The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man
original film poster
Directed by	John Ford
Produced by	Merian C. Cooper
Written by	Maurice Walsh Frank S. Nugent Richard Llewellyn
Starring	John Wayne Maureen O'Hara Barry Fitzgerald Ward Bond Victor McLaglen
Music by	Victor Young
Cinematography	Winton C. Hoch, ASC Archie Stout, ASC
Editing by	Jack Murray
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date(s)	21 July 1952 (UK) August (Venice Film Fest.) 14 August (US)
Running time	129 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Quiet Man is a 1952 American film starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, and Barry Fitzgerald, and directed by John Ford. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh. The film is notable for its lush photography of the Irish countryside and the long, climactic, semi-comic fist fight between Wayne and McLaglen.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Academy Awards
5 Public reception
6 External links

Plot

Sean Thornton (John Wayne), an Irish-American from Pittsburgh, returns to Ireland to reclaim his family's farm. He meets and falls in love with the fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), sister of the bullying, loud-mouthed landowner "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen). Danaher at first refuses to sanction the marriage until he is tricked into believing that a wealthy widow will not marry him unless Mary Kate leaves the house. After learning the truth on their wedding day, an enraged Will refuses to give his sister the full dowry to which she is entitled.

Sean couldn't care less, but Mary Kate is obsessed with obtaining her dowry. Enraged at Sean's reluctance to confront her brother, she regards him as a sniveling coward. The truth, however, is known only to one other person in the village, the Church of Ireland minister "Snuffy" Playfair (Arthur Shields). Sean was once a famous boxer in the United States under the name of "Trooper Thorn." After killing an opponent in the ring, he hung up his gloves and vowed never to fight again.

Later, in an attempt to force Sean to stand up to Red, Mary Kate leaves him and boards a train out of the village. Infuriated, Sean drags her off the train and demands her dowry from Red. To Red's horror, Mary Kate and Sean then throw the money into a furnace. Sean and Will slug it out through the village and then become the best of friends. Sean has regained Mary Kate's love and respect, and all is well.

Cast

John Wayne as Sean Thornton
Maureen O'Hara as Mary Kate Danaher
Barry Fitzgerald as Michaleen Oge Flynn
Victor McLaglen as Squire "Red" Will Danaher
Ward Bond as Father Peter Lonergan
Mildred Natwick as The Widow Sarah Tillane
Francis Ford as Dan Tobin
Arthur Shields as Rev. Cyril "Snuffy" Playfair
Eileen Crowe as Mrs. Elizabeth Playfair
Charles FitzSimons as Hugh Forbes
James Fitzsimons as Father Paul

Cast notes:

Charles Fitzsimons and James Fitzsimons were Maureen O'Hara's real life younger brothers. In this film, James was billed as James Lilburn, though he was later better known as James O'Hara. Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields were also brothers in real life, and Francis Ford was John Ford's older brother.

Production

The film was something of a departure for Wayne and Ford, who were both known mostly for their Westerns. It was also a departure for Republic Pictures, which was given the chance to back Ford in what was considered a risky venture at the time. It was the first time the studio, known for low budget B-movies, put out a film receiving an Oscar nomination, the only Best Picture nomination the studio would ever receive.

Ford read the story in 1933, and soon purchased the story for $10. It took over 12 years for the film to be financed and made. Small Republic Pictures agreed to finance the film with O'Hara and Wayne with Ford directing, only if all three agreed to film a western with Republic. All three agreed and after filming Rio Grande they all left for Ireland to start shooting. John Wayne would eventually describe the movie as the favourite of his long career.

One of the conditions that Republic Pictures placed on John Ford was that the film came in at under two hours total running time. The finished picture was two hours and fifteen minutes long. When screening the film for Republic Studio executives, Ford stopped the film at approximately two hours in: on the verge of the climactic fight between Wayne and McLaglen. Republic executives relented and allowed the film to run its full length. It was one of the few films that Republic filmed in Technicolor; most of the studio's other color films were made in a more economical process known as Trucolor.

The film employed many actors from the Irish theatre, including Barry Fitzgerald's brother Arthur Shields, as well as extras from the Irish countryside and is one of the few Hollywood movies in which spoken Irish can be heard.

