Maureen O’Hara Movies

Maureen O'Hara starred in close to 60 movies from 1938 - 1991
Maureen O’Hara starred in close to 60 movies from 1938 – 1991

Want to know the best Maureen O’Hara movies?  How about the worst Maureen O’Hara movies?  Curious about Maureen O’Hara’s box office grosses or which Maureen O’Hara movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Maureen O’Hara movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

She was John Wayne’s favorite leading lady. She played Esmeralda 57 years before Demi Moore provided the voice of Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). She was in Alfred Hitchcock’s last English produced movie, 1939’s Jamaica Inn, before he came to Hollywood. She was in director Sam Peckinpah’s first ever movie – The Deadly Companions (1961). She starred in the Best Picture Oscar® winning movie – How Green Was My Valley(1941). She was in one the greatest Christmas movies of all-time – Miracle on 34th Street (1947). She was in one of the greatest romantic movies of all-time – The Quiet Man (1952). She was in one of the most popular live action Disney movies of all-time – The Parent Trap (1961). She starred with some of the greatest leading men in the history of Hollywood….John Wayne (5 times), Charles Laughton (3 times), John Payne (3 times), Anthony Quinn(3 times), Henry Fonda (2 times), James Stewart (2 times), Tyrone Power (2 times), Errol Flynn, John Garfield, Sir Alec Guinness, Fred MacMurray and Vincent Price.  She is of course the legendary actress, Maureen O’ Hara.

Her IMDb page shows 65 acting credits from 1938-2000. This page will rank 53 Maureen O’Hara movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, and bit parts were not included in the rankings.

Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara in 1942 The Black Swan
Tyrone Power and Maureen O’Hara in 1942 The Black Swan

Maureen O’Hara Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Maureen O’Hara Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In Ther Table

The really cool thing about ther table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort by Maureen O’Hara movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Maureen O’Hara movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Maureen O’Hara movies by domestic box office rank
  • Sort Maureen O’Hara movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Maureen O’Hara movie received.
  • Sort Maureen O’Hara movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Maureen O’Hara Table

  1. Twenty-five Maureen O’Hara movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 47.17% of her movies listed. The Parent Trap (1961) was her biggest box hit.
  2. An average Maureen O’Hara movie grosses $109.50 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  33 of Maureen O’Hara’s movies are rated as good movies…or 62.26% of her movies.  The Quiet Man (1952) is her highest rated movie while Bagdad (1949) was her lowest rated movie.
  4. Thirteen Maureen O’Hara movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 24.52% of her movies.
  5. Five Maureen O’Hara movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 9.43% of her movies.
  6. A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00.  32 Maureen O’Hara movies scored higher that average….or 60.37% of her movies.  How Green Was My Valley (1941) got the the highest UMR Score while Lisbon (1956) got the lowest UMR Score.
Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne in 1963's McLintock
Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne in 1963’s McLintock

Possibly interesting facts about Maureen O’Hara.

1. She was born Maureen FitzSimons in Ireland on November 17th 1920…..she passed away on October 24th, 2015.

2. She was married three times and has one daughter, Brownyn FitzSimons. Her third marriage to Charles F. Blair ended tragically in 1978 when Blair died in an airplane explosion.

3. Oscar® winning actor Charles Laughton gave O’Hara her biggest break in movies after he saw her screen test. Laughton talked a film producer into giving O’Hara a 7 year contract that was later sold to RKO when World War 2 started.

4. Her first major box office hit was How Green Was My Valley which won the Best Picture Oscar® in 1942 and was directed by legendary director John Ford.

5. She would end up making 5 movies with John Ford…..How Green Was My Valley, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Long Gray Line and The Wings of Eagles.

6. Amazingly she was never nominated for an Oscar® or a Golden Globe® nomination in her entire career. How her performance in The Quiet Man did not get a nomination I will never know. She was elected into the Irish Hall of Fame in 2011….I am surprised it took them that long to elect her. In 2014 she was given an Honorary Oscar®….one that was well overdue too.

7. Speaking of The Quiet Man…..she says only three people knew what she whispered into John Wayne’s ear at the end of the movie that gave Wayne the very surprised look….they were John Wayne, John Ford and herself. She says they never told and she never will either.

8. In 2004 she wrote her autobiography. ‘Tis Herself A Memoir is an awesome read with many memorable memories and stories….it is highly recommended.

9. In her memoir she says her goal is to reach the age of 102….my hope is that not only will she reach her goal….but will have to create a new goal when she reaches 102.

