The Quiet Man (1952)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Sean Thornton (John Wayne) returns back to the village where he was born in Ireland after moving across to America when he was young where he forged a career as a boxer. Now retired, he plans on buying back his former family home whilst also falling for fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara). However, Kate's brother Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) doesn't approve of their relationship and makes things rather difficult for the couple. Meanwhile, Thornton is also hiding a dark secret from his past as well...The first hour of The Quiet Man (in my humble opinion) is where the film is at its weakest; not a great deal happens and character development is rather poor. I can possibly see that revealing little about Thornton until right near the end may have worked for some people - perhaps they may have been intrigued by him. However, I myself found it rather tedious and in order to enjoy a film I need to be able to form some kind of emotional investment in the characters or the story and for the first hour or so I was simply unable to do this. It's all just a little bit too quaint, twee and cutesy for my liking. A lot of the songs are pretty bad (with one song being repeated again about 5 minutes after it was originally sung for some reason).Thankfully, it does improve slightly in the second half (when Thornton's dark secret is revealed). It was at this point that I became more involved with the film because I was finally given a better understanding of our protagonist, but I do think that it was a bad move just shoving this reveal on towards the end of the film - it strikes of laziness and I do feel that Thornton should have been given more development and depth earlier in the film which may have made it a more enticing character study. The reveal explains that Thornton killed his opponent during a boxing match which caused him to hang up his gloves for good and he vows never to fight again yet later in the film he contradicts himself and fights Denahar to prove to Mary that he isn't a coward?? To go from Thornton pouring his heart out to a priest about vowing to never fight again only then to start brawling with Denahar seemed a little strange - this is made worse by the fight being totally unnecessary and being given a rather comical spin (both men have water thrown in their faces on several occasions and they even stop for a beer at one point halfway through their fight). It's also made worse by the fact that Thornton seems unfazed by the prospect of knocking seven bells out of Danaher (Thornton has an emotional flashback when he gets knocked to the ground, but for some reasons this never happens on the numerous occasions when he knocks Denahar to the ground??). Despite this final fight being entertaining, narratively it went against pretty much everything that proceeded it.Still it isn't completely irredeemable; the likes of Flynn, McLagen & Fitzgerald all play their parts in making this film as good as they can. Wayne has his usual swagger about him, but he isn't great here and his performance here feels rather artificial - he delivers his lines very slowly and seems to pause for about 5 seconds after delivering about 5 words. There are some funny moments in the film (although Fitzgerald is responsible for most of these).The Quiet Man may have worked better when it was released and was probably heavily reliant on John Wayne's star power, but I found large parts of the film to be uninvolving and despite the second half being quite entertaining it also seemed to give out mixed messages. Average and watchable, but that's about it.

