The Quiet Man

When we think back at some of the most iconic screen couples—William Powell and Myrna Loy, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall—inevitably we have to acknowledge John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. While not as prolific as some screen couples, these two made five films together over the span of 21 years beginning in 1950 with Rio Grande and ended in 1971 with Big Jake. Arguably, their best pairing, though, was The Quiet Man, a film that wasn’t about action and adventure, nor was it a war film with daring heroics and bravado. Instead, it was a film about love and hiding from the past and returning to your roots. This unassuming film gave us one of the most memorable love stories in cinema and starring a man who was more known for his western action and war drama films than for his romantic comedies. 

Meeting him at his level was Maureen O’Hara, who not only held her own when paired up with one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time but even outshined him as often as not. The chemistry between these two actors is something that cannot be easily distilled down yet is obvious from every frame. It was so palpable in fact that there was speculation that there was some romance going on behind the scenes, though both actors have denied it, taking their stories to the grave. If there was a romance going on between them behind the camera, they did a good job keeping it out of the press.

What is undeniable is that these two worked well together, which is why they were so frequently cast opposite each other. The Quiet Man is perhaps the best example of this, showing two strong-willed people falling in love with each other. Big Jake, their final collaboration, is just the opposite. That film showcased two formerly married people long after that romance had died out to the realities of life when two strong-willed individuals try, and fail, to make a go at it. These opposite views on relationships and marriage almost feel like an examination of the same relationship, seen from different parts of the timeline. After all, most romance films seem to end with a happily-ever-after that we don’t quite believe will extend far past the end credits. It’s a pessimistic view on love that we willfully suspend for the sake of the fantasy.  

The set-up for this film is the return of Sean “Trooper Thorn” Thornton (John Wayne), an Irish-born American and retired boxer, returning to his birthplace of Inisfree to purchase the old family farm where he was born. While en route, he sees a red-headed young woman, Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara), and is immediately stricken with her beauty. Mary Kate is the sister of bullying Squire “Red” Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen), a brute of a man who also has his eyes on the old family farm but has been denied the purchase of it by the wealthy widow Tillane (Mildred Natwick). When she sells the farm to Sean, Red is furious, proclaiming Sean his mortal enemy. 

After some setbacks, Sean is eventually able to win over Mary Kate’s heart, but without the blessing of her brother, she cannot accept his proposal of marriage. This leads to some scheming by some of the village residents, including the parish priest Father Lonergan (Ward Bond), to convince Red that the widow Tillane, whom he has feelings for, may be receptive to his advances should Mary Kate be no longer under his roof. He consents to Sean and Mary Kate’s wedding only to be furious when he discovers the deception, too late to take back this consent. Instead, he withholds her inheritance money and property. Sean, who has plenty of money himself, doesn’t understand why she is so determined to get this money and property. She, on the other hand, sees his unwillingness to fight her brother for what is owed her as cowardice. This threatens to bring an end to their marriage before it can even get started. 

When John Ford first decided to direct The Quiet Man, he bought the film rights for a measly $10. He managed to get Republic Pictures to back the film, a risky venture at the time, and those film rights eventually ballooned up to $6260 for the author, still a relatively low sum at the time. But Republic, nervous about the profitability of such a film, insisted that they would back it only if John Ford, alongside his chosen stars Wayne and O’Hara, made a western for them first. That film, Rio Grande, would end up being the first on-screen pairing of the two actors. While that film is a good solid western, it is disappointing that it robbed us of having the love story in The Quiet Man as our introduction to these two as a couple. 

Quite simply, that is the big selling point of The Quiet Man. This is one of those films that stands out in the oeuvre of John Wayne’s films because of how well these two play off each other. Mary Kate is a strong-willed young woman, but when we are first introduced to her, she is herding some livestock and sees him riding by in a horse-drawn carriage, looking at her. We see immediately that she is attracted to him, but she is too proud and willful to let him catch her looking. But she is also a woman and cannot resist giving him a second glance. Later, when he approaches her after mass, she tries to be polite but is caught off-guard by his offbeat approach to introducing himself. Here, she is hiding behind a façade of shyness, though we know she is anything but that. 

