The Quiet Man (1952)

The Quiet Man
Directed by John Ford
Written by Frank S. Nugent from the story by Maurice Walsh
1952/USA
Argosy Pictures
Repeat viewing/My DVD collection
No. 253 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Michaleen Flynn: [on seeing the broken bed] Impetuous! Homeric!

It gets harder with every year that passes to put the dubious sexual politics aside, but if you can this is still a very romantic and enjoyable film.

Sean Thornton (John Wayne) was born in Ireland and left as a very young child.  After he retires from boxing, having killed an opponent in the ring, he returns to his ancestral village of Inisfree.  He manages to buy his parents’ old cottage from the widow (Mildred Natwick) who owns it, thus beginning a war of sorts with “Red” Will Danaher (Victor McLaughlin) who has been trying to acquire it and the widow for years.  Of course, immediately thereafter Sean falls in love at first sight with Danaher’s fiery sister Mary Kate (Maureen O’Hara).

Danaher is naturally against any match between Sean and his sister but is tricked into relenting with a false promise that the widow will surrender as soon as he gets his sister out of his house.  Sean engages pixie local character Michaleen Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald) to fill the traditional role of chaperone and matchmaker.  The courtship doesn’t last long as the passion between these two won’t wait.  They are married shortly thereafter.

When Danaher discovers he has been had, he retaliates by refusing to give Mary Kate the money and furniture that is her inheritance.  Sean doesn’t care about the money but Mary Kate cannot rest until she has what is hers.  She refuses to sleep with him until he wins it for her. The cultural gap is wide.  He thinks her acquisitive and she believes he is a coward for not fighting her brother.  The rest of the film is devoted to the resolution of this issue, ending with a grand donnybrook.  With most of Ford’s stock company including Arthur Shields and Ward Bond as the local pastor and priest and a host of Irish supporting players.

The plot is relatively simple, allowing Ford to concentrate on presenting the most romantic possible vision of Ireland.   It’s a pity that the friction between Sean and Mary Kate is solved by returning to gender role stereotypes but it is all handled in a fairly light and amusing way.  Wayne and O’Hara have a powerful chemistry and she may never have been more beautiful.  I’ve seen this film many times and it never grows old.  I suppose that’s what makes a classic.

The Quiet Man won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography, Color. It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role (McLaughlin); Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; and Best Sound, Recording.

Trailer

Irish actor Gabriel Byrne on The Quiet Man – he says this is a feminist film??!!