The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man (1952) follows a man returning to Ireland from America. Sean Thornton settles in the village where he was born and buys back his family's old farm. He falls for a woman in the village, but her brother wants the farm and opposes the marriage. Sean tells nobody why he will not fight. John Ford had bought the rights to Maurice Walsh's short story in 1933 for ten dollars. It took nearly twenty years to make. Republic Pictures agreed only on condition that Ford, Wayne and Maureen O'Hara first make Rio Grande in 1950; the studio wanted a guaranteed western before this riskier project. The village of Inisfree is invented. Filming took place around Cong in County Mayo, particularly on the grounds of Ashford Castle. Other scenes were shot in County Galway and Connemara, with the horse race at Lettergesh Beach and the railway station at Ballyglunin. Ford made it almost as a family enterprise. His older brother Francis plays an elderly villager. Arthur Shields, who plays the Protestant minister, was Barry Fitzgerald's younger brother. Maureen O'Hara's own brothers appear in supporting parts. Ford won his record fourth Best Director Oscar for it, and cinematographer Winton Hoch also won. It was nominated for Best Picture, Supporting Actor, Screenplay, Art Direction and Sound. It runs 129 minutes. Good for: classical Hollywood, Irish landscape, and Technicolor. Less good for: how the film treats its heroine, and the dragging scene in particular, plays very badly now. The picture of Ireland is romantic and touristic. The long fistfight is staged as comedy and wrecks the pace.