The Quiet Man
US (1952): Romance/Comedy
Leonard Maltin Review: 4.0 stars out of 4
American boxer Wayne returns to native Ireland and falls in love with a spirited lass (O'Hara)—but has to deal with local customs (including the payment of a dowry) and the young woman's bullheaded brother (McLaglen). Boisterous blarney, with beautiful Technicolor scenery, and equally beautiful music by Victor Young. This film was clearly a labor of love for Ford and his Irish-American stars. Maurice Walsh's story was scripted by Frank Nugent. Oscar winner for Best Director and Cinematography (Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout).
The Quiet Man
US (1952): Romance/Comedy
CineBooks' Motion Picture Guide Review: 5.0 stars out of 5
THE QUIET MAN is John Ford's sentimental journey into the past of Ireland, his ancestral home, a journey enacted by Ford's onscreen alter ego, John Wayne. This film is also one of Ford's greatest films, a vibrant, moving, action-filled picture enriched in every frame by the unerring touch of the great director.
Synopsis
Fighter returns The story begins in the 1920s, when the American Sean Thornton (Wayne), a quiet fellow but a former fighter with a brutal past, arrives in Innisfree. He is greeted by the elfin, capricious, witty Michaeleen Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald), the village cabman, matchmaker, and mentor, who grabs Sean's bags at the train station and places them in his pony cart. Sean hops onto the seat and the two are off to a little cottage—Sean's birthplace, White O'Mornin'—which Sean has purchased from Mrs. Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick), a rich local widow.
En route, Sean sees in the distance a beautiful, red-haired woman framed by a stand of trees, a soft wind rippling her skirts and hair. She seems a vision of another, lost world, and Sean asks Michaeleen, "Is that real?" (Quips the coachman, "Only a mirage brought on by your terrible thirst!") Sean is really asking about the scene itself, rather than the lovely woman inhabiting it, and recalls the voice of his dead mother as she described Innisfree to him when he was a child. Arriving at his cottage, he tells Michaeleen, "I'm Sean Thornton and I was born in that little cottage. I'm home and home I'm going to stay." It's almost a declaration of war, war against the vicissitudes of the present in favor of the security and stability of the past.
Still a stranger In buying his property, Sean has alienated the richest, toughest man in the area, Red Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen), who is doubly angered over the fact that widow Mrs. Sarah Tillane Natwick has sold the property to "a dirty Yank." Sean moves into the small cottage, a stranger in a land he loves, where he is considered a foreigner even though he was born in Innisfree.
Though his land appears green and fertile, Sean turns up nothing but rocks when he tries to plough it for planting. He battles the present for the illusion of the past at every turn, and is even upbraided for his romanticism when he proudly shows off his cottage to a neighbor, who inspects its trim thatched roof and immaculately painted walls, remarking that "It looks the way all Irish cottages should, and seldom do. And only an American would think of painting it emerald green."
Meets neighbors One day, Sean enters his cottage to find his neighbor, Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), there. She has been cleaning the place for him, a gesture that seems to indicate more than communal fellowship. Just as she is about to flee, Sean grabs hold of her arm and attempts to kiss her. She gives him a stiff-armed slap, but, before escaping the cottage, encourages him with a light kiss of her own.
Later, Sean meets Mary's brutish brother, Red Will Danaher, in the local pub. Red seethes with hate for him, believing him to be an interloper upsetting his plans and "backdealing" him out of his property. When Sean extends his hand, the powerful Red squeezes it with all his might and the ex-boxer responds with his own pressure, until both men let loose, wincing with pain.
Past revealed Witnessing this first confrontation between the two giants is a group of local men—most of whom hate Red and side with Sean—including members of the IRA and the priests, Father Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond) and Father Paul (James Lilburn). Sean has already befriended Father Lonergan, in a meeting during which the priest recalls Sean's family, including his wayward father, who died in Australia in a penal colony, and his mother—"brave soul"—who struggled to raise the little boy who has now returned a strapping man with a mysterious past.
In fact, Sean goes out of his way to say nothing of his background. But the local Protestant clergyman, Rev. Cyril Playfair (Arthur Shields—Fitzgerald's real-life brother), knows Sean's dark secret and tells him so privately. Rev. Cyril, a onetime amateur boxer, has kept a scrapbook about boxers the world over. He shows Sean clippings concerning the American boxer "Trooper Thorn," who retired from the ring forever after he accidentally killed a man during a match, and, discredited, moved with his prize money to Ireland to find the peace, happiness, and beauty of his boyhood.
