July 8, 2025 • 27 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Hollywood had sound, George O’Brien was a leading man in the silent era. But when WWII called, this famous silent film actor left the red carpet behind and joined the fight. His story reveals how one of the most recognizable male silent movie stars became an American war hero. As part of our ongoing "Hollywood Goes to War" series, Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier, shares the story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And we love your stories, our listeners story send them
to our American Stories dot com. There's some of our
favorites here to tell. Another Hollywood goes to War's story
is Roger McGrath. McGrath is the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen,
(00:32):
and Vigilantes Violence on the Frontier. He's a US Marine
and former history professor at UCLA. McGrath has appeared on
numerous History Channel documentaries, and he's a regular contributor for
US here.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And our American Stories. Here's McGrath.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
World War One veterans George O'Bryant became a story in
Hollywood with his breakout performance as the lead in John
Ford's silent film epic The Iron Horse. Handsome and built
like the top athlete he was, O'Brien would appear in
eleven more john Ford movies and eighty five films all together,
and serve in two more wars World War two in Korea.
(01:13):
O'Brien represented all that was best in America and in Hollywood,
which may be why he has forgotten today by a
different Hollywood in a different America. George J. O'Brien comes
into the world in April eighteen ninety nine in San Francisco.
His father is Daniel J. O'Brien and his mother the
(01:36):
former Margaret Donaho, both born into Irish immigrant families. In
nineteen two, Margaret gives birth to a second son, Daniel J.
O'Brien Junior, who is almost immediately called Jack. George and
Jack will be the best of buddies. George is one
day shy of his seventh birthday when early on the
(01:59):
morning of April eighteen, nineteen six and earthquakes strikes. An
earthquake unlike anything San Franciscans have ever experienced. George and
Jack are hurled out of bed and land on the
floor fifteen feet away. Their mother looks out the window
of their two story brownstone house and exclaims the street
(02:23):
has burst open. People are running from their houses. They're rumbling,
and quaking continues for some time, and then there is
an eerie silence. By then the O'Brien's are in the
street and their house is crumbling with a low rumble.
The quaking begins again. Suddenly Margaret thinks of what she
(02:44):
left behind in the house and says my wedding ring,
I'm married certificate now, oh Dan. The brownstone is swaying
and heaving, but Dan O'Brien goes back into the house
and retrieves the precious items. George later describes his father
as extraordinarily calm but stern throughout the earthquake and the
(03:07):
fire that follows. George is shocked by what he sees
in the streets, Dying people half buried in rubble and
pleading for help. Familiar landmarks, obliterated corpses in grotesque positions,
gas lines exploding in balls of fire. San Francisco gradually
(03:29):
recovers from the great quake and fire of nineteen six,
and so too does the O'Brien family. Dan becomes a policeman,
first working as a patrolman at Knights and then rapidly
rising through the ranks become chief of the San Francisco
Police Department in nineteen twenty. It was my luck to
(03:53):
have a wonderful father, says George. He knew how to
manage a boy. He showed me what was what, and
then gave me my head with full liberty to make
an ass of myself if I felt like it. His
life and standards gave me plenty to live up to.
My father weighed two hundred and twenty pounds and was
six feet dull. He had been an amateur boxer in
(04:15):
his younger days. On the West Coast was a rough
and ready place. By the time George arrives at San
Francisco's Polytechnic HYE, his physical prowess is already well known.
He becomes the star receiver on the football team and
an All state guard in basketball. He also letters in
(04:40):
track and swimming. In his spare time, he learns to
ride rope and bulldog on a family friend's ranch near
Los Gavis. Many a college, especially Santa Clara University, want
George and pads on the gridiron, But with the United
States in World War One, George goes to a recruiting
(05:01):
office to join the Marines after graduation from high school.
The recruiter tells him the quota for the Marine Corps
is full at the moment and he will have to wait.
(05:26):
More Impulsive than patient, George goes to the Navy recruiter
in an enjoying office and is duly sworn in. George
excels in training and Later in his service aboard the
submarine Chaser SC three nine seven, he earns several different
ratings in the Navy Commendation Medal. While stationed at San Diego.
(05:53):
After the war ends, he boxes his way through a
series of bouts to become heavyweight Champion of the Pacific Fleet.
