The Quiet Man (1952)

Having left Ireland as a young child "Sean Thornton" (John Wayne) has returned from Pittsburgh as a young man with a yearning to settle down. Upon the road to his old home town he sees a beautiful red-haired maiden named "Mary Kate Danaher"(Maureen O'Hara) and immediately takes a liking to her. Yet, even though the feeling is mutual, her older brother "Will Danaher" (Victor McLaglen) has developed an immediate disliking to him because Sean bought the land he wanted for himself--and Will Danaher is known far and wide for his fighting skills. But what nobody knows is that Sean used to be a professional boxer in America and can certainly take care of himself. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie has action, comedy and some nice acting thrown in for good measure as well. The bottom line is that if you're interested in a good, clean movie then this is certainly one you might want to check out. Definitely above average.

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.

Sean Thornton, an American prizefighter, Irish-born, who accidentally killed an opponent, went back home to free his mind, and buy his family property in Ireland. On his trip to home, he met a girl, Mary Kate Danaher, and they both fall in love. Mary Kate's brother, Squire "Red" Will Danaher, opposed Sean decisions to buy the propriety and refused to marry him to Mary Kate. Using strategies, Sean finally buys back the family propriety and ends up marrying Mary Kate with no dowry. Ignorant of the local traditions, Sean did not want to fight for the dowry, but his wife forced to do so. The film's theme can be seen as the importance of local traditions, the place that money and influence have in Ireland. Sean used his money to get back the propriety at a price higher than the value of it. Red took advantage of his local influence to refuse to give the dowry. To get back the dowry, Sean had to fight him and accomplish what is seen a merit by the society. Like in John Ford's film, THE GRAPES of WRATH, this one too shows the power of money and local rules. In "The Grapes of Wrath", families are sent out of their proprieties for defaulting on payment; that's the law. The great lesson I've taken from the film is that we should learn local rules and traditions if we want to become inclusive in the new society we live in.

" . . . if he ever lives that long," Victor McLaglen's "Red Will" says of John Wayne's "Sean Thornton" early on in John Ford's THE QUIET MAN. Few truer words were ever said, and they could apply to pretty much all the American cast and crew with whom McLaglen was hanging out. Though the UNHOLY THREE is the title of a Silent Classic, it's hard to think of a more apt umbrella to cover QUIET director Ford, star Wayne, and narrator Ward Bond. Few Americans have hurt more of their fellow citizens with Racist and Anti-Semitic outbursts. One of these men was involved with the mendacious Silent BIRTH OF A NATION. Another was on the Racists-Will-Rise-Again GONE WITH THE WIND payroll. The third led the Kill-the-Jews (often literally, as with John Garfield) Hollywood Witch Hunts immediately after World War Two (while enlisting the help of the first two for his pogrom). Eva Braun found out that History judged her by the company she kept. Watching THE QUIET MAN, one is torn between pity and contempt for its female lead, Maureen O'Hara. Of course, Bobby Darin sang that Mack the Knife could be as charming as he needed to be. But when you frolic and splash around in a blood-filled swimming pool, your judgment is open to question.