Category: Entertainment

Film Review: The Quiet Man

As far back as I can remember I’ve been a John Wayne fan. I may have been but a freckle-faced junior with grazes on my knees and dreadfully sensible sandals on my feet but there I was, sitting with my father watching those weekend matinee cowboy films on one of the three TV channels (remember those days?). I recall Dad frequently telling me not to sit so close to the screen – “You’ll make yourself cross-eyed!” Wayne’s embodiment of heroism, strength and honour was, to my young mind, as right and true as any natural law of the universe, something to aspire to so that whatever you did, wherever you went, everything would work out fine as long as you conducted yourself in the same manner. Sure, there’d be hardships along the way and battles to fight but if you’d quit bellyaching, stand firm and face your adversaries head on, you’d triumph in the end and be able to ride off into the sunset with love and righteousness by your side. (Sounds almost biblical, doesn’t it?)

Well, I’m older now (you don’t say!) and, I hope, a little wiser and a little more knowledge about some things in life but when I sit through a Wayne movie my mind just goes right back to those formative years when life seemed simpler, when love and honour seemed to truly mean everything and when a man was only as good as his word.

Hand on heart, I can say that I’ve watched pretty much all of John Wayne’s films – certainly those of which came after Stagecoach in 1939 and with equal sincerity, I can attest to having enjoyed them all. To me, he’s just so watchable. However, when it comes to truly great pictures, classic films, I have to concede that he made but a handful. And yet that’s okay because let’s face it, any artist, be they an author or a painter or an actor, if they leave even just one shining example of their craft – one book, one painting masterpiece or one performance that is unmatched or unquestionable in its brilliance, then they’ve hit the jackpot. They’ll inspire generations and live on forever. Wayne did just that – some might say with the help of a great director but as I’ve said before in these pages, sometimes in the movies, the stars in the heavens align, the talents of cast and crew come together in total harmony and perfection is created.

For Wayne this is clearly evident in The Searchers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Red River. Three superb films directed by two of Hollywood’s greatest movie makers –  John Ford and Howard Hawks – with performances from the Duke that should be ranked as highly as any performance by any actor, ever! There are a few other titles that could arguably join this group – True Grit (for which Wayne won the Oscar for Best Actor), Rio Bravo and The Shootist (his last and most poignant performance) and I cannot omit The Quiet Man. If you’ve only seen Wayne wearing a gun-belt or brandishing a Winchester, then this is a bit of a departure but it is an absolute GEM. If you’ve never seen it, I urge you to do so. It’s beyond beautiful, it’s funny, moving and utterly charming. And it’s the sort of film that would not, nay, could not be made today. No matter how overused it is, the aphorism is true – they just don’t make ’em like they used to. Yes, modern cinema had gained much with its CGI, its new fangled digital cameras and lightning quick editing techniques but along the way something has been lost. If you’re into great movies, you’ll know what I mean.

Anyway – The Quiet Man. Wayne plays Sean Thornton, an Irishman by birth who returns from 1920s America to his childhood home with the intention of settling down. He’s also running away from something in his past. He meets and falls in love with the beautiful but feisty Mary Kate Danagher (played by the incredibly lovely Maureen O’Hara). Unfortunately, she happens to be the younger sister of local squire and ill-tempered bully Will Danagher (a role that suited the hulking Victor McLaglen to a tee). Sean’s attempts to court Mary Kate are met with stiff resistance from her brother however, with the help of the friendly locals – an impossibly loveable bunch of village stereotypes – the romance gets a leg up (so to speak). Sean’s romance of Mary Kate forms the main plot of the movie but there’s an intriguing undercurrent because the past that Sean was hoping to leave behind in America returns to haunt him.

The script was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Irish novelist Maurice Walsh.  Apparently director John Ford read the story and soon after bought the rights for $10. Republic Pictures, the studio through which the film was made, was known mostly for low budget B-movies and considered The Quiet Man to be a big risk with Wayne and Ford stepping away from their usual genre of the western. They only agreed to finance it if Wayne and O’Hara and Ford agreed to film a western with them first, which they did. Rio Grande was that western. The studio needn’t have worried though because The Quiet Man was a commercial and critical hit upon release and it went on to become the first and only time the studio received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

The Quiet Man would go on to win two Oscars out of seven nominations, one for Ford’s directing, the other for Winton C. Hoch’s cinematography. All of the outdoor scenes were shot in various locations around County Mayo and County Galway in Ireland throughout the early summer of 1951and Hoch used his lens to capture the vivid green beauty of the countryside like Constable used his paintbrush. It’s just lovely. Many of these locations have since become tourist attractions and the pub used in the film (though it had been a shop at the time of filming) hosts daily reruns of the film on DVD! The production employed many actors from the Irish theatre as well as extras from the surrounding countryside and the film is one of the few Hollywood movies in which the Irish Gaelic language can be heard.