Is mustard out of service at the end of August
nineteen nineteen.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story
of screen star. And this is back when stars were
really big, during the Silent screen era. In American film Ironhorse,
John Ford's silent classic, well he was the star and
in many, many more john Ford movies. Only John Wayne
could make the claim that Georgie O'Brien did. Born in
(06:32):
eighteen ninety nine, lived through the San Francisco earthquake, and
what a thing as a seven year old to witness
and get through a star athlete. And when the Marines
say no during World War One, he joins the Navy instead,
and as he leaves, he's also the heavyweight Champ of
the Pacific Fleet. When we come back more of this
(06:54):
remarkable story. Georgio O'Brien's story, part of our Hollywood goes
to War series here on our American Stories, leeh Habib
(07:30):
Here as we approach our nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary,
I'd like to remind you that all the history stories
you hear on this show are brought to you by
the great folks at Hillsdale College. And Hillsdale isn't just
a great school for your kids or grandkids to attend,
but for you as well. Go to Hillsdale dot edu
to find out about their terrific free online courses. Their
series on communism is one of the finest I've ever seen. Again,
(07:53):
go to Hillsdale dot edu and sign up for their
free and terrific online courses.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And we continue with our American.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Stories and the story of actor George O'Brien, a part
of our Hollywood Goes to War series.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Let's return to Roger McGrath.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Less than a month later, he's playing football for Santa Clara,
a school founded by Jesuits in eighteen fifty one, making
it California's oldest institution of higher learning. At six feet
in a very muscular one hundred and ninety pounds, O'Brien
looks as if Phidias has sculpted him out of Marble.
(08:42):
While he excels in football, his classroom work languishes. In
high school, he had done so well in chemistry and
biology that his father thought George might one day pursue
a career in medicine. However, George now can't get himself
motivated to study. Then, at a rodeo, he meets Tom Mix,
(09:04):
Hollywood's Cowboys star. Mix asks him what he does, and
when he replies he's a student, Mix asks a student
of what, Oh, I play football for Santa Clara, says O'Brien,
But I want to be a doctor. I'm taking a
pre medical course. I've got a long way to go,
(09:26):
maybe eight years, and then I don't know. Mix knows
O'Brien served in the Navy and tells him if he
ever decides to leave school and go to work, he
should come to Hollywood and look him up. At the
end of his first year at Santa Clara, George says
goodbye to his Jesuit professors and heads to Hollywood. When
(09:53):
he arrives, he learns Mix is on location in Oklahoma,
but George finds work as an assistant cameraman at fifteen
dollars a week. Assistant means doing every grant job imaginable,
but is excited to be part of making movies and
he's learning a trade. He lives at the Hollywood YMCA,
(10:17):
sharing an eleven dollars a month room with another assistant cameraman.
He also gets additional work as a stuntman and as
an extra. However, after two years of this, he grows
discouraged and heads back home to San Francisco, where his
father is the toast of the town. As Chief of Police,
(10:39):
Dan O'Brien implements several innovative programs that not only win
widespread praise, bill also greatly improved the department and policing
in the city by the Bay. Joj O'Brien is a
natural for the SFPD, but he decides instead to go
to sea. While waiting on a wharf before boarding a
(11:01):
ship bound for Hawaii, he bumps into Hobart Bosworth, an actor,
director and producer. He knows why are the seafaring get up?
George asks, Bosworth, working on a picture, replies O'Brien, I'm
shipping for Honolulu. Hobart understands by O'Brien's dejected tone the
(11:22):
young man has given up on Hollywood, motioning to a
fight scene he's shooting for a Tale of the igh Seas.
Hobart tells George, get in there and show those birds
out of fight. O'Brien does, and then works on the
movie until it's completed three weeks later, and has given
(11:43):
a second small part in Bosworth's next movie. More movies
and bit parts follow. O'Brien is earning twenty five dollars
a day and is now known as an actor. Is
a handsome visage physique and athletic prowess get him an
audition for the lead in Ben Hurd. For a time,
(12:06):
it looks as if he might get the part. His
high hopes are dashed when the studio decides it needs
a big name actor. O'Brien is so disappointed he thinks
of returning to San Francisco and joining the police department.
He stays in Hollywood, though, and works regularly in small roles,
(12:27):
usually as a sailor or a cowboy. In nineteen twenty four,
john Ford is hired by Fox Studios to make a
Western epic to top all others, a story about the
building of the trans Continental Railroad titled The Iron Horse.
Dozens auditioned for the lead role of Davy Brandon, but
(12:51):
Ford remains unsatisfied. Fox finally sends O'Brien over for an audition.
Ford rigorously tests O'Brien in several scenes and is happy
with what he sees, especially a fight scene that has
O'Brien vaulting on to a horse after pummeling an enemy.
