick Nolte, Patricia Bosworth, Shirley Jackson, Steve McQueen, Supernatural, women directors, year in writing
2 Comments
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940): Criterion release today 5/19
My second Criterion booklet essay to come out in one month. Taking a moment to be proud of this. First came The Great Escape (my essay here), and now my essay for the long-awaited release of Dorothy Arzner’s Dance, Girl, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged dance, dance movies, Dorothy Arzner, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Ralph Bellamy, women directors
3 Comments
Criterion May releases announced
I wrote booklet essays for two of Criterion’s May 2020 releases – Dorothy Arzner’s 1940 film Dance, Girl, Dance, and the 1963 beloved classic The Great Escape. There are multiple reasons these were very exciting assignments. Dance, Girl, Dance is … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged action movies, dance movies, Dorothy Arzner, John Sturges, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Steve McQueen, war movies, women directors
1 Comment
January 2020 Viewing Diary
Hell Is for Heroes (1962; d. Don Siegel) A spare lean and mean war movie – pretty standard, actually – except Steve McQueen is actually presenting a character study here, a character he probably knows something about. He is eerie … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, children's movies, Colin Farrell, comedy, coming of age, crime movies, Dean Stockwell, documentary, Dorothy Arzner, drama, Dustin Hoffman, England, France, Ginger Rogers, heist movies, Iran, Iranian film, Jean Arthur, Joaquin Phoenix, Joel McCrea, John Sturges, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucille Ball, Martin Scorsese, Maureen O'Hara, musicals, Nick Nolte, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, romantic comedy, screwball comedy, Steve McQueen, Supernatural, true crime, war movies, women directors
3 Comments
October 2015 Viewing Diary
Moontide (1942; d. Archie Mayo – and an uncredited Fritz Lang) And John O’Hara wrote the screenplay. How I love this film. Ida Lupino plays a suicidal girl, rescued from the waves by Bobo (a to-die-for Jean Gabin). Bobo is … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Australia, Channing Tatum, Chantal Akerman, Charles Vidor, Claude Rains, documentary, England, France, Gena Rowlands, Gilda, Guillermo del Toro, Ida Lupino, Iran, Iranian film, Ireland, Joe Berlinger, John Ford, John Sturges, John Wayne, Kristen Wiig, Maureen O'Hara, Mexico, Nicholas Ray, Peter Weir, Poland, Ridley Scott, Rita Hayworth, Supernatural, Thomas Mitchell, William Wellman
70 Comments
R.I.P. Maureen O’Hara
I was barely home this weekend, so I did not have a chance to commemorate the passing of the extraordinarily beautiful, talented, and sexy-feisty Maureen O’Hara. Coincidentally, I was hired a couple of weeks ago to write an essay about … Continue reading
Duke, O’Hara, and Ford
I finished Scott Eyman’s magnificent biography of John Wayne (John Wayne: The Life and Legend), and could not recommend it more highly. While the book deserves only praise for its delving into Wayne’s filmography, the true strength of the book … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Maureen O’Hara
Maureen O’Hara was one of those “old” movie stars whom I grew up knowing about because of the yearly showing of Miracle on 34th Street on television, as well as my absolute obsession with Parent Trap. I wanted to be … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, On This Day
Tagged Charles Laughton, Ireland, John Ford, John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara
34 Comments