That fieriness, matching her vibrant red hair, comes out later when we see her more in her own environment, serving table for her brother and the farmhands. Later, when Sean returns home to find her in his house, cleaning up as a bit of a house-welcoming gesture, he takes a bit of liberty with her by kissing her, and she lets loose on him, smacking him hard in the face and showing that she is not the kind of woman who allows a man to dominate her in any way. She is capable of love but on her own terms. She is also fiercely devoted to tradition—to a degree, as we learn later—which prevents her from marrying him without her brother’s consent.  

There is more to this story than just their courtship and marriage, though. There is a little bit of a mystery about Sean’s past that gets touched on here and there for much of the film. I won’t spoil it here, but it involves his past back in America and why he not only moved back to Ireland but also why he refuses to fight Red, even though Red is standing in his way of having Mary Kate as his wife. We get bits and pieces of that backstory teased out until finally the big reveal comes, and it all starts to make sense. This allows us to be firmly on Sean’s side so that when we do learn the truth, it not only shocks us but doesn’t sour us on him as a person. This also makes the big finale all the more rewarding.

There are some things in this film that are a bit dated. Sean’s rough treatment of Mary Kate in the finale can seem a bit sexist to modern audiences, even though it was exactly what she was wanting from him, proving that he was a real man and not someone she is ashamed of. Yes, it is an outdated sense of gender roles and what is appropriate, but it works in the context of the story and the time in which it takes place. One line that was simultaneously funny and shocking to modern sensibilities came as he was forcibly dragging her back to witness his confrontation with Red, and one of the townsfolk, of whom there were many gathering around to witness this, offers Sean a good, sturdy branch from a tree to beat her with. It’s played for laughs and for the absurdity of it all, but it is also a bit cringeworthy, too. 

John Ford really knew how to film the emerald isle. This film was shot on location in Ireland, and the gorgeous Technicolor imagery really does that country justice. It’s luscious and green, contrasting beautifully with the bright red of Maureen O’Hara’s famously vibrant hair. This is an enchanting film to watch, not only for the delightful story but also for the bewitching visuals. Watching this film makes you want to hop on a plane and visit Ireland just to experience it for yourself. This is a far cry from the more muted, though probably much more accurate, imagery of the country we see in a film like The Banshees of Inisherin. 

There is something about The Quiet Man that makes it stand out among John Wayne’s filmography. It’s not a western or a war picture, as he is mostly known for, but it is still quintessential John Wayne. He’s showing his softer side here, something we didn’t often see from him, yet he is also still very much the macho man’s man, able to get down in the dirt and brawl should the situation demand it. And we know the situation will demand it in the end because everything is leading up to that moment. When that fight does break out, the surprise is that, while it is visceral in a way, it is also played up as high comedy with the whole townsfolk getting involved, taking bets, cheering on the two men, and even getting in some brawling of their own.  It comes dangerously close to being too over-the-top, but John Ford is too good a director to step too far over that line. 

This is a fantastic film for a lot of reasons I have already listed. The sheer magnetism of that on-screen attraction between the two leads elevates this film, even during moments when it threatens to fall into clichés, which is fairly often. Those clichés are the film’s biggest weakness. The Irish, especially Michaeleen “Óge” Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald), are depicted constantly drinking and carousing, something that is a bit too much of a caricature. But it never feels mean-spirited, just a bit of a shortcut to his character and to the Irish in general. It’s a minor quibble but one that needs to be mentioned. It also idealizes Irish culture and the countryside. All-in-all, this is a fun little romantic comedy that rightfully got John Ford another Best Director Oscar. It also gave us a softer side to The Duke, something we didn’t often see in his films. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Motion Picture: John Ford and Merian C. Cooper

Best Director: John Ford (won)

Best Supporting Actor: Victor McLaglen

Best Screenplay: Frank S. Nugent

Best Art Direction - Color: Frank Hotaling, John McCarthy Jr., and Charles Thompson

Best Cinematography - Color: Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout (won)

Best Sound Recording: Daniel J. Bloomberg

____________________________________________________

Release Date: September 14, 1952

Running Time: 129 minutes

Not Rated

Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, Francis Ford, Arthur Shields, and the Abbey Theatre Players

Directed by: John Ford