(13:12):
O'Brien's vault is as good as any stuntman's, but when
he hits the saddle, the cinch breaks and O'Brien hits
the ground hard nonetheless, immediately springs to his feet and
is ready for action. Ford is sold. The Iron Horse
is both a critical and commercial success, and George O'Brien
(13:35):
is suddenly a star. Ian John Ford become fast friends.
They have a lot in common. They're both Irish Catholics,
former star football players, lovers of the sea, and American patriots.
There are important differences too. Ford smokes and drinks often
to excess, and experiences periods of alcoholic depression and rage.
(14:00):
Bryan is a physical fitness buff who shuns drinking and smoking,
and because he's on screen, thinks it important to set
a good example for the youth of America. George O'Brien's
great success with John Ford in The Iron Horse means
stop directors now demand O'Brien for leading roles. From nineteen
(14:22):
twenty four through nineteen twenty eight, he stars in twenty
four movies, and in addition to John Ford, works with
such directors as Emmett Flynn, Jack Conway, Howard Hawks, Frederick Murnaut,
Alan Djaan, and Michael Kurtiz by nineteen twenty eight. In
(14:46):
nineteen twenty nine, the studios are abandoning silence for talkies
after the success of The Jazz Singer late in nineteen
twenty seven. Some stars don't have the boy to make
the transition, but George O'Brien has a voice rich in
timber and resonance, and makes the transition easily. His first
(15:10):
all sound movie is Salute, a tribute to West Point
and Annapolis and the football rivalry between the academies, directed
by John Ford. O'Brien plays west Point's star halfback. The
movie is mostly forgettable, but it does have scenes with
a couple of football players from the University of Southern California,
(15:33):
John Wayne and Ward Bond. From nineteen twenty nine through
nineteen forty O'Brien stars in nearly fifty films, mostly westerns.
When he isn't a cowboy, he's a cop, or a
soldier or a sailor. He becomes a husband in real
life in nineteen thirty three when he marries Marguerite Churchill.
(15:56):
A year later, they have their first child, Brian, ten
days after birth. A daughter, Orren, is born in nineteen
thirty five. She will become an accomplished musician and a
member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in nineteen sixty six.
A second son, Darcy, is born in nineteen thirty nine.
(16:19):
He will become an English professor and a prize winning novelist.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story
of George O'Brien. He went to Santa Clara after his
time in the Navy, spent a year playing football, and
realized pretty soon that being pre mad and being a
doctor these were someone else's dreams, not his, And.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
He goes to Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
He picks up every job he could and lives in
a ymca with a buddy, and then comes his big break,
a couple of small pictures and then working with the
then not so great but soon to be great john
Ford and what would turn out to be a classic
and a big The Iron Horse. And this is still
back when movies had no words. This is silent screen time,
(17:07):
and the stars were big. When we come back, more
of the story of George O'Brien and more of our
Hollywood Goes to War series with Roger McGrath. McGrath is
the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes Violence on the Frontier.
He's a US marine and former history professor at UCLA.
(17:28):
McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries and he's
a regular contributor for US. Here at our American Story.
When we come back, more of this remarkable story, George
O'Brien's story, part of our Hollywood Goes to War series
here on our American Stories, and we continue with our
(18:09):
American Stories and the story of George O'Brien, our continuing
series Hollywood Goes to War. Let's pick up where we
last left off with Roger McGrath.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yesterday, December seventh, nineteen forty one, a date which will
live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly
and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the
(18:53):
Empire of Japan. I regret to tell you that very
many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships
have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San
Francisco and Honolulu.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
No matter how long.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the
American people, in their righteous might, will win through to
absolute vicua. With confidence in our armed forces, with the
(19:39):
unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.
So help us God.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
When the Japanese launched their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor,
George O'Brien is forty one years old and the married
father of two children. He is also staring in movies,
including a dozen in the three years leading up to
Pearl Harbor. Moreover, O'Brien has already served the country in
World War One, So what does he do. Ten days
(20:14):
after the Japanese sneak attack, George O'Brien goes back into
the Navy. O'Brien has commissioned lieutenant and is assigned to
the San Diego Naval Base to improve physical training for recruits.
Lieutenant O'Brien implements programs in boxing, weight training, and hand
to hand combat techniques, which he partly borrows from similar
(20:37):
programs his father developed for the San Francisco Police Department.