Wayne’s performance as the stranger in a strange land is well judged. The little town of Innisfree, its people and their customs are a far cry from the world his Sean Thorton has left behind. Wayne doesn’t do peaceful and quiet very often in his films  so it’s great to see him in something with a gentler pace but he still bellows his authority when he has to. The chemistry he shares onscreen with Maureen O’Hara is something special too. They must have adored working together because it shows in their performances and it’s no surprise to note that they would go on to make a total of five films together. As always, O’Hara is just wonderful, portraying innocence and youth, romance and passion like few are able. The other main characters are played by some of John Ford’s regulars – Victor McLaglan, Ward Bond and Barry Fitzgerald. The latter is absolutely hilarious as the cheeky Michaeleen Oge Flynn who likes a drop o’ whiskey every now and then. The music by Victor Young compliments the picture perfectly – frequently romantic and cheerful and at times wonderfully cheeky but always keeping that Gaelic heart. At a certain point in the film, Michaeleen begins humming a catchy little melody called “The Rakes of Mallow” and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be humming the tune yourself as he credits role.

 

Guest Post by Sherri Hayes

I’ve always loved a good romance. Back when I was a pre-teen, I remember reading Sweet Dreams romances. As I got older, I graduated to Harlequins. There’s always been something about two people meeting and falling in love that draws me in, and makes me want to see them find their happily ever after.

When I started writing, someone told me to always write what you like to read, and that’s what I’ve tried to do. The hero and heroine have to be characters I can fall in love with. I don’t want them to be perfect, but I do want them to be likable enough to make me want to root for them through whatever struggles they have to go through.

Relationships are complex, which means I can have fun putting the couples through lots of twists and turns. There has to be a good story, with strong supporting characters to round things out, and keep things entertaining.

Since I don’t plot out my stories ahead of time, I rarely know what’s going to happen in one of my novels until right before I type it into the computer. It keeps things interesting, and makes writing fun. I’m not sure I could do that in another genre. Romance is about people at its heart, and I like writing about people.

Interview with Sherri Hayes

The combination of FBI agent and professional footballer is an unusual one. What made you come up with the idea?

Gage’s profession was decided in the first book of the series, Behind Closed Doors. After that, it was a matter of finding the right woman for him. I knew she needed to be strong, both physically and mentally, yet vulnerable, too. Rebecca took shape from there.

Which idea came first, the professional footballer being stalked, or the romance between an FBI agent and her project?

Gage and his stalker were first. There are hints in Behind Closed Doors about Gage having a stalker. Rebecca’s character didn’t begin to take shape until the very end of writing Behind Closed Doors.

You go into quite a lot of detail about the football games. Is this a personal passion of yours?

I grew up watching the Cleveland Browns with my dad. Back then it was not unusual to find me right there along with him shouting at the television. Of course, during playoff season, it’s not uncommon to find me doing that now, either.

As Rebecca relaxes and allows herself to be seduced by Gage she gradually becomes used to the more provocative outfits that he picked out for her. Was this an intentional statement about female sexuality and a woman’s right to dress as we please?

It was more a statement about Rebecca herself. I tend to write what is right for my characters, their personalities, and their growth. Everything else is secondary. In Rebecca’s case, she viewed her ultra conservative clothing as an outward sign of her poise and control over her life and situation. Gage gave her the freedom to release some of that, and realize her world wasn’t going to fall apart if she did.

Your main characters get engaged and have a child relatively quickly by today’s standards. Did you have any alternative endings in mind when you were writing?

Neither of those things were planned when I started writing their story. When I write a story, I generally only have a vague idea of where it’s headed. Outside of that, I let the story flow, and the characters guide where we end up. I knew they would end up together, but they surprised me with the ending.

