Trivia for
The Quiet Man (1952) More at IMDbPro »

• 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.
  
  
• Cohan's Pub in the movie was, in reality, a grocery store, but due to the film's popularity, they never bothered to remove the facade used in the film. As of September 2003, the shop is no longer a grocery store but strictly a souvenir shop specializing in Quiet Man keepsakes. The original owner is still proprietor and is willing to share memories of the filming of the movie.
  
  
• A replica of the famous thatched cottage in the movie is located at Maam Cross, County Galway, in the west of Ireland.
  
  
• When the film was first screened in Boston, Mass., Michaleen Flynn's line on seeing the broken bed, "Impetuous! Homeric!", was censored.
  
  
• The famous fight scene was shot in the grounds of Ashford Castle, Cong, County Mayo. The stunt in which John Wayne punches Victor McLaglen into the river was performed by director John Ford's son, Patrick Ford (doubling for Victor McLaglen).
  
  
• The horse racing sequence was shot at Lettergesh beach, Connemara, on the west coast of Ireland.
  
  
• At the film's conclusion, after the credits, we see Kate and Sean standing in their garden waving good-bye. Maureen O'Hara turns to John Wayne and whispers something in his ear, evoking a priceless reaction from Wayne. What was said was known only to O'Hara, Wayne and director John Ford. In exchange for saying this unscripted bit of text, O'Hara insisted that the exact line never be disclosed by any involved parties. In her memoirs she says that she refused to say the line at first as she 'couldn't possibly say that to Duke' but Ford insisted, claiming he needed a genuine shock reaction from Wayne. The line remains a mystery to this day.
  
  
• When Sean and Mary Kate take their wagon into town a store called "Emily O'Connor" can be seen in the background. This is actually a crafts store and is still in business to this day.
  
  
• This was a significant departure for Republic Pictures, who were more used to producing Westerns and war movies on low budgets. It was their first and only film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
  
  
• John Ford first read the story in 1933 and purchased the film rights for a mere $10. It took him another 12 years to actually drum up enough financing, and another 10 years to get the film made.
  
  
• This is one of the few Hollywood movies in which you can hear spoken Irish.
  
  
• The last line of the wedding toast was censored by Republic Pictures. It should have said "May their days be long and full of happiness. May their children be many and full of health. And may they live in peace and national freedom". After the movie was done, the executives at Republic Pictures decided "national freedom" in Ireland was too controversial a concept.
  
  
• Green, the national color of Ireland, can be seen somewhere in every shot in this film, but not on any of the actors' costumes except for Maureen O'Hara green floral dress in the cemetery scene. .
  
  
• Whenever Sean Thornton lights up a cigarette, he takes exactly two puffs before pitching it away.
  
  
• Film editor Jack Murray wept when he began editing the film. He said that John Ford was such a master of his craft that the film required nothing from him as an editor other than sticking the bits of film together. He said Ford had cut the film in the camera - not a frame was wasted or needed to be removed.
  
  
• On the DVD commentary Maureen O'Hara dispels many myths about the film including one about a lack of accommodations for the crew in Ireland. According to O'Hara, the production spent six weeks shooting the exteriors in Ireland and filmed the interiors on sound stages in L.A.
  
  
• According to an interview in the Los Angeles Times on October 28, 2000, Maureen O'Hara recounted that she, John Ford and John Wayne made a handshake agreement in 1944 to do the film. When John Ford pitched the idea to Hollywood producers, he was told that it was a "silly Irish story that won't make a penny." Wayne had a contract with Republic Pictures and approached Republic studio chief Herbert J. Yates ("...a step down for John Ford," he says), he was told that the script was a silly Irish tale that would make no money. However, Yates would relent if Wayne, Ford and O'Hara together would make a western for Republic, a sure money-maker that would pay for Republic's projected loss in producing this picture. The picture that was made as a result of the agreement was Rio Grande (1950).
  
  
• During the scene where John Wayne first kisses Maureen O'Hara, she slaps his face. When he blocked the blow, she broke a bone in her hand. Since the movie was being filmed in sequential order, she couldn't wear a cast to fix the broken bone.
  
  
• The station used in the opening sequence and during the scene where John Wayne slams the train doors looking for Maureen O'Hara later in the film is Ballyglunin Station, south of the town of Tuam, County Galway. It looks the same today as it did in 1951, when the film was shot with the only major difference being the bridge which crosses the railway tracks is now gone. This bridge was moved to Ballinasloe station, East Galway where it still stands today, after Ballyglunin closed down as a main line.
  
  
• John Wayne and John Ford decided to play a trick on Maureen O'Hara during filming. They chose the sequence where Wayne drags O'Hara across the town and through the fields. Before shooting the scene, Wayne and Ford kicked all of the sheep dung they could find onto the hill where O'Hara was to be dragged, face-down, on her stomach. O'Hara saw them doing it; with the help of several friends, she kicked it off, only to have Wayne and Ford kick it back on. O'Hara and her friends kicked it off again, and Wayne and Ford kicked it back. This went on and on until right before the scene was shot, when Wayne and Ford got in the last kick. According to O'Hara, "Duke had the time of his life dragging me through it. It was bloody awful. After the scene was over, Mr. Ford had given instructions that I was not to be brought a bucket of water or a towel. He made me keep it on for the rest of the day. I was mad as hell, but I had to laugh too. Isn't showbiz glamorous?"
  
  
• Maureen O'Hara did her own singing.
  
  
• Charles B. Fitzsimons (Hugh Forbes) and James O'Hara (Father Paul) were the real life younger brothers of Maureen O'Hara (Mary Kate Danaher).
  
  
• Although made in 1952, is was Republic's first production to be shot outside the United States.
  
  
• The white haired frail Dan Tobin, who gets up from his death bed and runs to see the fight is John Ford's older brother, Francis Ford. Francis was a silent film actor and director in his own right, who died one year after the film was made.
  
  
• Cohan's Pub in The Quiet Man was actually a grocery store in Cong, County Mayo. It later became a souvenir shop, and was recently turned into a real Irish pub. It was officially opened on 17th September 2008 by Tara MacGowran, daughter of Jack MacGowran, who played Ignatius Feeney in the movie.
  
  
• While all other saddled horses are seen with English saddles (as would be expected in Ireland during that time period), Sean's (John Wayne's) horse is saddled with a US Army-issue McClellan cavalry saddle.
  
  
• From the opening credits "John Ford and Merian C. Cooper's Argosy Production," both were given producer credits. They are not otherwise mentioned as producers.
  
  
• James O'Hara's first film.
  
  

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