John Steinbeck was particularly enamored with the performance of Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, feeling that he perfectly encapsulated everything he wanted to convey with this character. The two became good friends. Indeed Fonda did a reading at Steinbeck's funeral.

HENRY FONDA in THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) | dir. John Ford

The Searchers (1956)

|| THE QUIET MAN ||

John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara Mesmerize in this Classic Romance

The above tribute is dedicated to June Beck, founder of Maureen O'Hara Magazine.

Synopsis: "A retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in 1920s Ireland, where he falls for a spirited redhead whose brother is contemptuous of their union." -IMDB

The Quiet Man (1952) is a film directed by John Ford (How Green Was My Valley) and stars John Wayne (True Grit, The Searchers) and Maureen O'Hara (The Parent Trap, Miracle on 34th Street). This is the second film Wayne and O'Hara starred in together, the first being Rio Grande, which Ford also directed. Wayne and O'Hara had amazing chemistry on screen and made five films together in total, the rest being Wings of Eagles, McLintock!, and Big Jake. The Quiet Man is seen as the more successful of their films, having achieved the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Directing in 1953.

John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara remained great friends until his death in 1979.

The song in the tribute is Into the Mystic by Van Morrison.

Notes: As with most old films, there are some things that may not have aged well, but were considered fine for the time period. One thing is the jokes about beating women who misbehaved with sticks. While no one was actually beat with a stick in the film, it was joked about. O'Hara's character, Mary Kate, was a redhead with a noted fearful temper. It was implied that she needed a good stick whipping to keep her in line, but Wayne's character never did. It was a sign that he had no issues with her being full of fire. The fact that these jokes exist doesn't diminish the fact that this movie is wonderful. I will always highly recommend it.

Fun Fact: At one point during filming, O'Hara hit John Wayne for real after their first big kiss. The punch was scripted, but she didn't pull it. Wayne saw it coming and blocked her punch with his hand. The impact of her fist with his palm caused her wrist to fracture. She literally broke her wrist and kept filming. O'Hara prided herself on being able to keep up with the men. She never let anything they threw at her bring her down. This is one reason why John Ford repeatedly used her in his films and why John Wayne loved working with her.

John Ford, February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973.

MAUREEN O'HARA as Mary Kate Danaher in THE QUIET MAN (1952)

James Stewart, John Ford, and John Wayne on set of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) #DailyStewart

John Ford, film director, Bel Air, California, 1972 - by Richard Avedon (1923 – 2004), American

Ava Gardner in 'MOGAMBO' (1953). Directed by John Ford

The Lone Cowboy

The Lone Cowboy, an imagined artifact of Hollywood portraited by John Ford moves. This fixture of the depiction of the west has been a withstanding tradition across Monument Valley for years. Now in Contemporary America, the trained horse stands petrified on the edge of the cliff, so tourist can have themselves pictured as they were a part of these John Ford films.  

Part of Dusted series

Hasselblad 500c/m

Kodak Tmax 400iso

The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022)    

THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING (1935) | dir. John Ford

My Darling Clementine (1946) by John Ford

I should be working on my dissertation, and have been, but I thought it'd be fun (for me :P) to loop you all in somehow. Therefore I bring you a very silly poll!

*best means whatever it means to you; feel free to propagandize

**yes, I deliberately excluded Shakespeare (from the poll, not the dissertation, lol)

The Quiet Man (1952) | dir. John Ford

You ever been in love?