The Quiet Man

Though John Ford is best known for his classic westerns, he did other stuff, too. He made The Informer, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and Mister Roberts. He won the Best Director Oscar four times, which is a record that will probably never be broken. The Quiet Man is a movie made from the heart, about the Ireland he loved.

This one is unusual as it features the team of John Ford and John Wayne in a simple film that’s not an action picture. Wayne steps out of his usual role to play a boxer who quit the ring after he killed a man during a bout. He seems to have made good money, because when he returns to his birthplace in the small village of Inisfree he is able to buy the house where he was born and the land around it. This makes an enemy of the local rich man, Victor McLaglan. There was nobody in Hollywood better at playing irascible blowhard bullies than McLaglan. Wayne immediately sets his sights on Maureen O’Hara, Victor’s sister and just as quick-tempered as he is. Barry Fitzgerald is there, too, to provide comic relief and … well, apparently there was a law in Hollywood that Barry Fitzgerald had to be in every movie made concerning Ireland.

I didn’t like it as much this time as I did many years ago when I first saw it. The famous final scene is of Wayne pulling O’Hara off a train and hustling her five miles back to town, where he finally fights the big bully. They battle to a draw, and then we see that old saw of two alpha males getting to like one another after beating each other bloody. I have no idea if there is any truth to this idea (I rather doubt it, actually) but since I’ve never been in a fistfight in my life I can’t really say much. The fight isn’t as funny as it was, nor is the sight of the woman being practically dragged on the ground caveman style amusing anymore. Other than that, though, it’s an excellent film. All the actors do a great job, and the brilliant Technicolor photography is lovely to see. It won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, and it was John Ford’s fourth Oscar.