Takes a bride After Father Lonergan gets Sean to promise that he will attend services one Sunday, the big man shows up and sees Mary and Red as they enter the church. He steps forward, cups holy water in his hand, and offers this to Mary, who quickly makes the sign of the cross with the water, then hurries into the church. Later he arrives on her doorstep to ask her brother for her hand, but Red hates the idea of having Sean for a brother-in-law. When Sean is told by matchmaker Michaeleen that the courtship is hopeless, the embittered suitor throws away the roses he had meant to offer Mary.
Later, Michaeleen is dashed into a drunken stupor when Sean refuses to fight the hamhock-fisted Red, who has insulted him. (His refusal to fight, of course, is due to his having killed an opponent in the ring, though this is unknown to the others.) The situation is rectified when Father Lonergan and others join in a conspiracy to imply to Red that if he will give his permission for Sean to marry Mary, his own wedding to Mrs. Tillane is assured. The boisterous Red agrees and the banns are published announcing the upcoming nuptials.
Once the ceremony is over, however, Red learns he has been tricked. Mrs. Tillane tells him that she has no intention of marrying him. Red explodes, accusing one and all of playing him false, and angrily refuses to pay his sister's dowry or to allow her to take her prized furniture. Sean tells Red he can keep his money and goes home with his new wife, but Mary proves truculent and Sean finds himself sleeping on the floor of his living room. At last he decides he's had enough and bursts into the bedroom.
The next morning Michaeleen and some of Sean's IRA pals appear at the cottage with Mary's furniture, reporting that they "persuaded" Red to part with the furnishings. When Michaeleen enters the bedroom he finds the bed smashed to the floor, and exclaims, "Impetuous!—Homeric!"
Domestic disagreements But all is not right between the couple. Mary feels married "in name only," since her dowry has been denied. Sean cannot understand this old-country way of thinking, telling her that the money means nothing and that he will never accept it anyway. The rift between them grows until Mary comes to believe that her husband is a coward who will not fight her brother for what is justly theirs. She leaves him and boards a train, intending to go off and live with relatives.
Enraged, Sean rides wildly to the station and then marches down the platform, looking into each compartment and slamming the doors on empty coaches until he finds Mary cringing in one of them. He drags her out and begins to march her back to her brother's farm.
Tradition upheld News of the battle about to explode races through the town, until all the villagers (including the train personnel) are following Sean and Mary as he drags, pushes, and shoves her across the meadows and up and down hills. Once they arrive at the farm, Red stares in wonder as Sean drags Mary to him, then hurls her across the open ground to land at her brother's feet, snarling, "No dowry, no marriage!"
Shamed before the entire local population, Red has no choice but to pay, counting out the sum and hurling the "filthy" money at Sean. Mary, despite having been humiliated by her husband, beams with pride over his upholding of ancient tradition. As Sean picks up the money, she runs to a kiln that is burning brightly and opens its gate so that Sean can toss the money into it—showing that they have both triumphed, not for the money, but for the principles of tradition.
Red, incensed and insulted, stands with fists clenched, gritting his teeth, as Mary smiles broadly at Sean and tells him she's on her way home and that "supper will be waiting" for him—after he finishes the titanic fight with her brother, of course.
Battle royal begins As Mary walks off, Red smashes his enormous fist into Sean's face, sending him down. Sean jumps up and gives the hulking Red a powerhouse blow that sends him reeling. The battle royal is on, as the two men smash and thrash each other along the quiet meadows and glens of the farm and into the fields, fighting their way toward the village.
The whole community follows, betting life savings on this epic contest of muscle and will. Even the priests, watching from hiding, place wagers on the outcome, as do Rev. Playfair and his visiting bishop, who view the battle through binoculars. So does Mrs. Tillane, who sees that Red is getting the worst of it and finally displays her true affectionate feelings for him, repeating aloud to herself Red's own oft-spoken brag, "The best man in Innisfree!"
