Recently, we lost one of the most well-known actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Maureen O’Hara’s impressive body of work spanned several decades and gave us many historical costume films to salivate over. Let’s take a look back at some of our favorites in tribute to the Queen of Technicolor!
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) – Esmeralda
Costumes by Walter Plunkett.
How Green Was My Valley (1941) – Angharad
Costumes by Gwen Wakeling.
The Black Swan (1942) – Lady Margaret Denby
Costumes by Earl Luick.
Buffalo Bill (1944) – Louisa Federica Cody
Costumes by René Hubert.
The Spanish Main (1945) – Contessa Francesca
Costumes by Edward Stevenson.
Sinbad, the Sailor (1947) – Shireen
Costumes by Dwight Franklin and Edward Stevenson.
The Foxes of Harrow (1947) – Odalie ‘Lilli’ D’Arceneaux
Costumes by René Hubert.
Baghdad (1949) – Princess Marjan
Costumes by Yvonne Wood.
At Sword’s Point (1952) – Claire
Costumes by Edward Stevenson.
Against All Flags (1952) – Prudence ‘Spitfire’ Stevens
Costumes by Edward Stevenson.
Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955) – Lady Godiva
Costumes by Edward Stevenson.
Do you have a favorite Maureen O’Hara film? Tell us about it in the comments!
I’m missing The Quiet Man and McLintock!. Only Maureen O’Hara could make me watch a John Wayne film.
“The Quiet Man” doesn’t have exceptionally fabulous costumes, though! And the same goes for most of the Westerns. If we were just looking back at her entire body of work, it would be remiss, but I wanted to pull a selection of some of the fabulous costume flicks she starred in. In fact, it wasn’t until I started digging through her IMDB page that I realized she had so many with really great costumes. Everything else that discusses her work focuses on “Miracle on 34th Street” or John Wayne, but leaves off the OTT stuff like “The Spanish Main” and “Against All Flags”.
O’Hara brought out the best in Wayne, who never took himself too seriously as an actor. When some director gave him a complicated expression to do, Wayne turned his face one way, them another, saying something to the effect that those were the only expressions he had to choose from. I think O’Hara got more out of him than that.
I was going to add the John Wayne movies too!
Sarah, thanks for posting these. Some of those fabrics were great, especially that blue brocade in The Swan. From the time when women were great ladies and fabrics were luscious. . . .sigh.
You’re welcome! I feel like I’m going to need to do a more in depth look at “The Black Swan” (because TYRONE POWER, please and thank you) and “Against All Flags” and “The Spanish Main.” The costumes in all 3 of those were worth a lot more examination. That Edward Stevenson got quite a bit of business in the late 40s!
My favorite film of hers is not an historical costume drama … but I can recite nearly the entire script from memory … Miracle on 34th Street :-)
The Quiet Man should always be on any list of Maureen O’Hara’s Films
From a costuming standpoint, “The Quiet Man” just didn’t stand out as “OMG LET’S TALK ABOUT THE COSTUMES”. But that’s just my humble opinion! ;)
I agree it’s a great film, though. So many of the films I didn’t include because the costuming was nothing special or they were set in contemporary times were some of her best work. But we’re a costuming blog, so… Gotta go with our bread and butter!
But you could have done McLintock!. Late 19th century Western, and the best part is O’Hara playing her age and still coming off as the sexiest woman on the screen.
Yup, I’ve got to go with the John Wayne movies too.
Was there some reason why so many of the costumes outlined or emphasized her breasts? Was she noted for her um, attributes?
That was just the practice at the time. Almost every historical film made during the 30s, 40s and 50s has costumes with bodices cut to conform to the breasts, Regardless of the era depicted. I suppose it was to make them seem more attractive, or to display the actresses chest. Maureen didn’t need that anyway, she was a great actress.
To be fair, she had a great figure… But I think, like Michael said, it’s more to do with the sexy red head image as a selling point in her films.
I need to pick up her autobiography. Apparently she spends some time discussing her issues with the way women and minorities were portrayed in the films she starred in, which would be interesting to read. Someone recommended it to me recently and said it’s a really good insight into how she grappled with being a working actor versus being a decent human being.
The films she made with John Wayne, especially THE QUIET MAN.
There are actually some lovely costumes in “The Parent Trap” as well as the film “The Foxes of Harrow”. Her costumes in “How Green was My Valley” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” are also worth taking a look at.
The Quiet Man (love her green floral in the rain) Miracle oh 34th Street (knockout 40’s fashion) and The Parent Trap (especially after her makeover) RIP Sweet Maureen. And she was just born for Technicolor costume dramas!
Loved her musketeer outfit! No matter how you dressed her up, she couldn’t be mistaken for a boy. And yes – the ‘sweetheart neckline,’ the cut that defied any historical period.