The Quiet Man (1952)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)
Maurice Walsh (from a story by)

Release Date:

14 September 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Action...Excitement...Romance...Fill the Screen !

Plot:

A disgraced American boxer retires to Ireland, where he finds love.

Plot Keywords:

Ireland | Beautiful Woman | Sheep | 1930s | Bishop

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

John Wayne	...	Sean Thornton
Maureen O'Hara	...	Mary Kate Danaher
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Michaleen Oge Flynn
Ward Bond	...	Father Peter Lonergan
Victor McLaglen	...	Squire 'Red' Will Danaher
Mildred Natwick	...	The Widow Sarah Tillane
Francis Ford	...	Dan Tobin
Eileen Crowe	...	Mrs. Elizabeth Playfair
May Craig	...	Fishwoman with Basket at Station
Arthur Shields	...	Reverend Cyril Playfair
Charles B. Fitzsimons	...	Hugh Forbes (as Charles FitzSimons)
James O'Hara	...	Father Paul (as James Lilburn)
Sean McClory	...	Owen Glynn (as Sean McGlory)
Jack MacGowran	...	Ignatius Feeney (as Jack McGowran)
Joseph O'Dea	...	Molouney - Train Guard

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Irish Gaelic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (f) | Norway:A (1954) | South Korea:All | Australia:PG | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #15529)

Filming Locations:

Ashford Castle, County Mayo, Ireland

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

Barry Fitzgerald, who plays the character of the Roman Catholic Michaleen Oge Flynn, and Arthur Shields, who played the Protestant vicar Cyril 'Snuffy' Playfair, were brothers in real life. They also appeared together in director John Ford's The Long Voyage Home (1940). They were both Protestants born in Dublin, Ireland. Shields was the family name. The Oscar-winner Fitzgerald, who was nearly eight years older than his brother, was born William Joseph Shields.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the fight, the last time Sean gets the bucket of water thrown on him, we hear him say, "Thanks," but his lips never move.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Father Peter Lonergan, Narrator: Well, then. Now. I'll begin at the beginnin'. A fine soft day in the spring, it was, when the train pulled into Castletown, three hours late as usual, and himself got off. He didn't have the look of an American tourist at all about him. Not a camera on him; what was worse, not even a fishin' rod.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Runaway: A Road Adventure (2002) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Rising of the Moon

A Stick To Beat the Lovely Lady

The filming of The Quiet Man was the culmination of a dream by John Ford to make an Irish picture in Ireland. He bought the rights to the story over a decade before and peddled it to every studio in Hollywood and was turned down.

He went to Republic Pictures partly because John Wayne was just winding down his contract with them and he wouldn't have to pay him extra, and partly because Herbert J. Yates's small studio was the last stop. Ford got the permission for The Quiet Man on the condition he do a sure fire moneymaking John Wayne cavalry picture first. So Ford, Wayne, and Maureen O'Hara did Rio Grande first before setting out for Ireland.

In her recent memoirs O'Hara said that this was her role of a lifetime, she knew it would be before one frame of film was shot. She'd been playing in a load of ridiculous Hollywood drivel films as a redheaded Bedouin princess and she did them essentially for the money. This one was to be a labor of love.

Love yes, but a labor nonetheless. John Ford was a talented, but strange man to work for. He could be a bully and a tyrant on any set he was on. She was grateful to him for the career making roles she got with him, but recognized his faults. She relates in her memoirs that Ford used his influence to knock her out of an Oscar Nomination for Mary Kate Danaher in 1952 over some trivial offense Ford thought O'Hara committed and took umbrage.

It was a family affair for Wayne of sorts as well. His kids came to Ireland with him and you can see them at the horse racing scene as extras. Young Patrick Wayne spoke his first movie lines. He also had with him his second wife, Esperanza Baur who was not his kid's mom. She was a tempestuous sort and they would soon part in a very ugly divorce.

Sean Thornton who was born in Innisfree, but went to America as a toddler, has come back to his native Ireland after making a name for himself as a prizefighter and killing a man in the ring. He and Maureen O'Hara have an instant attraction for each other. However Wayne does run afoul of her bully of a brother, Squire Will Danaher played by Ford regular Victor McLaglen.

Wayne and O'Hara marry, but McLaglen won't turn over the bride's dowry. And Wayne won't contest him for it.

So with a little help from The Taming of the Shrew and a bit of Falstaff thrown in, things are put right in Innisfree. More I won't say.

As in all of John Ford's films and this is one of the best, he got some grand performances from some of the most minute characters in the film. Some of his regulars like Ward Bond, Mildred Natwick, Ken Curtis, Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields with the rest of the roles played by Dublin's acclaimed Abbey Theatre players. One of my favorites is Jack McGowran who played Feeney, Squire Danaher's little toady factotum.

The music was arranged by Victor Young who did a grand job of using traditional Irish melodies in the score. One song, The Isle of Innisfree was recorded by Bing Crosby for Decca and sold a few platters for him the year The Quiet Man came out.

The Quiet Man is an annual classic for St. Patrick's Day, the same way It's A Wonderful Life is for Christmas. At least in America it is. I've wondered if it is as well received in Ireland as it is here. I think John Ford, the former Sean O'Fearna, was hoping it would turn out that way.

Mr. Ford, you got your wish.