10. Check out Maureen O’Hara‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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108 thoughts on “Maureen O’Hara Movies”

  1. What a lovely Introduction to that wonderful Irish actress! She really made some great movies and certainly was the the most beautifull Irish lass ever to make it in Hollywood! I think her “Queen of Technicolor” Status hurt her career more than it helped in the end, with her being “trapped” in an endless string of western and pirate movies. On the other hand, she had one of the longest careers in movies, getting starring roles well into the 70’s…and beyond (Only the Lonely). It is true that she rarely was trusted with carrying a movie on her own, thus she was often teamed with big actors even in her heyday. Along with Donna Reed, Maureen was one of the few foreign actresses my mum really cared for :I have seen 36 of the above listed films, plus the TV movies The Magic Box and The last Dance. I love Hunchback, How green was my Valley, Buffalo Bill, This Land is Mine, Sentimental Journey, Forbidden Street, Miracle on 54th Street, The Quiet Man, Rio Grande, Parent Trap, McLintock!, Spencers Mountain…and some more. Since I feel that any Hitch movie is worth watching, I may add Jamaica Inn to the List as well. I recently ordered the BluRay of Against all flags, so that is a Maureen Movie I can look forward to. I am a bit disappointed in her box office performances in the 40’s, like Foxes of Harrow, Sentimental Journey, Forbidden Street- but then there must be a reason why she never became a superstar. I enjoyed her autobiography immensly, as I did her record with Irish Songs: Danny Boy, Kerry Cow…a great voice and she should have done some Musicals in her prime. I think she once was considered for the Deborah Kerr role in The King and I, but her Image as a matinee movie Star (read “Pirate Queen”) put an end to this. She did make it to Broadway, though, in a shortlived Musical called “Christine”. Thanks for doing this Maureen O’Hara page, she was one feisty Lady who brought a lot of joy to a lot of People.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lupino.
      1. Glad you like my O’Hara intro….I think he lets people know just how awesome her career was….as she seems to not get enough credit for her long and very successful film career.
      2. She might have felt “trapped” but some of those western and pirate movies are among my favorite movies of all-time.
      3. She should have gotten at least two Oscar nominations….one for Best Actress in The Quiet Man and a Best Supporting Actress for Only The Lonely.
      4. Tally counts…and they be wrong….as they come from my Hub Pages days
      Flora 39 Lupino 36, Steve 12 and me 10….though I am sure I have seen another O’Hara movie since then.
      5. Glad to know your mom was an O’Hara fan….along with Donna Reed (her page is getting warmed up…lol)
      6. Great list of favorite Maureen movies.
      7. I have not seen Jamaica Inn yet either…one of the few Hitch movies I have not sen.
      8. I liked her autobiography as well….very entertaining.
      Great comment….I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Maureen O’Hara.

      Reply

  2. Cogerson & Steve (& Bob on billing)

    I just went through Steve’s video on Maureen. Two things stood out for me.

    Billing–Of Steve’s 30 top films, Maureen was top billed on the posters only twice (for The Deadly Companions & Miracle on 34th Street). Perhaps as a result of being willing to cede top billing, she worked quite often with top male stars, especially of course John Wayne.

    And my personal hang-up. Color. I noticed she did a lot of movies in color. I went through her credits at IMDB and if I’m not wrong, she did 9 color movies through the forties, a high number for anyone who was not a musical star, and had a total of 24 through 1959.

    Her 24 color movies through 1959 makes her the number one classic era female star for color movies that I have unearthed so far, and second only to Randolph Scott who had 36.

    Scott and O’Hara appeared together in To The Shores of Tripoli, and it was in Technicolor.

    Reply

    1. An interesting observation John, Maureen O’Hara the ‘Color-Movie Queen of Hollywood’ in the 40s and 50s? I wonder… who was the ‘Black & White Queen of Hollywood’ of that era, mmm Myrna Loy? [Stop it Steve!] 😉

      What you could do John If you have the time, is work out the Color to BW ratio on the biggest Hollywood stars – Flynn, Gable, Crawford, Taylor etc etc it might be interesting to see where they stand on that subject though I suspect Liz Taylor would be quite high up but does she count as a classic Hollywood star or is she more ‘modern’?

      Reply

      1. Good question Steve….I would bet Gable would have a good percentage….especially after he returned from World War 2. Hey another title for Myrna Loy….works for me….lol. And finally I have to turn off my electronic device…but the next comment…and I will be back in my normal time zone!

