The classic incarnation of Hollywood Irishness, and one of Ford's best, and funniest films. Wayne is Sean Thornton, a weary American ex-boxer who returns to the Irish hamlet of his childhood and tries to take spirited lass Mary Kate (O'Hara) as his wife, despite the strenuous objections of her brawling brother Red Will (McLaglen). Thornton's aided by the leprechaun-like Michaleen Flynn (Fitzgerald) and the local parish priest (Bond). A high-spirited and memorable film filled with Irish stew, wonderful banter, and shots of the lush countryside. Listen for the Scottish bagpipes at the start of the horse race, a slight geographic inaccuracy.