Maureen O'Hara As A Latin Teacher

Director John Ford said Maureen O'Hara was the only actress able to hold her own with John Wayne. The star of The Quiet Man, Rio Grande, and The Wings Of Eagles stars in a new CBS TV movie Sunday night, The Last Dance.

O'Hara spoke with CBS News Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel about the new movie and her old movies.

"I've always tried to do the best I could do, whether it was punching John Wayne or Henry Fonda or Brian Keith or Jimmy Stewart -- all the wonderful men that I worked with," said O'Hara.

She looks back fondly on the old studio system.

"Naturally, I think that my day in the movies was the best time," said O'Hara. "We were under contract to the studios, seven-year contract, and we were paid every week. It didn't matter how many pictures we made in the year. If we made four or five movies it was the same salary. If we made one movie, it was the same salary. And if we made no movie, it was the same salary. But the studios took care of us, never let us get into situations that were bad or dangerous for us. We were treated more or less like the ballplayers are treated today."

In The Last Dance O'Hara plays a retired Latin teacher and Eric Stoltz plays her former student. She teaches him and his young family a few of life's lessons.

O'Hara was hoping that "the ball game will be over with" so that people would watch The Last Dance and "we'll be number one in our time slot again," as was the case with two previous TV movies she has appeared in. She was relieved when Bryant Gumbel told her the World Series was over.