The Quiet Man

Plot synopsis:
An American, Sean Thornton (John Wayne), arrives in Ireland and plans to settle in Innisfree, where he was born. On the way to Innisfree with Michaeleen Oge Flynn (Barry Fitzerald), Sean spots a redheaded woman moving a flock through the fields. He becomes interested in this unknown woman, and greets her at the church entrance the next day, where he learns her name - Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), a redhead with a temper to match.Sean wants to buy the ancestral Thornton cottage from well-to-do widow, Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick), and finds himself in a squabble with "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen), a neighbor and would-be suitor of the Widow Tillane. Mrs. Tillane, angered by Danaher's presumptuous attitude and bragging at the local pub, sells the land to Thornton. When Sean goes to claim the cottage, he finds Mary Kate there, cleaning it as a good Christian act. Thornton easily fits into Innisfree, earning a reputation as a quiet, peace-loving man. Danaher, however, holds a grudge. When Thornton arranges to court Danaher's sister, Mary Kate, the real fun begins. Thornton learns that Ireland's quaint charm includes some old-fashioned rules of courtship. He needs Squire Danaher's consent to marry Mary Kate, since their father is deceased. He and the local shaughraun (matchmaker), Michaleen Flynn, pay a formal visit to Danaher to ask for Mary Kate's hand. Danaher refuses and orders the two men out of his house. Sean and Mary Kate are devastated. Sean is puzzled by social rules that seem archaic to him, and takes out his frustrations by seemingly reckless cross country rides. Concerned, Thornton's newfound friends - Flynn, Reverend Playfair (Arthur Shields), and Father Lonergan (Ward Bond) - concoct a plot to trick Danaher into consenting to the marriage. They lead Danaher to believe Sean is courting the widow Tillane, who will have nothing to do with Danaher until Mary Kate is married off and out of the house. Danaher agrees to the courtship when Thornton wins the local cross country race, claiming the Widow's bonnet as his trophy.The Thornton/Danaher courtship quickly skips a few months of steps and soon turns into a wedding, but Squire Danaher, furious upon learning (at the reception) that he has been duped, reneges on Mary Kate's promised dowry of 350 pounds (Irish Currency). The money is a trifle to Sean Thornton, who has learned for himself that money isn't worth fighting for, and refuses to "shame" himself by begging for it. Mary Kate perceives Sean's lack of action as cowardice, and refuses her new groom his marital privileges. Tension builds in Innisfree, a highly sporting community, as the townspeople hope for a fight between Thornton and Danaher. However, Thornton refuses to fight. He suffers the guilt of a terrible secret concerning his last prize fight, which only the Reverend Playfair knows.As tensions grow, Father Lonergan counsels Mary Kate about her duties as a married woman, as Reverend Playfair councils Sean about what the dowry means to his wife. Although Mary Kate acquiesces, she feels that the dowerless marriage is improper and leaves Sean. To Sean, this is the last straw. He goes to the train station, literally drags his wife back to Squire Danaher's farm, collecting a very large crowd along the way, as the neighboring towns realize that Sean is about to confront Will Danaher and demands Mary Kate's dowry. Danaher refuses to pay the dowry, so Sean calls off the marriage - claiming that the dowry is their custom, not his. Shamed in front of the whole county, Danaher gives up the dowry (350 pounds cash). To further prove a point Sean stalks over to the nearby threshing furnace, where Mary Kate open the door for Sean to throw the money into the fire. This infuriates Danaher and he takes a swing at Sean, who defends himself. Mary Kate sees that her husband is willing to fight and heads home to cook dinner.For the rest of nearby residents of Innesfree, farmhands, the train engineers and passengers who've stayed for the event, the long awaited fight breaks out - starting at Danaher's farm and heading into Innesfree. During this Sean learns Danaher is, indeed, a worthy opponent. Many a side bets are laid - including Reverend Playfair, the visiting Bishop, and the local constabulary. By the end, the two men respect each other and have become fast (if drunken) friends. After the fight, the town gathers together to also help save Reverend Playfair's job and Will Danaher starts formally courting the Widow Tellane.

Tags: violence, romantic, flashback

Review:
More appropriately "They CAN'T make a movie like this anymore" applies to "The Quiet Man".John Ford directed John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in a number of classic unforgettable Westerns with a familiar supporting cast including Ward Bond, Victor McLaughlin, Mildred Natwick and other pros.
"The Quiet Man" moves these familiar icons from the post Civil War American West to the post World War II rural Ireland.You don't have to be Irish to appreciate the visual beauty of the Irish countryside and villages or the beauty of Maureen O'Hara, but your appreciation of the story is enhanced if you know something about the unique Irish culture.Ireland and America have been tightly bonded from the earliest Colonial Days of America and are permanently intertwined since the Potato Famine of the 1840's sent tens of millions of immigrants to populate the vast U.S.John Ford perfectly casts John Wayne as the Irish born, U.S. raised troubled ex-boxer returning to his birthplace and Maureen O'Hara as the Irish beauty .
