Average Rating: 
Rating:  - No Blarney Here!
Ahhh... this is one of my most favorite movies! I must admit to being a diehard romantic comedy fan -- and this is one at it's best! Sure there is a scene that may be startling to see by todays standards (The Duke dragging his woman home by her hair) but don't let that sway you from watching this classic film! It's a rollicking, frollicking good-ol' time! And it has something for everyone! From the fiery-tempered Kate (O'Hara) who wants nothing to do with the ex-boxer (Wayne); to the love that develops between them; to the rip roarin' no-holds-barred fistfight between the boxer and Kate's brother! This is a wonderful film by John Ford and his love of Ireland comes shining through in this masterpiece. Everytime I watch this show, I get so swept away in the beauty of the country that I put on my KISS ME I'M IRISH pin (even though I'm not even a little bit Irish). Pop some popcorn and curl up in front of this movie for a good time!
Rating: - A Grand movie it is!!
When one thinks of John Wayne they usually imagine Calvary, Indians and the Old West. But John, on occasion, did venture into other areas. In this instance, Ireland, and produced one of his most beloved films. It teams him with long time friends, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Arthur Shields and Barry Fitzgerald (Shields & Fitzgerald were real life brothers), in a project that was near and dear to John Ford. If you think the old town patriarch resembles Ford, it's with reason - it was his father. Stocked with wonderful Irish character actors like David Farrar and Sean McClory, the ever delightful Jack MacGowan, Ken Curtis (Festus of TV's Gunsmoke as Dermot Fahy uncredited and singing! Former Sons of the Pioneers!!), Mildred Natwick as the Widow Tillane, along with Wayne's kids at the horse race scene.Wayne is Sean Thornton, a quite peace loving man come home to Ireland. There is much speculation about the Yanks and why he has returned to the wee humble Irish village where his family was from. He was a fighter in the States named Trooper Thornton, but accidentally killed a man in the ring. Haunted by this he wants to go 'home' to his mother's Ireland and find peace. But his factious neighbours do not understand his reluctance to take on the town Bully Red Will Danaher in order to win the love of his wife O'Hara. Often this movie is criticised as being the "Brigadoon" of Ireland, and that is so, but it's the Ireland of our hearts and imagination and obvious of Ford's heart and imagination. The dialogue is Witty, full of Irish quirkiness. Beautiful location work and the dynamite teaming of O'Hara and Wayne. With marvelous songs like Turalye Anne, Galway Bay, Isle of Innisfree and The Humour is On Me Now and more ( There is a soundtrack available on CD this movie as well). For many years the version on VHS was a pale washed out copy, but this version gives you the 40 shades of green of Eire and the brilliant red hair of O'Hara, they way it should be. The DVD is so sharp, it's truly like seeing it for the first time.
At this steal of a price, every DVD should have a copy. 'Tis Grand, Aye, Grand indeed!
Rating: - Definitive John Wayne
It's amazing to me that John Wayne did what I would consider his best work not in westerns or war movies, but in this romantic comedy set in Ireland. The yank John Wayne meets and is greatly impressed by the beautiful irish country girl Maureen O'Hara, but he simply doesn't understand the traditional rules of courtship and marriage in Ireland in the early 1900s. The casting is superb, and the supporting actors make the whole thing come together. There's nothing quite like a good old knock down drag out Hollywood enhanced fist fight is there? And all for love, face, and honor. Top-notch entertainment. A movie that both husbands and wives will enjoy.
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