Director John Ford is most famous for his celebrations of American History and culture, but he also made a number of films that explored his Celtic, and especially Irish, roots, of which The Quiet Man is his most successful. An interesting mixture of drama and comedy, the film traces the homecoming of Irish-American Sean Thornton (John Wayne) to the "old sod," where he begins a passionate and stormy relationship with Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara). Filmed in County Galway (from which Ford's family had immigrated to the United States), The Quiet Man features plenty of action in the Ford style, with the fitting, epic climax being ex-boxer Sean's fistfight with Mary's brother Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) over his refusal to grant the American Mary's hand.
The battle ends with both men getting too drunk (during pause in the action) to continue; they end as friends and, ultimately, family after Will agrees to the marriage. Yet the film is not really about masculine values. Mary is much more than the simple object of their contention. Though she wants Sean, Mary refuses to go against her brother to marry him. Marrying Sean under these circumstances would be an insult to her. At first Sean - who had killed a man in the boxing ring - will not fight, and Mary thinks he does not love her enough to risk the struggle with her brother. A plot hatched by others in the village to trick Danaher into granting permission, and the couple is married. But brother soon discovers the deceit and withholds the dowry. Mary refuses to sleep with Sean before the dowry, which represents her independent worth, is paid. The concluding boxing match settles both questions, however, and the couple is thereby reconciled.
Under Ford's astute direction, The Quiet Man plays off the conventional quaintness of the village against the beautiful natural scenery, resulting in a film that is serious enough to be affecting, but enough of a fantasy to be uproariously funny.
Quote of the Day - Will Danaher- "He'll regret it till his dying day, if ever he lives that long."
Tomorrow: The Man that Shot Liberty Vallance (1962)
2 comments:
The Quiet Man is with out a doubt one of my favorite movies of all time. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara had a chemistry that is unrivaled in the modern cinema. The thing was they had a connection that lasted decades.
My favorite scene of the entire movie is when Sean Thornton drags her all over the county to return her to her brother for failure to pay her dowry.
The Quiet Man is essential John Ford.
John Ford may in fact be the most influential director of sound films among other directors. Many of the greatest directors of all time point directly to him as their favorite or one of their favorite filmmakers: Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone (and his own star, Clint Eastwood), Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Bernardo Bertolucci and any of members of the French New Wave or their disciples, from Jean-Luc Godard to François Truffaut.
I cant agree more about the walk home. the music and his rolling walk make the pacing of the scene just perfect.
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