The story is set on Innisfree, an island in Lough Gill, County Sligo. Many scenes for the film were actually shot in and around the village of Cong, County Mayo and on the grounds of Cong's Ashford Castle. Cong is now a wealthy small town and the castle a 5-star luxury hotel. The connections with the film have led to the area becoming a tourist attraction.

The film also presents John Ford's depiction of an idealized Irish society, with Catholics and Protestants living in harmony, and no divisions based on class or religion. The Catholic priest Father Paul and the Protestant Rev. Playfair have a strong friendly relationship through the film.

Academy Awards

Award	Person
Best Director	John Ford
Best Cinematography	Winton C. Hoch Archie Stout
Nominated:
Best Picture	John Ford Merian C. Cooper
Best Supporting Actor	Victor McLaglen
Best Art Direction	Frank Hotaling John McCarthy Jr. Charles S. Thompson
Best Sound	Daniel J. Bloomberg (Republic Sound Department)
Best Adapted Screenplay	Frank S. Nugent

Public reception

The film was a financial success and inspired the 1961 Broadway musical Donnybrook!.

The famous kissing scene between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is shown in E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982), when E.T. watches television. E.T. is interested and moved by the scene and through telepathic contact he makes Elliott recreate it at his school.

External links

The Quiet Man at the Internet Movie Database
The Quiet Man at the TCM Movie Database
The Quiet Man at Allmovie
The Quiet Man on Rotten Tomatoes
The Quiet Man at Filmsite.org
The Quiet Man at Reel Classics
The Quiet Man Cottage museum in Cong
Dowling, William C., John Ford's Festive Comedy: Ireland Imagined in The Quiet Man
Dick Farrelly, songwriter: Lyrics

v • d • e The films of John Ford

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1920s	The Prince of Avenue A • The Girl in Number 29 • Hitchin' Posts • Just Pals • The Big Punch • The Freeze-Out • The Wallop • Desperate Trails • Action • Sure Fire • Jackie • Little Miss Smiles • Silver Wings (with Edwin Carewe) • The Village Blacksmith • The Face on the Bar-Room Floor • Three Jumps Ahead • Cameo Kirby • North of Hudson Bay • Hoodman Blind • Hearts of Oak • Lightnin' • Kentucky Pride • Thank You • The Fighting Heart • The Shamrock Handicap • 3 Bad Men • Upstream • Four Sons • Napoleon's Barber • Strong Boy • The Black Watch

1930s	Men Without Women • Born Reckless • Up the River • Seas Beneath • The Brat • Arrowsmith • Airmail • Pilgrimage • Doctor Bull • The Lost Patrol • The World Moves On • Judge Priest • The Whole Town's Talking • The Informer • Steamboat Round the Bend • The Prisoner of Shark Island • Mary of Scotland • The Plough and the Stars • Wee Willie Winkie • The Hurricane • Four Men and a Prayer • Submarine Patrol • Stagecoach • Young Mr. Lincoln • Drums Along the Mohawk

1940s	The Grapes of Wrath • The Long Voyage Home • Tobacco Road • How Green Was My Valley • They Were Expendable • My Darling Clementine • The Fugitive • Fort Apache • 3 Godfathers • Pinky • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

1950s	When Willie Comes Marching Home • Wagon Master • Rio Grande • The Quiet Man • What Price Glory? • The Sun Shines Bright • Mogambo • The Long Gray Line • Mister Roberts (with Mervyn LeRoy) • The Searchers • The Wings of Eagles • The Rising of the Moon • Gideon's Day • The Last Hurrah • The Horse Soldiers

1960s	Sergeant Rutledge • Two Rode Together • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance • How the West Was Won (with Henry Hathaway and George Marshall) • Donovan's Reef • Cheyenne Autumn • 7 Women

Television	"Fireside Theatre" (1949) • The Bamboo Cross (1955) • "Screen Directors Playhouse" (1955) • "Wagon Train" (1957-1965)

Productions	The Iron Horse (1924) • The Blue Eagle (1926) • Mother Machree (1928) • Hangman's House (1928) • Riley the Cop (1928) • Salute (1929) • Flesh (1932) • The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) • Young Cassidy (1965)

Documentaries	Torpedo Squadron • Sex Hygiene (1942) • The Battle of Midway (1942) • December 7th (1943) • We Sail at Midnight (1943) • This Is Korea! (1951) • Korea (1959) • Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend (1976)

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