The story plays like most John Ford/John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara movies as one step larger than life.It's clear that everyone appearing in this movie LOVES being in the movie.
The filming of The Quiet Man was the culmination of a dream by John Ford to make an Irish picture in Ireland.
It's not only the fact that I'm actually from County Mayo in Ireland where most of the outdoor scenes from The Quiet Man were filmed in the summer of 1951, that makes it my favorite movie of all time.
Steven Spielburg most famously gives the cottage kissing scene the nod in "ET" and it was said of the "Wet shirt" Graveyard kissing scene in the rain that, during the many takes it took to get it in the can, Director John Ford only got John Wayne to do everything he wanted to do to Maureen O'Hara himself.For the action brigade it has probabaly the longest and one of the most enthralling fight scenes of any movie.For the comics the entire film is laced with Irishisms and good humor and wild banter and loads of "craic"For the weepies it has tragedy and death and a haunting from the past.
And for the pure sentimental including myself the film has my beautiful country lavishly and lovingly displayed in glorious technicholor compliments of Winston C Hoch amnd Archie Stout which deservedly won it an Oscar for cinematography.And it has all this and more...If one cares to delve deeper it touches on themes of Shakespeare (Taming of the Shrew) and the best traditions of Irish literature (JM Synge and WB Yeats).Testament to it's greatness are the many books and documentries that have been created about it in it's wake (Try Des McHales "The Complete Guide to the Quiet Man" or Gerry McEntees' "In the footsteps of the Quiet Man" for starters!) along with the many tourist that still visit Cong, County Mayo in search of their own dream Inishfree.I've lost count how many times I've seen this movie both in Ireland and in Exile both here in the US and in England, but suffice to say that at this stage I can now quote liberally from such classic lines as Feeney's: "Silence if you please, Parlimentary procedure, Squire Danagher has the floor" or Micheleen Og Flynn's "Homeric, impetious" upon viewing the marriage bed of Sean and Mary Kate and coming to his own conclusions on the events that may have occured in it.After owning a variety of VHS (both Pal and US versions) of the movie I've finally purchaced the DVD also which allows one (If one so wishes) to watch every frame of the movie digitally remastered - If you are a fanatic like me or Quiet Maniacs as we are sometimes known this allows you to catch a glimpse of such things as a fly landing on Maureen O'Hara cheek during one shot or (In a daring unintentionally risque scene for the 1950's) her momentarially exposing her underwear whilst jumping over a trunk.If you haven't seen this movie (and I'm increasing surprised how many of the younger Blockbuster New Release weaned movie viewers haven't) get yerself down to yer local video store now and look in the Classic Shelves for one of those classics that is sure to be there alongside Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind and Casablanca and rent it out for a great nights entertainment.
Ford (who received an Oscar for Best Director for it) presents the story on a very personal level, and in Sean and Mary Kate gives the audience characters to whom they can relate; and it's that personal connection he affords the viewer that may suggest the main reason behind this particular film's popularity.
"The Quiet Man" is an Irish village version of "The Taming of the Shrew," the tamer being an ex-pugilist Sean Thornton (John Wayne) retired to the land of his fathers where he purchases "that little place across the brook, that humble cottage." But no sooner does he arrives on a soft spring morning than he falls in love with Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara).Sean courts and weds her easily enough, but he has not worked out on the anger of her heavy and hard rich brother, the farmer Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) who holds an envy against him for having bought the very property that separates his spread from that of the wealthiest widow in Innisfree Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick) whom Danaher strongly desires...Danaher refuses to supply the traditional dowry, and Mary Kate accuses Sean for his apparent cowardice in not fighting for what is rightfully theirs...The battle that follows (considered to be the longest recorded on screen) has Sean and his strong brother-in-law engaging in a climatic fight the townsfolk have long been anticipating with effervescent...Maureen O'Hara is totally in her element as the fiery Irish girl whether as the bare-footed attractive woman looking after a number of sheep in the meadow, or as the troubled colleen trying to explain her problem to the devoted salmon-catching Catholic priest (War Bond) or as the proud beauty whom Wayne lets fall at her brother's feet...
Their screen relationship emphasized the strength of their chemistry...Barry Fitzerald is simply superb as Michaeleen Flynn, the village matchmaker and cart-driver who can't seem to tell anyone something without winning a black beer from them first...With an exciting Innisfree Races along the beach, a titanic fight from the farm, across the hillside, through a haystack and into a stream, and with emerald environments and great music, John Ford's romantic comedy is a marvelous entertaining film, painted beautifully, simply told with love and humor...With 7 Academy Award Nominations, the film earns Ford his 4th and last Oscar for Best Director establishing a record which is still unbeaten and won another Oscar for the outstanding Technicolor for Best Cinematography....