After his training regimens are fully implemented and producing excellent results,
Lieutenant O'Brien requests a combat assignment. He's trained as a
beach maaster. A beach master is the officer responsible for
(20:59):
landing craft to the beach in a coordinated pattern to
the right location in on time. Because of all the
things that can go wrong at each step of an
amphibious operation, the task of a beachmaster is very difficult. Moreover,
a beachmaster is in the thick of the action, exposed
(21:19):
to enemy rifle, machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire. Lieutenant
O'Brien sees his first action in the Aleutian Islands in
the Battle of Attu during May nineteen forty three. A
Japanese force of three thousand men had been occupying Atu
Island since invading the island against no opposition in June
(21:43):
nineteen forty two. There were only forty alleut Indians on
the island at the time, and the Japanese took them prisoner.
The alliots were shipped off to Japan, and half of
them died in captivity. Considering the wet, windy, in frigid
weather and heavy Japanese fire, the landings on Attitude go
(22:04):
fairly well, but they are not without casualties. O'Brien himself
is wounded and also comes down with ammonia. It will
be many weeks before he is fit for duty again.
While his recovering, he learns that Chester Bennett, who directed
one of O'Brien's movies, was captured in Hong Kong by
the Japanese for eating the Chinese in their resistance. The
(22:28):
Japanese tortured Bennett and then sliced off his head with
a sword. George O'Brien, now a lieutenant commander, is back
in action as a beach master in the invasion of
Saipan in the Mariana Islands during June nineteen forty four.
The initial landings of the Marines are met by fierce
(22:50):
Japanese resistance, which includes highly accurate artillery fire. Dozens of
landing craft are hit and explode in balls of flame
before they reach the beach. O'Brien is in the thick
of the action, but this time, he comes through the
campaign without a scratch. O'Brien's next landing is at Leyte
(23:12):
Island in the Philippines in October nineteen forty four. Resistance
is relatively light and American forces land with few casualties.
By the afternoon, the Americans have established a beachhead one
mile deep and five miles wide. This enables General Douglas
MacArthur to wade ashore from a landing craft and declare,
(23:36):
people of the Philippines, I have returned, by the grace
of Almighty God. Our forces stand again on Philippines soil.
The next day, though, come a series of Japanese air
raids that make shuttling troops and supplies back and forth
from the beaches at lay tea a death the fine task.
(23:58):
O'Brien is fortune to come through unscathed. Promoted to commander,
the naval rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel, George O'Brien
becomes one of the many thousands of Americans preparing to
invade the Japanese home Islands. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in August nineteen forty five, though caused japan
(24:24):
the surrender and a monumental bloodbath is avoided. O'Brien is
with the American fleet when it sails into Tokyo Bay.
After the war, O'Brien is reduced to character roles, but
those include plain cavalry officers and two of john Ford's
(24:44):
greatest westerns, Fort Apache in nineteen forty six and she
wore a Yellow Ribbon in nineteen forty nine. I was
slowly but surely rebuilding my second career in films when
the trouble in Korea started, said O'Brien. Maybe it was
my inner sense of loyalty, but whatever it was forced
(25:04):
me to again abort my career in films and resume
the life of an officer in the Navy. O'Brien serves
in a naval intelligence unit during Korea and then later
in the nineteen fifties as a naval at a Shade
and NATO. He also helps make several films for the government,
including two that have significant relevance for today, Korea, Battleground
(25:30):
for Liberty and Taiwan Island of Freedom. George O'Brien retires
from the Navy in nineteen sixty at the rank of
captain at age sixty five. O'Brien appears in his final movie,
the John Ford directed Cheyenne Autumn in nineteen sixty four.
(25:51):
O'Brien again plays the role of a cavalry officer. O'Brien
lives for another twenty one years and dies at age
eighty six in nineteen eighty five. The Hollywood motion picture
star who appeared in eighty five movies is buried at
sea by the US Navy in a foremost ceremony off
(26:12):
San Diego as Captain George O'Brien, decorated veteran of World
War One, World War Two in Korea.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
And a terrific job on the production by Greg and
a special thanks to Roger McGrath as always for sharing
the story of those Hollywood stars who served our country
in war, and this time George O'Brien's story in My
Goodness World War One, World War Two and the Korean
War and his service in World War two possibly the
(26:45):
toughest combat zones, and My Goodness where he starts is
tough enough. The Allusians first, then the Mariana Islands, and
then lay Tea Island, easily the high point of his life.
Failing into Tokyo Bay. No acting gig could have touched that.
