- A comedy-drama about romance and family conflict in rural Ireland, The Quiet Man marks an odd departure in tone, location, and unfortunately also quality for its director, John Ford. Perhaps the only recognizable ingredient is Ford's favorite star, John Wayne, who plays an American named Sean Thornton returning to the small town in Ireland where he was born. Actually, I suppose that the film's excellent landscapes also reflect the director's usual penchant for picturesque backgrounds, even if they are Irish instead of American Southwestern. Everything else, however, seems more than a few degrees off.
- The plot follows Thornton's attempts to woo the fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), despite the many protests of her belligerent brother Will (Victor McLaglen). Fortunately, some of the townspeople, such as the redoubtable Michaleen (Barry Fitzgerald), the staunch Father Lonergan (Ward Bond), and the sympathetic Reverend Playfair (Arthur Shields), have their own plans that involve tricking Will into giving his sister away so that he may pursue the object of his own affections, the reluctant Widow Tillane (Mildred Natwick). Incidentally, "object" is precisely the right word here since the Irish courtship rituals involve plenty of calculation and not much love. But maybe that's just as well since the people involved aren't all that lovable in the first place.
- As is probably obvious, the film's big problems result primarily from the dowry-focused plot and the unlikable characters. The culmination of these two suspect ingredients occurs when Thornton drags Mary Kate across several miles of pasture (as the entire town looks on) just to demand that Will pay her the money she so desires. Why anyone would expect a happy marriage to result from this particular union is completely beyond me. At any rate, the film attempts to salvage itself with an absurd extended brawl between Will and Thornton, but it's too little, too late. By then, the tired Irish stereotypes, plodding plot, and awful characters had succeeded only in convincing me that I liked John Ford a lot more when he stuck to rural America.
- Ford won an Oscar for Best Director for this film.