How did you find writing the erotic scenes and are there any family members who will be forbidden from reading it? (Grandparents, etc.)
This is my sixth published work to date, and all of them have had love scenes of one shape or form. Writing them doesn’t bother me. I do what I feel is appropriate for the plot, scene, and characters. As for family…the only family that reads my books is my mom and she loves my romances. She once told me that my love scenes were what a woman wants but rarely gets.

Who were your literary influences for this book?

I love to read, but I wouldn’t say there were any specific literary influences for Red Zone.

The obvious question is, what was your take on 50 Shades of Grey and did it inspire you to write your own erotic romance?

My first book published six months before 50 Shades of Grey, so no, it didn’t inspire me. While I read part of the fan fiction when it was posted, I haven’t read the books since E.L. James published the trilogy.

Do you see yourself more as Rebecca or Megan and is any part of the story autobiographical?

I relate more to Rebecca than I do Megan. While I wouldn’t say any of the story is autobiographical, there are parts of Rebecca’s past and personality that are similar to mine.

Was there a man that you had in mind when creating Gage’s character?

I tend to visualize personalities more than physical traits when I write my characters, so no. All of my characters come purely from my imagination.

What made you choose the romance genre and not Sci-fi or fantasy, for example?

I’ve always loved reading romance novels, and I write what I like to read. There is something about reading about a couple falling in love that draws me into a story, and makes me want to see them get their happy ending.

When did you decide that you wanted to be a writer?

Writing was something I sort of fell into. It wasn’t anything I’d ever considered as a career path growing up. In fact, I didn’t start writing my first story until I was thirty. It wasn’t until three years later when my publisher approached me after reading some of my online writing that I ever considered being a writer.

Have you got any advice for budding erotic novelists?

The best advice I can give any writer, erotic or otherwise, is to write what you like. If you don’t like the story, then chances are, no one else will either. It also makes the work of writing much more enjoyable.

Do you believe that erotic fiction empowers women?
In a way, yes. I believe it gives women more freedom to learn what they might potentially enjoy sexually with their partners, and that’s always a good thing.

Book Review: Red Zone by Sherri Hayes

Sherri Hayes’ latest novel follows the lives of a headstrong FBI agent and a professional footballer thrown together in the hunt for a stalker and unwittingly on a journey full of steamy romance. On the surface, Rebecca Carson is solely focused on her career, with no mind for romance or even fun. It quickly becomes apparent that truthfully she is searching for someone to spend the rest of her life with, but only if he ticks all the boxes. Gage Daniels, on the other hand, is all about the fun side of life as he lives out his dream of playing professionally and seducing women.  His perfect life is interrupted by the presence of a stalker and Rebecca is brought in to help solve the case, working undercover as his girlfriend.

As the story progresses, so does the presence of the stalker, with more letters and photos of Gage and other women surfacing, but it is only when Gage and Rebecca find themselves under fire that they realise just how serious the situation is. As the two main characters gradually get used to each other their pasts begin to surface. Rebecca has clearly been burnt in the past and as you learn more about her parents it is easy to see why she has so many barriers up. Gage is relatively unscathed by love, but as both his friend and brother have seen the more painful side of love it is understandable that he’d prefer to enjoy the commitment-free side.  As Gage and Rebecca get to know each other they begin to analyse their own actions and feelings, working out the cause of their problems and when Rebecca’s bubbly sister, Megan, comes onto the scene Rebecca realises just how much fun she has been missing out on.

The premise of the story is a good one and certainly not something that I have read in the past. The concept of combining a career driven woman with a fun loving man to bring out the true nature in each of them is not a unique one, but Hayes makes it work without entering cliched territory. If I had to find fault in the book, I would have to say that the constant threat of the stalker could be much more sinister and make the sexual tension between Rebecca and Gage electric, but it seems to only be there as a reason to bring the two characters together. The focus on emotions is where Hayes really excels and she draws attention to the often overlooked need to address one’s feelings honestly. Both Rebecca and Gage take the time to consider why they react in a certain way and because of this they learn more about themselves and eventually develop a strong relationship. If you take anything from this book I suggest it be the emotional honesty that her characters use to reveal their true natures.

