More Irish stereotypes on parade here but in such affectionate fashion that it hardly matters. John Ford’s homage to rural Ireland may include the odd unsavoury reference to the IRA but on the whole it is concerned mostly with John Wayne’s return home to the poverty stricken countryside his parents obviously felt compelled to leave. Don’t be fooled though, we really love this and if we can set our cynicism aside so can you all. The climactic fight with Victor ‘not Irish at all’ McLaglan – who was nominated for an Oscar for this – to the strains of the Fox Chase is one of the great sequences of all time.
