The Quiet Man

Sean and Mary Kate

In the 1920s, Sean Thornton (John Wayne), an Irish-born American from Pittsburgh, travels to his birthplace—"Inisfree", Ireland—to purchase his family's former farm.[6] Shortly after arriving in Inisfree, he meets and falls in love with the fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), the sister of a bullying but prosperous landowner, Squire "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen). Will also wants to buy the Thornton family's old cottage and land, and he is angered when the property's current owner, the Widow Tillane (Mildred Natwick), accepts Sean's bid instead of his offer. Will then retaliates by refusing consent for his sister to marry. Soon some village residents — including Father Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond) and local matchmaker-cum-bookmaker Michaeleen Óge Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald) — conspire to trick him into believing that the wealthy Widow Tillane wants to marry him, but only if Mary Kate is no longer living in his household.[7] Will now allows Mary Kate to marry Sean; however, at their wedding he realizes he was deceived about the widow's willingness to marry him. He therefore refuses to give his sister her dowry, which consists of 350 Irish pounds in gold, as well as family furniture and other heirlooms Mary Kate inherited from her mother and grandmother.

Sean, unschooled in Irish customs, professes no interest in obtaining the dowry; but to Mary Kate the dowry represents her sense of personal value not only within her family's own history but within the surrounding community as well. She insists that the dowry is hers and must be received to validate their marriage. Angered and shamed by Sean's refusal to confront her brother and demand what is legally hers, she brands him a coward; and, despite living together, they are estranged as husband and wife. Yet, the morning after their wedding, villagers arrive at the couple's cottage with Mary Kate's furniture. The men inform her and Sean that they persuaded Will to release the material portion of the dowry, but they could not convince him to pay the dowry money.

Sean's quiet manner and reluctance to fight for his new wife's dowry are attributed to a tragedy he experienced prior to his return to Ireland. Portrayed in a flashback earlier in the film, scenes depict the event, which occurred during his career as a professional heavyweight boxer in the United States. While fighting as "Trooper Thorn", he accidentally killed an opponent in the ring. Devastated by the death, Sean quit the sport, vowing never to fight again. In Inisfree only one person—the Reverend Cyril Playfair (Arthur Shields)—is aware of Sean's former career and the tragedy. The minister many years earlier had been a lightweight boxing champion himself, so he maintains a scrapbook of news articles about the sport. He therefore relates to Thornton's grief and internal conflict regarding the fatal fight.

Scene from the film

Early the next morning, in an attempt to force her new husband to confront her brother, Mary Kate quietly leaves their cottage to board a train departing Castletown for Dublin. Sean soon learns from Michaeleen that she has gone to the station, where Thornton finds her and drags her off the train. Followed by a crowd of villagers, he forces her to walk with him the five miles back to the Danaher farm. There Sean confronts Will and demands the dowry money. When he refuses to give it to him, Sean throws Mary Kate back at her brother, declaring "no fortune, no marriage" is their custom, not his. The ultimatum shocks both Mary Kate and Will, who finally pays the 350 pounds, tossing the cash onto the ground. Sean promptly picks up the money and throws it into the fire of a nearby boiler. Mary Kate assists him by opening the boiler's door, an act that shows she never really cared about the money itself, only about what it represents. As the reconciled couple starts to depart for home, Will tries to punch Sean but is knocked down by a counterpunch from his brother-in-law.

A long fistfight ensues between the two men, a battle that attracts more and more spectators as they slug it out across the countryside and into the village. The fighters finally pause for a drink inside Cohan's Bar, where they begrudgingly admit a mutual respect for one another. After arguing over who is to pay for the drinks, Sean ends the fight by hitting Will so hard that he falls back, crashes through the bar's front door, and ends up lying unconscious in the street. Later, with their rift apparently healed, the men get drunk and then together stagger back to Sean and Mary Kate's home for supper.

As part of the story's conclusion, Will and the Widow Tillane begin their own courtship and are shown riding out of the village side by side in a jaunting car carriage driven by Michaeleen. Then, in the film's final scene, Mary Kate and Sean are standing together at the stream by their cottage, smiling and waving at Michaeleen's cart. Mary Kate then whispers something to Sean, prompting a surprised look. Leading the way, she encourages Sean to chase her to their cottage. When he catches her they embrace, then playfully march on arm in arm.

The film was something of a departure for Wayne and Ford, who were both known mostly for Westerns and other action-oriented films. It was also a departure for Republic Pictures, which backed Ford in what was considered a risky venture at the time. It was the only time the studio, known for low budget B-movies, released a film that would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

Ford read the story in 1933 and soon purchased the rights to it for $10. The story's author was paid another $2,500 when Republic bought the idea, and he received a final payment of $3,750 when the film was actually made.[8] Republic Pictures agreed to finance the film with O'Hara and Wayne starring and Ford directing, but only if all three agreed to first film a Western with Republic. They did, and after completing Rio Grande, they headed for Ireland to start shooting.