He immediately discovers some old friends, and a new one, too, Mary Kate, who while herding sheep stares back at him in what James Joyce might have called "a significant manner."Director John Ford elects to shoot O'Hara from an odd angle, and with an unusual overhead shadow crossing O'Hara's face, that in anyone else's hands would have totally blown the shot but here creates something, well, "Homerific." It's one of many amazing shots in a film that seems more painted than photographed, and is perhaps the most strikingly lovely film ever made.The shot of O'Hara looking back at Wayne also clues you onto something else, that this is going to be her story as much as it is Thornton's.
But since John Wayne is the nominal star and no one ever confused Ford with Douglas Sirk, "The Quiet Man" isn't popularly regarded this way.It's fun to read all the comments about poor Mary Kate and how this film glamorizes the mistreatment of women.
The Ireland of the time in the movie probably doesn't exist any more, but only in the minds of those who knew the Emerald Isle back then.The story is a bit passe, but we make excuses for seeing it once more whenever it plays on cable, as we take the journey to an ideal place that thanks to John Ford will live forever.The best thing in the film is Maureen O'Hara.
John Wayne, as Sean Thornton, is a bit stiff, but maybe Ford's direction called for this actor to play himself in rural Ireland, who knows?This is a film to be treasured..
The Quiet Man is a wonderfully layered and at times hilariously ironic portrayal of Ireland as seen by an American.For those who doubt the film's sense of irony, just re-watch the scene where Sean (John Wayne) paints the door of his cottage.
Mary Kate and the locals believe that he is a coward, but Sean actually wants to forget a fatal incident from his past and start a new life."A Quiet Man" is a delightful romantic comedy by John Ford.
But first, my dear Mother use to tell us, I'm the youngest of 6 boys and a sister, that, when the film crew came to West of Ireland, my mother, who was lovely young woman had her picture taken with one of her sisters, arm in arm with John Wayne, she would go on about this and I vaguely remember seeing the small en-print as they were called in them days, I think my sister has the photo but, what a photo.
Thornton's helped by an alcoholic old man (Barry Fitzgerard who plays the character of the Roman Catholic Michaleen Oge Flynn) , the Protestant vicar Cyril 'Snuffy' Playfair (Arthur Shields) , and the parish priest (War Bond) , among others .This hight-spirited tale is one of Ford's finest movies and his first love story with a marvelous fresh-air feeling .
This was the fourth Academy Award for John Ford , though somewhat less deserved Oscar , previously was prized for 'The informer (35)', 'Grapes of wrath (1940)' ,'How green was my valley (41)'.The picture has family characters , as John Wayne's sons appear in a sequence surrounding to Mauren O'Hara ; the Irish Mauren O'Hara played along with her brother Charles Fitzsimmons as Forbes ; Irishmen Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields were brothers in real life , they were both Protestants born in Dublín , Ireland , Shields was the family name and they also appeared together in director John Ford's Long Voyage Home (1940) .
Among the negative comments are things like  "John Wayne has never been in a movie that wasn't corny and hokey" (ahem -- "The Searchers" or "Stagecoach" to name but two), "the Irish accents were terrible" (with the exception of Wayne, almost all the principals were born in Ireland), "it's only funny if you think brutality to women is funny" (says nothing of the repeated right hooks aimed at Wayne's jaw by Maureen).This is a funny picture with, as another poster pointed out, a very Ford-esque subtext.
Wayne as the re-patriated Irish-American, O'Hara as the fiesty Mary Kate, Fitzgerald as the sly little old man, Bond as the strong-willed priest, and McLaglen as the blustering blow-hard.
John Ford's 'The Quiet Man' is one of Hollywood's most enduring and romantic epics.The entire cast brings this film together.it was sort of a family affair really, seeing two of John Wayne's children in a scene.
While many films share some or all of these qualities, it is the way in which these themes are so skillfully woven together in the lives and personalities of a handful of people that helps to explain something of the charm of The Quiet Man.With the glorious scenery around Cong in the Irish Republic around the 1900s as the backdrop, we are introduced one by one to a variety of delightful characters and to a lifestyle that sadly is no more: pugilistic railwaymen who are ready to put up their fists at the slightest pretext; the fiery Mary Kate who "packs up wallop" and has "a tongue like an adder" and her equally fierce brother, Red Will Daneher; the cheery pipe-smoking old rogue, Michaeleen O'Flynn with his horse and cart; Father Lonnergan, who is not averse to making the occasional bet on the side; the proud Widow Tulane who helps the poor; a host of other delightful supporting cameo-roles; and of course, the quiet American himself - John Wayne, playing Sean Thornton, returning to his birthplace from the steel-mills of Pittsburgh.John Wayne must have really enjoyed making this film, which was such a departure from his more usual cowboy films.