And of course, the call of duty comes again as
he's resurrecting his acting career one more time, this time
(27:09):
with a naval intelligence unit, serving his country once again
in the Korean War. The story of Georgia O'Brien a
remarkable story of public service and heroism.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Here on our American Stories.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And we love your stories, our listeners story send them
to our American Stories dot com. There's some of our
favorites here to tell. Another Hollywood goes to War's story
is Roger McGrath. McGrath is the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen,
(00:32):
and Vigilantes Violence on the Frontier. He's a US Marine
and former history professor at UCLA. McGrath has appeared on
numerous History Channel documentaries, and he's a regular contributor for
US here.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And our American Stories. Here's McGrath.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
World War One veterans George O'Bryant became a story in
Hollywood with his breakout performance as the lead in John
Ford's silent film epic The Iron Horse. Handsome and built
like the top athlete he was, O'Brien would appear in
eleven more john Ford movies and eighty five films all together,
and serve in two more wars World War two in Korea.
(01:13):
O'Brien represented all that was best in America and in Hollywood,
which may be why he has forgotten today by a
different Hollywood in a different America. George J. O'Brien comes
into the world in April eighteen ninety nine in San Francisco.
His father is Daniel J. O'Brien and his mother the
(01:36):
former Margaret Donaho, both born into Irish immigrant families. In
nineteen two, Margaret gives birth to a second son, Daniel J.
O'Brien Junior, who is almost immediately called Jack. George and
Jack will be the best of buddies. George is one
day shy of his seventh birthday when early on the
(01:59):
morning of April eighteen, nineteen six and earthquakes strikes. An
earthquake unlike anything San Franciscans have ever experienced. George and
Jack are hurled out of bed and land on the
floor fifteen feet away. Their mother looks out the window
of their two story brownstone house and exclaims the street
(02:23):
has burst open. People are running from their houses. They're rumbling,
and quaking continues for some time, and then there is
an eerie silence. By then the O'Brien's are in the
street and their house is crumbling with a low rumble.
The quaking begins again. Suddenly Margaret thinks of what she
(02:44):
left behind in the house and says my wedding ring,
I'm married certificate now, oh Dan. The brownstone is swaying
and heaving, but Dan O'Brien goes back into the house
and retrieves the precious items. George later describes his father
as extraordinarily calm but stern throughout the earthquake and the
(03:07):
fire that follows. George is shocked by what he sees
in the streets, Dying people half buried in rubble and
pleading for help. Familiar landmarks, obliterated corpses in grotesque positions,
gas lines exploding in balls of fire. San Francisco gradually
(03:29):
recovers from the great quake and fire of nineteen six,
and so too does the O'Brien family. Dan becomes a policeman,
first working as a patrolman at Knights and then rapidly
rising through the ranks become chief of the San Francisco
Police Department in nineteen twenty. It was my luck to
(03:53):
have a wonderful father, says George. He knew how to
manage a boy. He showed me what was what, and
then gave me my head with full liberty to make
an ass of myself if I felt like it. His
life and standards gave me plenty to live up to.
My father weighed two hundred and twenty pounds and was
six feet dull. He had been an amateur boxer in
(04:15):
his younger days. On the West Coast was a rough
and ready place. By the time George arrives at San
Francisco's Polytechnic HYE, his physical prowess is already well known.
He becomes the star receiver on the football team and
an All state guard in basketball. He also letters in
(04:40):
track and swimming. In his spare time, he learns to
ride rope and bulldog on a family friend's ranch near
Los Gavis. Many a college, especially Santa Clara University, want
George and pads on the gridiron, But with the United
States in World War One, George goes to a recruiting
(05:01):
office to join the Marines after graduation from high school.
The recruiter tells him the quota for the Marine Corps
is full at the moment and he will have to wait.
(05:26):
More Impulsive than patient, George goes to the Navy recruiter
in an enjoying office and is duly sworn in. George
excels in training and Later in his service aboard the
submarine Chaser SC three nine seven, he earns several different
ratings in the Navy Commendation Medal. While stationed at San Diego.
(05:53):
After the war ends, he boxes his way through a
series of bouts to become heavyweight Champion of the Pacific Fleet.
