Tagline: Action...Excitement...Romance...Fill the Screen!
Curiosity: Irishmen engage in the longest fight scene committed to film (at the time).
Plot: Having retired from boxing after accidentally killing an opponent in the ring, wealthy Irish-American Sean Thornton (John Wayne) returns to his homeland in search of solace. He almost gets it when he marries the beautiful Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara), until her brother Will (Victor McLaglen) refuses to pay her dowry. Determined to never fight again, Sean loses Mary Kate’s respect, throwing their sexy, sexy Irish marriage into jeopardy.
Will Will stop being such a dick? Will Sean kick his ass and/or get laid? Are any of these characters sober?
Thoughts: For St. Patrick’s Day, my fiancé and I decided to down some Smithwick’s and watch The Quiet Man. And eat pizza. Because pizza is awesome. The Quiet Man is awesome too.
I have some reservations about celebrating it for this blog, since the movie actually won two Oscars, but c’mon. Anyone who’s seen The Quiet Man will tell you that part of its charm comes from it being about barely functioning alcoholics with anger issues. Barely any of these characters have jobs. They just drink and argue six days a week (On the seventh day they go to mass). Shit, Wayne and O’Hara barely belong together – Mary Kate is batshit insane, freaking out with little provocation, while Sean tends to kick the crap out of her a lot, culminating in him dragging her five miles on foot. This is like a drunken Irish version of Taming of the Shrew. It does quiet her down, though.
Of course, it helps that John Ford was such a brilliant director. He and cinematographers Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout won awards for their cinematography, and deservedly so. The Quiet Man explodes with bright colors, from the costumes to the sets to Maureen O’Hara’s gorgeous red hair. Watching O’Hara and Wayne court along Irish farmland is some of the most beautiful footage I’ve ever seen.
The Quiet Man is love letter to Ireland. Its characters are eccentric and inebriated, but dang it if they aren’t appealing too.
Reflection: John Wayne dragged Maureen O’Hara through sheep shit. Now that’s realism.
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