John Ford swooped his historically fourth BEST DIRECTOR win for THE QUIET MAN in the Oscars, a record very much likely will never be matched, to say nothing of being surpassed. But it was his only win from a Ford-Wayne picture, THE SEARCHERS (1956) was wholesomely snubbed, but it is not a conventional Ford-Wayne picture either, its locale is deviant from their usual Western landscape.Wayne plays Sean Thornton, an Irish-born American from Pittsburgh, returns to his homeland, a backwater town called Inisfree (a fictional place) in the 1920s, he reclaims his family land from widow Sarah Tillane (Natwick) and falls for an ardent ginger Mary-Kate Danaher (O'Hara), after locking horns with her eldest brother Squire Will Danaher (McLaglen), a loutish heavy who also sets his eyes on Thornton's farm, and according to the provincial tradition, Mary-Kate cannot marry without Squire's consent.With a little conspiracy from Sean's new local friends - yes, Sean is the new apple of the eye for this jerkwater town, who can easily gain trust and favour from denizens over the unwelcome Squire himself. - including the matchmaker Michaeleen Flynn (Fitzgerald), reverend Cyril Playfair's (Shields) and his wife (Crowe), who fabricate a quid pro quo to inveigle Squire to marry Mary-Kate to Sean, so himself in return could marry Ms. Tillane, and the plan works (for the first half), Sean and Mary-Kate ties the knot, but an unknowing Ms. Tillane refuses to take Squire for the team, after a bout of ruckus, Squire holds back Mary-Kate's dowry, which according to Sean's noble confession, doesn't mean anything to him, what he loves is her, not her fortune, but talking about different values, for Mary-Kate, her dowry is not just money, it is her own reputation at stake, that's something worth her husband to fight for, but Sean seems to be unmotivated.Sean's past in USA has been carefully veiled in the narrative, only his burly figure and the occasional attention from reverend Playfair, who is a fervent sport fan, knowingly suggest his vocation, a former prizefighter, who has sworn to abnegate boxing after accidentally knocking off an opponent during a match. Now, coerced by an obdurate Mary-Kate, Sean has to use his fists to earn back her respect and prove that he is not a coward, even though in his mind, it is plumb purposeless, but the point is, that's what husbands must do to defend his womenfolk, so a long- delayed close-range brawl between Sean and Squire arrives ebulliently with on-lookers betting their money on who is the last man standing.THE QUIET MAN adheres to the conventional criteria of a patriarchal society under the microcosm of Inisfree, machismo reeks of booze, smoke, gambles and sweat after a fist fight, even Mary-Kate, a perfect specimen of a fine lady, blindly hamstrings her pride in the shibboleth, which leaves the picture a smack outmoded in the eyes of a new viewer six decades later.Visually expansive, thanks to the sublime topography of the Irish countryside (in the sunny days only) and John Ford's discerning sense of aesthetics, THE QUIET MAN also elicits a more layered performance from John Wayne, not merely a macho bigot bogged in his own intransigence, he can also be a rose-loving, violence-relinquishing pacifist, paired with a strikingly zealous Ms. O'Hara, who is so ambidextrous both indoor and outdoor, whether she is playing harpsichord or playing rough against Wayne. Slas, Wayne finds his match, a virtuous leading lady who can both physically and characteristically challenge him in a Ford picture.Victor McLaglen, who is visibly too old to play big brother of O'Hara (34 years of her senior), is the only member in the cast rewarded with an Oscar nomination, but in retrospect, he chews the scenery a bit little. Yet, it is Barry Fitzgerald who almost single-handedly holds intact the film's comedic vibe as the booze-dependent Flynn, with gusto and impeccable foibles, and in truth, THE QUIET MAN aims to be a bubbly ethnographic study sending a more liberal message - there is no reason why Catholicism and Protestantism cannot co-exist harmoniously under the same roof, maybe not all roads can lead to Rome, but at least there are several of them can. A final nod to Victor Young's majestic score, utterly pertinent to accompany a jolly journey in that bygone era and faraway place.

For John Ford a triumph.As the Academy Awards, USA 1953 bears witness.John Wayne, a wonderful performance, as in all his films.Maureen O'Hara, as ever great.John Ford favorites, Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond give good support.Barry Fitzgerald just the right character for the role.And as does Arthur Shields And Ken Curtis in a small role.I note various negative opinions.Seems not everyone likes this film.This movie is one of my favorites since the 1950s.If one accepts it as intended, it is perfect.

The Quiet Man (1952): Dir: John Ford / Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond: John Wayne is presented as someone with a past where a boxing match concluded with a death. As a result he pulls away from violence and this poises an issue when he returns to Ireland to reclaim his family's farm. Maureen O'Hara plays a local woman whom Wayne falls for but her brother is an overbearing bully who is angry at him after being out bid in the land auction. He becomes a divider in the relationship to come. John Ford and John Wayne have collaborated through numerous films, including Stagecoach, but here Wayne has a seemingly different role as someone who regrets a violent past yet is unfairly taking hits from O'Hara and her brother. She marries Wayne but becomes obsessed with the money that is owed her by her brother. She constantly berates him until he finally takes charge in what becomes a very long haul. Great supporting roles particularly by Victor McLaglen as the brother who ends up being dealt with through a fist fight that derails the film from greatness. This fight turns the drama into a corny showcase that doesn't fit the mode of the first two acts. Ward Bond plays a Catholic Priest who also gets involved in the scheme at hand. In any event Ford delivers a message loud and clear of pride and standing up for oneself. Score: 8 / 10