Is mustard out of service at the end of August
nineteen nineteen.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story
of screen star. And this is back when stars were
really big, during the Silent screen era. In American film Ironhorse,
John Ford's silent classic, well he was the star and
in many, many more john Ford movies. Only John Wayne
could make the claim that Georgie O'Brien did. Born in
(06:32):
eighteen ninety nine, lived through the San Francisco earthquake, and
what a thing as a seven year old to witness
and get through a star athlete. And when the Marines
say no during World War One, he joins the Navy instead,
and as he leaves, he's also the heavyweight Champ of
the Pacific Fleet. When we come back more of this
(06:54):
remarkable story. Georgio O'Brien's story, part of our Hollywood goes
to War series here on our American Stories, leeh Habib
(07:30):
Here as we approach our nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary,
I'd like to remind you that all the history stories
you hear on this show are brought to you by
the great folks at Hillsdale College. And Hillsdale isn't just
a great school for your kids or grandkids to attend,
but for you as well. Go to Hillsdale dot edu
to find out about their terrific free online courses. Their
series on communism is one of the finest I've ever seen. Again,
(07:53):
go to Hillsdale dot edu and sign up for their
free and terrific online courses.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And we continue with our American.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Stories and the story of actor George O'Brien, a part
of our Hollywood Goes to War series.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Let's return to Roger McGrath.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Less than a month later, he's playing football for Santa Clara,
a school founded by Jesuits in eighteen fifty one, making
it California's oldest institution of higher learning. At six feet
in a very muscular one hundred and ninety pounds, O'Brien
looks as if Phidias has sculpted him out of Marble.
(08:42):
While he excels in football, his classroom work languishes. In
high school, he had done so well in chemistry and
biology that his father thought George might one day pursue
a career in medicine. However, George now can't get himself
motivated to study. Then, at a rodeo, he meets Tom Mix,
(09:04):
Hollywood's Cowboys star. Mix asks him what he does, and
when he replies he's a student, Mix asks a student
of what, Oh, I play football for Santa Clara, says O'Brien,
But I want to be a doctor. I'm taking a
pre medical course. I've got a long way to go,
(09:26):
maybe eight years, and then I don't know. Mix knows
O'Brien served in the Navy and tells him if he
ever decides to leave school and go to work, he
should come to Hollywood and look him up. At the
end of his first year at Santa Clara, George says
goodbye to his Jesuit professors and heads to Hollywood. When
(09:53):
he arrives, he learns Mix is on location in Oklahoma,
but George finds work as an assistant cameraman at fifteen
dollars a week. Assistant means doing every grant job imaginable,
but is excited to be part of making movies and
he's learning a trade. He lives at the Hollywood YMCA,
(10:17):
sharing an eleven dollars a month room with another assistant cameraman.
He also gets additional work as a stuntman and as
an extra. However, after two years of this, he grows
discouraged and heads back home to San Francisco, where his
father is the toast of the town. As Chief of Police,
(10:39):
Dan O'Brien implements several innovative programs that not only win
widespread praise, bill also greatly improved the department and policing
in the city by the Bay. Joj O'Brien is a
natural for the SFPD, but he decides instead to go
to sea. While waiting on a wharf before boarding a
(11:01):
ship bound for Hawaii, he bumps into Hobart Bosworth, an actor,
director and producer. He knows why are the seafaring get up?
George asks, Bosworth, working on a picture, replies O'Brien, I'm
shipping for Honolulu. Hobart understands by O'Brien's dejected tone the
(11:22):
young man has given up on Hollywood, motioning to a
fight scene he's shooting for a Tale of the igh Seas.
Hobart tells George, get in there and show those birds
out of fight. O'Brien does, and then works on the
movie until it's completed three weeks later, and has given
(11:43):
a second small part in Bosworth's next movie. More movies
and bit parts follow. O'Brien is earning twenty five dollars
a day and is now known as an actor. Is
a handsome visage physique and athletic prowess get him an
audition for the lead in Ben Hurd. For a time,
(12:06):
it looks as if he might get the part. His
high hopes are dashed when the studio decides it needs
a big name actor. O'Brien is so disappointed he thinks
of returning to San Francisco and joining the police department.
He stays in Hollywood, though, and works regularly in small roles,
(12:27):
usually as a sailor or a cowboy. In nineteen twenty four,
john Ford is hired by Fox Studios to make a
Western epic to top all others, a story about the
building of the trans Continental Railroad titled The Iron Horse.
Dozens auditioned for the lead role of Davy Brandon, but
(12:51):
Ford remains unsatisfied. Fox finally sends O'Brien over for an audition.
Ford rigorously tests O'Brien in several scenes and is happy
with what he sees, especially a fight scene that has
O'Brien vaulting on to a horse after pummeling an enemy.