Film Review: All About Eve

With movie award season being well and truly underway, all thoughts are no doubt turned towards that most prestigious film award of all – the Oscar. I happened upon a certain statistic recently which led to this review. Did you know that in the Academy Awards’ 85 year history, there are two films that hold the record for the most nominations? It probably won’t require too much head-scratching to bring to mind one of them because most of us past our teens can probably remember the night James Cameron hailed himself “King of the World” when his 1997 epic Titanic took home 11 wins out of 14 nominations. That’s a lot of categories to be up for and let’s face it, Titanic was, and still is, visually impressive. But almost half a century earlier, All About Eve was the talk of the town when it too was nominated in 14 categories. It would end that night of the 23rd Academy Awards show with winning far fewer statuettes than Cameron’s blockbuster (though 6 including Best Picture and Best Director is still an incredible achievement) however it would win one that Titanic wasn’t even nominated for – Best Screenplay. And All About Eve is still the only film in Oscar history to receive four female acting nominations, two in both the Best Actress and the Best Supporting Actress categories.

Funnily enough, the film begins at an awards dinner where Broadway’s latest, hottest star Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is being recognised for her breakout performance in a critically acclaimed new play. Slimy theatre critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) watches the proceedings from his table and in a rather derisive voiceover, recalls how Miss Harrington’s star soared as quickly as it did.

Flash back a year and we meet Margo Channing (Bette Davis) in her dressing room after a night’s performance of a play. Margo is one of Broadway’s biggest stars, successful but inevitably jaded and aware that, at forty, her career has only one way to go. One of Margo’s closest friends Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) who also happens to be the wife of the play’s author Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe) meets starstruck fan Eve Harrington outside the stage door and decides to make the young fan’s day by taking her backstage to meet her idol. Margo and her friends, including Margo’s young director boyfriend Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill) find Eve and her reverence of Margo and the theatre in general charming and following a touching story Eve recounts about her difficult life to date, Margo moves her into her house and takes her under her wing as an assistant.

Everything’s peachy and everyone adores the lovely, helpful Eve. All except Margo’s maid Birdie (Thelma Ritter) who senses something the others do not. And it’s not long before Eve subtly begins to reveal her true intentions and nature. It’s all done with such a sweet humble facade but she slowly schemes her way to becoming Margo’s understudy and then, by cold, measured manipulation of Margo’s relationships with Lloyd, the writer and Bill, the boyfriend and director, she conspires to usurp Margo in the plays Lloyd writes for her. As the film progresses, we are witness to the full range of trials and tribulations that theatre folk are faced with as well as all the emotions that close friends and colleagues have to deal with.

At the end of the film, we return to its beginning at the awards dinner as Eve receives her trophy. So it’s clear she attains the fame and critical acclaim she so craved. But at what cost? Addison DeWitt, cynical as well as slimy, has dug into Eve’s past and uncovered skeletons she’d rather keep buried and so, in exchange for his silence, he informs Eve prior to the awards dinner that she now “belongs” to him. The final scene of the film mirrors the first in that it appears the ‘user’, Eve, is about to become the ‘used’ when another young starstruck girl, Phoebe, finds her way into Eve’s apartment with the obvious (to us, the audience) intention of insinuating herself into the now, shining Broadway star’s life. What goes around comes around.

The casting of this movie was inspired. Everyone is right on the money; it’s no wonder there were so many acting award nominations. George Sanders was ultimately the only winner and his portrayal of the charming but insincere theatre critic is masterful. Bette Davis was brought in after the first choice of Claudette Colbert suffered a back injury and had to withdraw shortly before filming began. Davis, who commented that the script was one of the best she had ever read, later admitted that when Joseph L. Mankiewicz cast her in this movie, he saved her career from oblivion after a series of unsuccessful films. Even Marilyn Monroe in an early role as young starlet Miss Casswell is terrific. Watch closely and you can definitely see signs of what would soon make her a star.

Together with Mankiewicz’s writing and directing, the film received overwhelmingly positive reviews upon its release and even now, over 60 years later, it’s easy to see why. The dialogue is at times witty, at others moving but always sparkling and true and Mankiewicz paces the story perfectly. The movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes long but you’ll never know it.

It’ll come as no surprise that the film turns up in numerous top 100 film lists, American Film Institute’s as well as others and the film is usually always selected to highlight Davis’ legendary career. In 1990, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

In short, All About Eve is the epitome of a classic Hollywood movie. It has every necessary ingredient and it’s brightness in the firmament of greatness grows with the passage of time. And unlike so many movies of today, it doesn’t rely on special effects, explosions or unfeasible action sequences to keep you in your seat. It’s a group of talented artists who came together to create, for us, something quite wonderful.