John Wayne is best known for his roles in Westerns and war movies, but in 1952, he appeared in one of his best films, a romantic drama called The Quiet Man. Based on a Saturday Evening Post story by Maurice Walsh, both John Wayne and John Ford wanted to make this movie, but the studios balked at the subject matter. Finally, Republic Pictures agreed to let Ford and Wayne make the movie, but only if they agreed to make another Western, which ended up as Rio Grande. It worked, and the two men finally got to make The Quiet Man.
Maureen O’Hara joined Wayne in the cast of this romantic drama as the leading lady, Mary Kate Danaher. The movie had Wayne star as Sean Thornton, a retired boxer who goes to Pittsburgh to buy his old family farm. When he arrives, he falls in love with Mary Kate but soon finds himself in the crosshairs of her cruel brother, Red Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen). The movie won John Ford his fourth Oscar for Best Director. Much of the film’s success was thanks to the pairing of Wayne and O’Hara.
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John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara made five movies together. While The Quiet Man was their best effort, they also appeared together in Rio Grande (1950), The Wings of Eagles (1957), McLintock! (1963), and Big Jake (1971). While Rio Grande was their first time working together, they quickly rebounded with The Quiet Man and made history with the only romantic drama of the five releases.
Scott Allen Nollen wrote about the two actors in his book Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond. The author revealed what Maureen O’Hara said about shooting The Quiet Man with John Wayne. She discussed a scene in the film where Wayne’s Sean Thornton demanded a dowry for O’Hara’s Mary Kate Danaher. When her brother balked at it, Wayne dragged Mary Kate around and threw her away from him. No stunt double was used, and O’Hara took the fall herself.
“Why were Duke and I so electric and our love scenes together? I was the only leading lady big enough and tough enough for John Wayne. Duke’s presence was so strong that when audiences finally saw him meet a woman of equal hell and fire, it was exciting and thrilling… I always gave as good as I got, and it was believable. So during these moments of tenderness… audiences saw for a half second that he had finally tamed me – but only for that half second.”
Why John Wayne & Maureen O’Hara’s Onscreen Partnership Was So Successful
Wayne & O’Hara Were Extremely Close In Real Life
After appearing in five movies together, no couple in a John Wayne movie was more iconic than his partnership with Maureen O’Hara. What made them so special together was simply that they were the closest of friends outside the films. O’Hara met Wayne thanks to John Ford, who introduced them during the casting of Rio Grande. They quickly became friends. O’Hara’s grandson, Conor Beau Fitzsimons, said (via Closer):
“She got a reputation as one of the boys… I think my grandma didn’t like when men hit on her too much. When she wanted to socialize, drink, and just be Maureen, she knew that Duke always had her back. They would have been friends first, and most of the Duke’s dames were not his friends. I think that night might have cemented their friendship.”
In the book Maureen O’Hara: The Biography, author Aubrey Malone wrote that John Wayne had made comments about Maureen O’Hara and their relationship:
“There’s only one woman who has been my friend over the years, and by that, I mean a real friend, like a man would be. She’s big, lusty and absolutely marvelous, definitely my kind of woman. She’s a great guy. I’ve had many friends, and I prefer the company of men. Except for Maureen O’Hara.”
When John Wayne died in 1979, Fitzsimons said, “That’s the only time I had ever seen my grandmother cry. She didn’t really cry when her husband died. But when Duke died, she cried.” However, in the same interview, he said that Wayne and O’Hara could never share the same relationship in real life as they did in movies like The Quiet Man. “She was way too strong for him. They would never have been a good couple.”