(13:12):
O'Brien's vault is as good as any stuntman's, but when
he hits the saddle, the cinch breaks and O'Brien hits
the ground hard nonetheless, immediately springs to his feet and
is ready for action. Ford is sold. The Iron Horse
is both a critical and commercial success, and George O'Brien
(13:35):
is suddenly a star. Ian John Ford become fast friends.
They have a lot in common. They're both Irish Catholics,
former star football players, lovers of the sea, and American patriots.
There are important differences too. Ford smokes and drinks often
to excess, and experiences periods of alcoholic depression and rage.
(14:00):
Bryan is a physical fitness buff who shuns drinking and smoking,
and because he's on screen, thinks it important to set
a good example for the youth of America. George O'Brien's
great success with John Ford in The Iron Horse means
stop directors now demand O'Brien for leading roles. From nineteen
(14:22):
twenty four through nineteen twenty eight, he stars in twenty
four movies, and in addition to John Ford, works with
such directors as Emmett Flynn, Jack Conway, Howard Hawks, Frederick Murnaut,
Alan Djaan, and Michael Kurtiz by nineteen twenty eight. In
(14:46):
nineteen twenty nine, the studios are abandoning silence for talkies
after the success of The Jazz Singer late in nineteen
twenty seven. Some stars don't have the boy to make
the transition, but George O'Brien has a voice rich in
timber and resonance, and makes the transition easily. His first
(15:10):
all sound movie is Salute, a tribute to West Point
and Annapolis and the football rivalry between the academies, directed
by John Ford. O'Brien plays west Point's star halfback. The
movie is mostly forgettable, but it does have scenes with
a couple of football players from the University of Southern California,
(15:33):
John Wayne and Ward Bond. From nineteen twenty nine through
nineteen forty O'Brien stars in nearly fifty films, mostly westerns.
When he isn't a cowboy, he's a cop, or a
soldier or a sailor. He becomes a husband in real
life in nineteen thirty three when he marries Marguerite Churchill.
(15:56):
A year later, they have their first child, Brian, ten
days after birth. A daughter, Orren, is born in nineteen
thirty five. She will become an accomplished musician and a
member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in nineteen sixty six.
A second son, Darcy, is born in nineteen thirty nine.
(16:19):
He will become an English professor and a prize winning novelist.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story
of George O'Brien. He went to Santa Clara after his
time in the Navy, spent a year playing football, and
realized pretty soon that being pre mad and being a
doctor these were someone else's dreams, not his, And.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
He goes to Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
He picks up every job he could and lives in
a ymca with a buddy, and then comes his big break,
a couple of small pictures and then working with the
then not so great but soon to be great john
Ford and what would turn out to be a classic
and a big The Iron Horse. And this is still
back when movies had no words. This is silent screen time,
(17:07):
and the stars were big. When we come back, more
of the story of George O'Brien and more of our
Hollywood Goes to War series with Roger McGrath. McGrath is
the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes Violence on the Frontier.
He's a US marine and former history professor at UCLA.
(17:28):
McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries and he's
a regular contributor for US. Here at our American Story.
When we come back, more of this remarkable story, George
O'Brien's story, part of our Hollywood Goes to War series
here on our American Stories, and we continue with our
(18:09):
American Stories and the story of George O'Brien, our continuing
series Hollywood Goes to War. Let's pick up where we
last left off with Roger McGrath.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yesterday, December seventh, nineteen forty one, a date which will
live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly
and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the
(18:53):
Empire of Japan. I regret to tell you that very
many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships
have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San
Francisco and Honolulu.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
No matter how long.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the
American people, in their righteous might, will win through to
absolute vicua. With confidence in our armed forces, with the
(19:39):
unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.
So help us God.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
When the Japanese launched their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor,
George O'Brien is forty one years old and the married
father of two children. He is also staring in movies,
including a dozen in the three years leading up to
Pearl Harbor. Moreover, O'Brien has already served the country in
World War One, So what does he do. Ten days
(20:14):
after the Japanese sneak attack, George O'Brien goes back into
the Navy. O'Brien has commissioned lieutenant and is assigned to
the San Diego Naval Base to improve physical training for recruits.
Lieutenant O'Brien implements programs in boxing, weight training, and hand
to hand combat techniques, which he partly borrows from similar
(20:37):
programs his father developed for the San Francisco Police Department.