Not only is everyone in the village crowding to the scene of the fight—now going through the village punch by staggering punch—but others in nearby communities call to say that they are coming to the site by bus, motorcar, and bike to witness the historic battle. Even a dying, white-bearded patriarch, Dan Tobin (Francis Ford), leaps from his deathbed (where he is being given last rites) to struggle into his clothes and hobble excitedly down the road, refusing to pass on until after he has seen this fight of the century.
Battle resumes Tiring, the battlers call a momentary truce (at Michaeleen's suggestion) to enter the pub for refreshment. Here the two bloodied fighters give each other left-handed compliments until drinks are ordered and Sean puts down money to pay for the stout. Red sweeps Sean's money from the bar, saying it's no good, and puts down his own. Sean then sweeps this money away and puts more of his own down. Red grabs his huge mug of stout and tosses it into Sean's face.
Sean asks for a bar towel from the frightened bartender and wipes his face. Sean then asks for the time and is told that it is three o'clock. Outside the pub the entire village waits anxiously, the silence broken when Red comes flying through the closed doors of the pub, knocked clear by a terrific blow from Sean, taking both doors with him into the cobblestoned street.
Family bonds formed The battle rages on, deep into the dusk, while in the cottage Mary waits, looking out across the exquisitely green fields brushed by a red sunset, its light glimmering on the little brook nearby. From the distance she can hear two men singing "The Wild Colonial Boy" as they make their way toward her. It's the badly beaten but now self-avowed blood brothers Sean and Red. They stumble through the brook, hobble toward the house, and enter, Sean tearing his cap from his head, tossing it wildly, and pulling up two chairs to the kitchen table as he tells Mary, "I've brought the brother to dinner!" When the food is placed on the table, all sit and silently pray, the pummeled but penitent Red saying "And bless all in this house." Peace has come to Innisfree.
Critique
Passionate homecoming A love story that packs a fearsome punch, THE QUIET MAN is a passionate, full-blooded film. John Ford constructs the picture carefully, and lavishes the tale with some of the most visually extraordinary scenes ever filmed. Some of these, such as the idealistic vision of Maureen O'Hara in the glen herding her sheep, are presented in muted, diffused tones that suggest an ethereal world—into which John Wayne has barged.
THE QUIET MAN is also Ford's symbolic homecoming, in which he shapes his own longing and memories in the form of living, full-blooded characters, who are at the same time representative types. Wayne is Ford's youth; O'Hara his great love, as well as all the women of Ireland; Victor McLaglen, the sentimental bully; Barry Fitzgerald, the local conscience and historian; Ward Bond, the priest who would rather fish than pray, though fishing is also a form of prayer; Arthur Shields, the patient outsider; Mildred Natwick, the typical Irish spinster. The wonderful lead and supporting performances by Ford's stock company in these roles further contribute to make THE QUIET MAN an utterly moving and fascinating portrait of rural life in Ireland.
Background
A family production THE QUIET MAN is truly an Irish family film. The character of Feeney (Abbey Player Jack MacGowran)—a toady to McLaglen who writes down the names of all McLaglen's enemies in a little black book—is given the Anglicized version of Ford's real surname; and the main character's last name, Thornton, was also that of Ford's real-life cousins. Wayne's children appear in the picture, as do two of O'Hara's brothers; Fitzgerald and Shields were also siblings.
Moreover, Ford's own brother, Francis Ford, who was a wonderful mime and early silent screen star, plays the old man who refuses to die until he sees the herculean fight between Wayne and McLaglen. Although this marked Francis' 29th appearance in his brother's films, the two did not socialize. They had mysteriously fallen out years earlier, when Francis was a top star and John just coming up as a director. Rumor had it that they had had a terrible fight over a woman or that, in their cups, they had gone at each other in much the same way Wayne and McLaglen battle here. But the rift was never spoken of after Ford became the preeminent American film director.
Francis received his assignments by mail, appeared on the set or at the location promptly, did his wonderful little bits, and then walked off and waited for John to call him back. The actor and director hardly spoke to each other, only nodded in each other's direction after a completed scene. Brothers by birth, they never achieved the blood brothership of the combatants in THE QUIET MAN.
Awards
THE QUIET MAN won two Academy Awards: Best Cinematography and Best Direction. The film was also nominated for Best Picture (losing to THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH), Best Supporting Actor (McLaglen), Best Screenplay and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.
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