Quiet Man, The (1952)

Republic Pictures/ Argosy Pictures
Director: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald
 
Honors:
Academy Award for Best Director
Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Color)

National Film Registry
 

Stepping out of their usual westerns, star John Wayne and director John Ford team up once again, but this time in a romantic comedy set in idyllic rural Ireland. Captured in brilliant Technicolor, Ford projects the beauty of the vibrantly lush countryside, a tranquil and charming setting of a romanticized Irish culture. Far from the gun-toting, gruff characters of his prevalent western persona Wayne manifests a kinder, slightly more playful side as be delves into a role of a man looking to settle down and falling in love with his common on screen romantic interest Maureen O’Hara. Evident for helping to establish the romantic visuals and style of an Ireland in the 20^th century the film would be a favorite for many cinema fans of the era.

 

The Quiet Man is a romantic comedy/drama about an Irish born American returning to his homeland to settle down, discover love, and mask his mysterious past. Retired American based boxer Sean Thornton (John Wayne) returns to his hometown of Inisfree, Ireland to settle down into a quiet rural town life when he falls in love with a beautiful fiery red-head Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara). Following a humorous courtship, the two wed, but to odds when Kate is denied her dowry and Sean sees no need for it. Kate’s attachment to her inheritance was withheld by her brutish and disagreeable older brother Will (Victor McLaglen) who strongly dislikes Sean, but Sean is unwilling to fight him as he is haunted by the memory of taking the life of his final opponent in the ring leading to his retirement. After consulting man townsfolk including his friend Michaeleen (Barry Fitzgerald), Sean wins the dowry for Kate, stirring an amusing knockdown, drag out brawl between he and Will, winning him favor with both his brother-in-law and adoration of his wife.

 

Upon initially viewing this feature one may not come away thinking this is a John Ford picture. Its much lighter tone and comedic lean appears divergent from the more masculine centric, confrontation filled pictures the filmmaker was better known for. Instead of the grit of black and white we get the vibrancy of Technicolor, capturing the brilliant greens and earth tones of the Irish countryside. And yet, again we see the pairing of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hare as stars under Ford which would a common winning formula for many years. However, instead of romanticized the Old West be get a corner of Europe that Americans would be believe they are more familiar with. With a plot that is simple and playful in time would be closer analyzed for its flaws with stereotypes and portrayal of domestic abuse dressed up in a way that was deemed harmless for its day.

 

John Ford had originally purchased the film rights to the original story first publish in 1933 in the “Saturday Evening Post” shortly after it was first printed but would not get around to producing it until the 1950’s. Partnering with Republic Pictures, he got the small studio to agreed to finance the film for Ford if he followed a pair of provisos. First the filmmaker had to produce another sure-fire money making western for Republic to help cushion the cost of the more expensive project. Secondly, established stars John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara would be attached to star I the film as well. With little delay Ford, Wayne, and O’Hara went to work for Republic, together working on the film that became the success 1950 picture Rio Grande and immediately setting off to Ireland after production ended.

 

The Quiet Man was a departure for Republic Pictures, not only was this not to be a western, but it was given a budget to film overseas and in Technicolor, luxuries not akin to the tiny Hollywood studio known for producing serials and inexpensive features. The Irish setting allow would be utilized in a manner that on its own was a character as the lush greenery of the hills, trees, and other fauna served as the beautiful backdrop for this lighthearted setting, earning the picture an Oscar for cinematography.

 

Stars John Wayne and Maureen O’Hare were becoming a hot commodity of Ford and his Republic pictures, this being their second consecutive pairing and romantic interests. Maureen O’Hara is able to play on her Irish roots as the girl that wins over the heart of John Wayne, while Wayne lightens up his demeanor portraying a more carefree character than common type. Fleshing out the cast are a number of Irish character actors including the fatherly Barry Fitzgerald as somewhat the support to Sean’s move into Irish society, and former Academy Award winner Victor McLaglen as the hot-tempered Squire “Red” Will Danaher, Mary’s older brother and patriarch of the Danaher family.

 

What the picture delivers most on are the brilliant visuals of the Irish countryside and the creation of the fictional rural town of Inisfree. In a way this feature aiding in creating the romanticized ideal Irish landscape and societ that only existed in the minds of those that had never experienced the country. In no way an accurate representation of a real town or people that exists in Ireland, it establishes in ideal many hoped it was like, as a kind and picturesque homeland with only slightly weathered edges. In this manner it made the picture somewhat timeless, and yet the picture is also a product of its time with the embracing of certain social issues.

 

Aside from being filled with some overly simplified adverse Irish stereotypes, including drunkenness and fighting played off primarily for laughs, the film struggles with over masculinity even though this is not atypical Ford western. John Wayne’s character at times is abusive to Maureen O’Hara, most notably when it is implied that her forces himself upon her when she refuses to perform “marital duties” with him. Yet, the feature comes away with a hint of feminine liberation and empowerment as it is a story of a conservative woman coming to embrace her own passions by the end of the story, highlighted by a knowing wink to her husband as they go to be private by the conclusion of the picture. So, from a point of view the film struggles with being embraced by newer generations of viewers as it understands the social issues of abuse and hypermasculinity as pain point of society.

 

Reviews for The Quiet Man in 1952 were generally favorable, once getting over the hump of this Ford-Wayne-O’Hara feature was not the typical western. A handful of critics found the runtime unnecessarily long at 129 minutes, but viewers feel in love the romance of Irish country. Nominated for seven Academy Award, the feature was one of the highest praised films of the year, winning John Ford his fourth Oscar in the process and being one of the top ten grossing pictures of 1952. In the years since The Quiet Man became was one of Ford’s favorite projects in his career and remained well liked by fans of his, even being preserved in the National Film Registry in 2013 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”