After his training regimens are fully implemented and producing excellent results,
Lieutenant O'Brien requests a combat assignment. He's trained as a
beach maaster. A beach master is the officer responsible for
(20:59):
landing craft to the beach in a coordinated pattern to
the right location in on time. Because of all the
things that can go wrong at each step of an
amphibious operation, the task of a beachmaster is very difficult. Moreover,
a beachmaster is in the thick of the action, exposed
(21:19):
to enemy rifle, machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire. Lieutenant
O'Brien sees his first action in the Aleutian Islands in
the Battle of Attu during May nineteen forty three. A
Japanese force of three thousand men had been occupying Atu
Island since invading the island against no opposition in June
(21:43):
nineteen forty two. There were only forty alleut Indians on
the island at the time, and the Japanese took them prisoner.
The alliots were shipped off to Japan, and half of
them died in captivity. Considering the wet, windy, in frigid
weather and heavy Japanese fire, the landings on Attitude go
(22:04):
fairly well, but they are not without casualties. O'Brien himself
is wounded and also comes down with ammonia. It will
be many weeks before he is fit for duty again.
While his recovering, he learns that Chester Bennett, who directed
one of O'Brien's movies, was captured in Hong Kong by
the Japanese for eating the Chinese in their resistance. The
(22:28):
Japanese tortured Bennett and then sliced off his head with
a sword. George O'Brien, now a lieutenant commander, is back
in action as a beach master in the invasion of
Saipan in the Mariana Islands during June nineteen forty four.
The initial landings of the Marines are met by fierce
(22:50):
Japanese resistance, which includes highly accurate artillery fire. Dozens of
landing craft are hit and explode in balls of flame
before they reach the beach. O'Brien is in the thick
of the action, but this time, he comes through the
campaign without a scratch. O'Brien's next landing is at Leyte
(23:12):
Island in the Philippines in October nineteen forty four. Resistance
is relatively light and American forces land with few casualties.
By the afternoon, the Americans have established a beachhead one
mile deep and five miles wide. This enables General Douglas
MacArthur to wade ashore from a landing craft and declare,
(23:36):
people of the Philippines, I have returned, by the grace
of Almighty God. Our forces stand again on Philippines soil.
The next day, though, come a series of Japanese air
raids that make shuttling troops and supplies back and forth
from the beaches at lay tea a death the fine task.
(23:58):
O'Brien is fortune to come through unscathed. Promoted to commander,
the naval rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel, George O'Brien
becomes one of the many thousands of Americans preparing to
invade the Japanese home Islands. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in August nineteen forty five, though caused japan
(24:24):
the surrender and a monumental bloodbath is avoided. O'Brien is
with the American fleet when it sails into Tokyo Bay.
After the war, O'Brien is reduced to character roles, but
those include plain cavalry officers and two of john Ford's
(24:44):
greatest westerns, Fort Apache in nineteen forty six and she
wore a Yellow Ribbon in nineteen forty nine. I was
slowly but surely rebuilding my second career in films when
the trouble in Korea started, said O'Brien. Maybe it was
my inner sense of loyalty, but whatever it was forced
(25:04):
me to again abort my career in films and resume
the life of an officer in the Navy. O'Brien serves
in a naval intelligence unit during Korea and then later
in the nineteen fifties as a naval at a Shade
and NATO. He also helps make several films for the government,
including two that have significant relevance for today, Korea, Battleground
(25:30):
for Liberty and Taiwan Island of Freedom. George O'Brien retires
from the Navy in nineteen sixty at the rank of
captain at age sixty five. O'Brien appears in his final movie,
the John Ford directed Cheyenne Autumn in nineteen sixty four.
(25:51):
O'Brien again plays the role of a cavalry officer. O'Brien
lives for another twenty one years and dies at age
eighty six in nineteen eighty five. The Hollywood motion picture
star who appeared in eighty five movies is buried at
sea by the US Navy in a foremost ceremony off
(26:12):
San Diego as Captain George O'Brien, decorated veteran of World
War One, World War Two in Korea.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
And a terrific job on the production by Greg and
a special thanks to Roger McGrath as always for sharing
the story of those Hollywood stars who served our country
in war, and this time George O'Brien's story in My
Goodness World War One, World War Two and the Korean
War and his service in World War two possibly the
(26:45):
toughest combat zones, and My Goodness where he starts is
tough enough. The Allusians first, then the Mariana Islands, and
then lay Tea Island, easily the high point of his life.
Failing into Tokyo Bay. No acting gig could have touched that.
And of course, the call of duty comes again as
he's resurrecting his acting career one more time, this time
(27:09):
with a naval intelligence unit, serving his country once again
in the Korean War. The story of Georgia O'Brien a
remarkable story of public service and heroism.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Here on our American Stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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