        Reply

      2. Steve

        I’m not going to do the ratio, but I will put at the site index some posts on number of color movies. It would be easy to get the ratio just by plugging in their total credits. Anyway, check the site index later.

        Reply

    2. Hey John.
      1. Only two top billings for Maureen. That seems reasonable…..but being a second lead in some great movies is pretty impressive.
      2. When I picture Maureen in my mind….I see her in color….so those 24 movies did their job…as I associate her with color. I used to own the world’s worst DVD copy of The Quiet Man…..the colors were blurry, the picture was weak…it was like watching a old beat up old VHS tape.
      3. Lucky I upgraded to a Blu-Ray that looks awesome…..I have always felt the colors John Ford used in that movie were awesome.
      4. I recently watched To The Shores of Tripoli….movie was ok……but it was fun to see Scott and Maureen sharing the same screen….even if they were not romantic partners in that movie.
      5. Good stuff…..a comment that is informative and interesting…..can’t ask more than that in a comment.

      Reply

  3. 1 Early in Against all Flags (1952) Flynn is pursued by a girl looking for kisses and when he gives her a kiss she usually demands “Again!” In those days the heroine normally had to be above that sort of thing so initially O’Hara is indifferent to Flynn but naturally love develops and at the end as they sail off into the sunset Errol kisses her and she demands “Again!” That was the O’Hara persona in her action/adventure films and I loved that film so am pleased you rated it 10th***

    2 OTHER COMMENTS (1) Mo did a LOT of feisty action/adventure stuff but you have wisely covered a wide variety of her movies (2) naturally I loved the two iconic stills of her and the Duke
    and I liked Bruce’s miniatures as well (3) I see that your newfound idol Fred Mac Murray gets an early appearance in the video! (4) lots of magnificent posters and VERY hard to choose but I’ll go for Spanish Main, Black Swan, Foxes of Harrow and Rio Grande(5) You and Bruce agree on 4 of the Top 5 but he rates Against all Flags a lowly 28th*** He hasn’t updated Maureen’s page yet so when doing the updates do you think he has a sly glance at your ratings and then changes his own accordingly? (6) anyway lots of delightful stuff and normally a 9 but because of the Irish connection 9.2 !

    Reply

    1. Thanks Bob, glad you liked the pictures and it’s nice that Bruce and I are nearly in sync on this one.

      Lady Godiva was rated too low for inclusion, and it’s nearly last on Bruce’s chart, but I had to add that picture of a nude Maureen O’Hara on a horse somewhere in the video. It would have been a shame to waste it. 🙂

      Music-wise it would have been great if I could have used The Rakes of Mallow or The Isle of Innisfree for this video but it was not meant to be.

      Reply

        2. Bob and Steve….as we start our second flight of the day.
          1. Steve- I look forward to your Maureen O’Hara page….hope Only The Lonely made the video.
          2. Steve – I had hoped she would have gotten a Best Supporting Actress for that one…..but the academy has never liked comedy.
          3. Steve – Thanks for sharing the link.
          4. Bob – I have not seen Against All Flags….but you have me interested in checking that one out.
          5. Bob – sorry we have Against All Flags rated so low….I will give that one a closer look when the O’Hara upgrade ball pops up.
          6. Bob – 4 of 5 is pretty good.
          7. Thanks to both of you for some good O’Hara movie comments.

          Reply

      2. ADDITIONAL VIDEO COMMENTS

        1 Great picture of the horse but who’s looking at him ? so I guess he was not paid as much as little Asta Cogerson !

        2 Joining the dots Dan-style when I watched O’Hara/’s Against all Flags it was on the same double bill as Francis goes to West Point from the series about that other highly paid beast Donald O’Conner’s talking mule.

        3 Do we break out the champagne? – Dean has just broken through the 100 million views barrier.

        BOB

        Reply

        1. Well James Dean did do better than the more currently famous Ben ‘I’m Batman’ Affleck who’s still at 65 views on my channel after nearly 2 years, while Colin Farrell’s video posted in the same week has 900 views. Previous Batman Christian Bale’s video has stalled at 86 views. It’s so unpredictable!

          If I carry on ‘rating’ on my channel I may do videos on all these modern actors again some time next year, with their best films in the top 5 instead of their highest grossers. I wonder if ratings will make any difference to Megan Fox’s top 5? 😉

          Reply

  4. TCM has released her memorial tribute. It will take place on Friday, November 20th-Saturday November 21st with a 12-movie 24-hour tribute.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora…thanks for the update. I will check out which movies they pick….maybe I can knock off some movies from my “must watch list”.

      Reply

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