A Review of The Quiet Man, Directed by John Ford

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The movie The Quiet Man directed by John Ford is a far cry from the Westerns his most noted for directing however for John The Quiet Man “was the most personal film he ever made (it was also one of his favorites” (Berardinelli). In The Quiet Man John Ford brings together one of his most favorite Western actors, John Wayne, who is undeniably the central character, and the ever stunning Maureen O’Hara to brings to life a warmhearted, down-to-earth romantic comedy. He created a movie that is primarily focuses on characters and atmosphere, than on its plot, and is able to bring romance to life, not through the use of powerful dialogue, but through the use of glances and on screen tension. Having filmed most of this movie against the natural backdrop of Ireland in 1952, John was able to capture and bring to life the spectacular Ireland landscape by filming in Technicolor. Today The Quiet Man is truly considered a classic romantic because of the amazing chemistry between its actors, it’s cinematography that captures the truly magical landscape of Ireland, and by ending this movie with one of the longest nonviolent fight scenes in movie history.
The Quiet Man, set in the early 1920’s, is a film that follows Sean Thornton’s (played by John Wayne) journey back to his homeland of Innisfree, Ireland to reclaim his family farm and to escape his brutal past as a boxer who accidentally killed his opponent in the ring. In route from the Innisfree train station, to his birthplace, a small cottage located in the Innisfree countryside, Sean sees the beautiful, red-headed Mary Kate Danaher (played by Maureen O’Hara) off in the distance. Shortly after settling in, Sean meets and becomes instantly taken back by Mary Kate, but quickly finds out th...

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...//john-ford.ememorials.in/index/sindex?id=405>.
Nixon, Rob. "Why The Quiet Man is Essential ." TCM. Turner Classic Movies, n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2012.
Renes, Cornelis Martin. "The Quiet Man and Angela's Ashes: Hollywood representations of Irish emigration as male quest narrative." Estudios Irlandeses - Journal of Irish Studies 2 (2007): 93+. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Apr. 2012.
Spirit of the Thing. "Irish Film Spotlight: 'The Quiet Man' (1952)." Rev. of The Quiet Man. Weblog post. Cinemit. N.p., 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
Spratling, Eric. "Grading Fight Scenes." Web log post. Grading Fight Scenes. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
TB, Dorian. "THE QUIET MAN: “Impetuous! Homeric!”." Tales of the Easily Distracted. Ed. Dorian TB. N.p., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2012.

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