One of the conditions that Republic placed on Ford was that the film run under two hours. However, the finished picture was two hours and nine minutes. When screening the film for Republic executives, Ford stopped the film at approximately two hours in, on the verge of the climactic fistfight. Republic executives relented and allowed the film to run its full length.[9] 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 it is one of the few Hollywood movies in which the Irish language can be heard. Filming commenced on June 7, 1951. All of the outdoor scenes were shot on location in Ireland in County Mayo and County Galway. The inside scenes were filmed toward the end of July at the Republic Studios in Hollywood. Vawn Corrigan reports that Ford made considerable efforts to get the costumes correct for the period with Ó’Maille – The Original House of Style in Galway tasked with sourcing the costumes.[10]

"The Quiet Man Bridge"

The story is set in the fictional community of Inisfree. This is not the same as the Lake Isle of Innisfree, a place in Lough Gill on the Sligo–Leitrim border made famous by poet William Butler Yeats, which is a tiny island. Many scenes for the film were actually shot in and around the village of Cong, County Mayo, 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. In 2008, a pub opened in the building used as the pub in the film (it had actually been a shop at the time when the movie was shot); the pub hosts daily re-runs of the film on DVD.[11] The Quiet Man Fan Club holds its annual general meeting in Ashford Castle. Other locations in the film include Thoor Ballylee, Co. Galway, home of poet W.B. Yeats for a period, Ballyglunin railway station near Tuam Co. Galway, which was filmed as Castletown station, and various places in Connemara Co. Galway and Co. Mayo. Among those are Lettergesh beach, where the horse race scene was filmed,[12] "The Quiet Man Bridge", signposted off the N59 road between Maam Cross and Oughterard[13] and the "White O'Morn" cottage. The latter is located on R336 south of Maam, but long ago fell into ruin.[14]

The film also presents Ford's depiction of an idealized Irish society, with only implied social divisions based on class and differences in political or religious affiliations. The Catholic priest, Father Lonergan, and the Protestant minister, Reverend Playfair, maintain a strong friendly relationship throughout the film, which represented the norm in what was then the Irish Free State, where religious tensions occurred in the 1930s but were the norm only in Northern Ireland. One of the allusions to Anglo-Irish animosity occurs after the happy couple is married and a congratulatory toast offered by Hugh Forbes expresses the wish that they live in "national freedom" (the term national has been censored from most editions)[12] and before the final donnybrook when Thornton demands his wife's dowry from Danaher. Danaher asks Hugh Forbes, who had been commander of the local Irish Republican Army unit during the fight to expel the British, "So the IRA is in this too, ah", to which Forbes replies, "If it were, not a scorched stone of your fine house would be standing."

In 1952 A. H. Weiler of The New York Times viewed the film "as darlin' a picture as we've seen this year," with "dialogue that is as tuneful as a lark's song."[17] In another contemporary review, the entertainment trade paper Variety called the picture "beautifully filmed" and wrote that "Wayne works well under Ford's direction," but found the 129-minute running time "unnecessary."[18] Harrison's Reports described the film as "a delightful and rollicking comedy melodrama of Irish life, directed with skill and acted with gusto by a fine cast."[19] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post declared it "a complete jim-dandy ... The photography is glorious and Victor Young's score, inspired by folk airs, is a complete joy for an exuberant, vigorous picture."[20] Philip Hamburger of The New Yorker was not so taken with the film, writing, "If am to believe what I saw in John Ford's sentimental new film, 'The Quiet Man,' practically everybody in Ireland is just as cute as a button," adding, "Mr. Ford's scenes of the Irish countryside are often breathtaking ... but the master who made 'The Informer' appears to have fallen into a vat of treacle."[21]

On the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, The Quiet Man in 2019 has a 90% approval rating based on reviews from 41 critics. Critical consensus on the website states, "Director John Ford and star John Wayne depart the Western for the Irish countryside, and the result is a beautifully photographed, often comedic romance."[22]

The film was also a financial success, grossing $3.8 million in its first year of release. This was among the top ten grosses of the year.[23] It was also the seventh most popular film for British audiences in 1952.[24]

It was first released on DVD December 14, 1998 by Artisan Home Entertainment. It was also released 4 years later on a Collector's edition DVD on October 22, 2002 by Artisan. The Special features on this edition include "The Making of the Quiet Man" Documentary with Leonard Maltin, and "The Joy of Ireland" Documentary with Maureen O'Hara and Andrew V. McLaglen, and "Remembering The Quiet Man Montage".

On January 22, 2013 Olive Films released The Quiet Man on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray, as a 60th Anniversary Special edition. It included the documentary "The Making of the Quiet Man" with Leonard Maltin.

In 2010 there was a documentary called Dreaming The Quiet Man made about the journey and making of The Quiet Man. It was narrated by Gabriel Byrne, and had interviews with Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Charles F. Fitzsimons, and Maureen O'Hara. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on March 24, 2015.

• John Wayne filmography
• Marquess of Queensberry rules of boxing
• Innisfree, a 1990 Spanish documentary film about the making of The Quiet Man
• Jaunting car, the horse-drawn vehicle owned by Michaeleen Oge Flynn that is first seen delivering Sean to Innisfree at the beginning of the film. Michaleen is seen using it throughout the film as his main mode of transport and it is in the amusing courting scenes that it plays a greater role.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Quiet Man.

• The Quiet Man on IMDb
• The Quiet Man at the TCM Movie Database
• The Quiet Man at AllMovie
• The Quiet Man at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Quiet Man on Rotten Tomatoes
• The Quiet Man at Filmsite.org
• Quiet Man Movie Club
• The Quiet Man at Reel Classics
• The Quiet Man Cottage museum in Cong
• William C. Dowling, "John Ford's Festive Comedy: Ireland Imagined in The Quiet Man"
• Dick Farrelly, songwriter: Lyrics
• A Quiet Man Miscellany Cork University Press
• Dick Farrelly and 'The Isle of Innisfree'
• The Quiet Man essay by Scott Allen Nollen at National Film Registry