Anyway, he played Sean Thornton to the hilt, showing what a good actor he was.Maureen O'Hara is also a total delight and thoroughly believable: I shall always associate Maureen with this film, and I like to think that she enjoyed making it too!
The sweeping and beautiful vistas, the development of a haunted and potentially troubled past of this American come home to the small village in Ireland where he was born...I began thinking of Hollywood's other leading actors of that time, and how this role would probably be better served by the likes of Grant, Gable, Stewart, etc., however...as the movie progressed, I began to see the Duke in a completely new light.Throughout much of the movie, the title aptly decribes Sean Thorton, at least his dialog.
Set in a small Irish village, John Wayne plays a Yank boxer originally raised in Ireland who returns home after vowing never to fight again; he falls for a fiery local lass while butting heads with her brutish, imperious brother who refuses to hand over his sister's dowry when the two decide to marry.
A labor of love for director John Ford, who won an Oscar for his work while getting award-worthy performances from leads Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, both of whom are clearly impassioned by this boisterous romantic comedy.
"Well then, I'll begin at the beginning..." Father Peter Lonergan narrates this tale of a "Yankee from Pittsburgh" who "..is a quiet, peace lovin' man come home to Ireland to forget his troubles..."John Wayne plays Sean Thorton the former boxer who moves back to the land of his birth when walking along the road he spots a beautiful redhead (Maureen Ohara) herding the sheep.
Well, Irish tempers get to flarin' and Irish passion can't be quelled and the Quiet Man...well...I don't want to spoil it...you know somethin' good is bound to happen!The cast is terrific: John Wayne, Maureen Ohara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor MacLaglen, Ward Bond and many others.
Thus, with no genuine tension and no real character development that drew you in; it was hard to sustain interest in this film.My difficulty is, as a boy, I use to love all of the John Ford/Maureen O'Hara/John Wayne pictures.
John Wayne as Sean Thornton is superb, his presence, his swagger and of course Maureen O Hara as fiery Mary Kate just radiates throughout this film.
This was one of Maureen O'Hara's first color films, back when the colors still looked a bit "runny," but to be honest, that is one of the things I love best about "The Quiet Man": it looks and feels like a moving painted picture.
The plot is simple enough: Sean Thornton (John Wayne), a disgraced Irish-American boxer retires to the hometown he was born in back in Ireland years ago and falls in love with a pretty maid, Mary Kate Danaher (O'Hara), whose regionally powerful brother is at pain to consent to the marriage.
I look forward to any movie outing where i see them together, but this movie "The Quiet Man" is my favorite!I almost died with laughter when in a VERY romantic and old-fashioned style, Sean aka John Wayne throws the hot-heated, single-minded " I want me about Sean, and I if I don't have your man at all!" as she weeps.Tensions build and much plotting in this wonderful little village of Innis free, Ireland, until finally Ms O'Hara hops on a train to leave.Well with tiny town precision the message travels to Sean and he finally loses his temper (there is a subplot of two as to why he didn't) and he Grabs Her directly out of the train with the townspeople following, one precocious old lade applauding him and saying "Can I get ye a good stick for the lady sir?!" I almost died laughing, as Maureen was terribly unhappily and Very much was over his shoulder and pinned, kicking a screaming in a rather risqué moment or so for kiddies, as swats, though endearing certainly threatened!
My wife, also being an Irish Mary Kate and being born on the same day as Maureen O'Hara, started a tradition several years ago watching The Quiet Man on St. Patrick's Day. We both love the Irish character of this movie.
"The Quiet Man", beautifully filmed in the green hills of Ireland, is definitely one of John Wayne's greatest movies.
The proprieties at all times"It's lines like that courtesy of Frank Nugent (from "Green Rushes" by Maurice Walsh), spoken throughout this wonderful film by among others, Michaleen Oge Flynn, the town's tippling matchmaker & bookmaker as played by the whimsical Barry Fitzgerald that help make John Ford's homage to his Irish homeland, "The Quiet Man" (1952)such a delightful classic!
May not be everyone's taste, but if you like John Ford films, the Duke, or old movies, it may be worth your time..
The Quiet Man is one of Wayne best films and his made possible by beautiful spitfire Maureen O'Hara ..
The Quiet Man (1952) *** 1/2 (out of 4) American Sean Thornton (John Wayne) heads to Ireland where he plans on buying the home that he was born in.
Soon after Will has even more to be upset with when Sean decides that he wants to date Will's sister Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara).John Ford's THE QUIET MAN is not only a very good romantic comedy but it's also a love letter from the director to Ireland.
John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara make a movie great!.