"The
Quiet Man" Is a Love Story Set in the Emerald Isle of Ireland
By Ed Bagley
The Quiet Man – 4 Stars
(Excellent)
No one ever said that filmmaking
was easy, only that it could be very good and sometimes enduring, as
in "The Quiet Man", starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara with
legendary Director John Ford.
Like a lot of great films, The
Quiet Man is a story of the conflict and conquest in the courtship
of a man and a woman. A woman determined to get her way, a brother
determined to keep his sister from the man she loves, and a man
determined to win the heart of the woman he marries.
Irish-born Sean Thornton (John
"Duke" Wayne) is an American who swears off being a professional
fighter after accidentally killing an opponent in the ring.
Returning to the Irish town of
his birth, he starts a new life and finds happiness when he falls in
love with the fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara).
Mary Kate's brother, Will "Red"
Danaher (Victor McLaglen) stands in their way. Without her brother's
permission, she cannot marry Sean. The male dominance in Irish
culture during this period is evident. Women were to obey, period.
Red Danaher resents the fact that
Sean was able to purchase his birth home adjacent to the Danaher's
property. Danaher had continually bid for the property next door but
lost out to the American "newcomer" and outsider.
Eventually Danaher is duped into
letting Sean marry Mary Kate, but initially he refuses to let Mary
Kate take her inheritance (furniture and a dowry). The villagers
persuade Red to give Mary Kate her furniture, but he stands fast on
the dowry.
For Mary Kate the 350 pounds
sterling she is owed represents a lot of money, but the breaking of
tradition and doing the right thing becomes an issue she cannot and
will not ignore, even for the sake of her marriage.
Mary Kate is a woman who, if
nothing else, makes it clear she will be dealt with despite her ill
temper and stubbornness. She believes that Sean is a coward for not
confronting her brother Red. Sean simply does not want to
accidentally kill another man in a fight over money.
When Mary Kate decides to leave
her marriage and take the train out of town, Sean goes into action.
After dragging Mary Kate off the train and through the pasture, the
longest fistfight in screen history erupts.
Once Mary Kate realizes that Sean
will fight for her, she is quite happy to return to their cottage
and makes it clear that dinner will be ready when Sean returns home.
The Duke (Sean) slugs it out with Kate's brother, eventually wins,
and wins back Kate's heart as well.
The story of The Quiet Man
reminds me of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew
and its movie version in 1967 starring Elizabeth Taylor as Katharina
and Richard Burton as Petruchio.
Katharina is cast as an
ill-tempered, strong-willed, opinionated, vocal, recalcitrant,
unmanageable woman. Petruchio manages to bring her around and when
he does, Katharina is content to do his bidding. I see a lot of Mary
Kate Danaher in Katharina.
The supporting cast of The Quiet
Man is a collection of Irishmen worthy of the name: Michaleen Oge
Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald), Father Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond), Father
Paul (James O'Hara) and The Widow Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick)
among others. And, yes, there are a lot of relatives in this cast.
The Quiet Man was based on a 1933
Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh. Ford
read the story in 1933 and purchased the rights to it for $10.
In 1944, John Ford, John Wayne
and Maureen O'Hara made a handshake agreement to do the film
version, but it would take another 8 years for Ford to raise the
money necessary to produce the film.
The Quiet Man was the first
American feature to be filmed in Ireland's picturesque countryside.
The film almost never happened as Ford was told by producers that a
"silly Irish story would not make a penny."
Finally Republic Pictures was
approached and studio chief Herbert Yates relented under the
condition that Ford, Wayne and O'Hara would also do a western for
Republic, a sure money-maker that would offset losses anticipated
from The Quiet Man. The result was the 1950 production of "Rio
Grande".
John Ford was more than
interested in doing the film. His real name was John Martin Feeney,
his parents immigrated from County Galway, Ireland and settled in
Maine. Ford also went by the name Sean O'Feeney.
Maureen O'Hara (real name Maureen
Fitzsimons) was born in County Dublin, Ireland, spoke Irish and used
her Gaelic language in the film. Her father was part owner of
Ireland's leading football team, the Shamrock Rovers.
John Wayne was half Irish. He
appeared in more than 20 of Ford's films, many of them low budget
westerns and war movies. The Duke said that of all the films he
made, The Quiet Man was his favorite.
Ford earned his 4th and last Best
Director Oscar for The Quiet Man in 1952. His other 3 Best Director
Oscars were for "The Informer" in 1935, "The Grapes of Wrath" in
1940 and "How Green Was My Valley" in 1941. Only How Green Was My
Valley won an Oscar for Best Picture.
Ford remains the only director in
history to win 4 Best Director Oscars. Two others—William Wyler and
Frank Capra—have won 3 times.
Ford received the American Film
Institute's first Life Achievement Award in 1973. He has been
recognized as one of the greatest directors of all time. His work
had an influence on directors Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg,
George Lucas, Sam Peckinpah, Peter Bogdanovich, Sergio Leone,
Jean-Luc-Godard and Akira Kurosawa.
The Quiet Man won a second Oscar
for Best Cinematography and was nominated for 5 other Oscars: Best
Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Victor McLaglen), Best Art
Direction, Best Sound and Best Writing (screenplay by Frank Nugent).
The Best Picture Oscar in 1952 went to "The Greatest Show on Earth".
Action adventure freaks and
lovers of unredeeming modern-day films such as "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"
will not be able to stand The Quiet Man, which is very slow
developing yet offers a perfectly picturesque Irish setting for a
real love story.
The Quiet Man is an Irish movie
filmed in Ireland for the glory of Ireland, its people and its
culture. I am only 15% Irish and a third generation American, but
always claim that my 15% Irish heritage is the best part of me.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
