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The Quiet Man [1952] | | |
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Blarney and bliss, mixed in equal proportions. John Wayne plays an American boxer who returns to the Emerald Isle, his native land. What he finds there is a fiery prospective spouse (Maureen O'Hara) and a country greener than any Ireland seen before or since--it's no surprise The Quiet Man won an Oscar for cinematography. It also won an Oscar for John Ford's direction, his fourth such award. The film was a deeply personal project for Ford (whose birth name was Sean Aloysius O'Fearna), and he lavished all of his affection for the Irish landscape and Irish people on this film. He also stages perhaps the greatest donnybrook in the history of movies, an epic fistfight between Wayne and the truculent Victor McLaglen--that's Ford's brother, Francis, as the elderly man on his deathbed who miraculously revives when he hears word of the dustup. Barry Fitzgerald, the original Irish elf, gets the movie's biggest laugh when he walks into the newlyweds' bedroom the morning after their wedding and spots a broken bed. The look on his face says everything. The Quiet Man isn't the real Ireland but as a delicious never-never land of Ford's imagination, it will do very nicely. --Robert Horton
Amazon.co.uk Review
Blarney and bliss, mixed in equal proportions. John Wayne plays an American boxer who returns to the Emerald Isle, his native land. What he finds there is a fiery prospective spouse (Maureen O'Hara) and a country greener than any Ireland seen before or since--it's no surprise The Quiet Man won an Oscar for cinematography. It also won an Oscar for John Ford's direction, his fourth such award. The film was a deeply personal project for Ford (whose birth name was Sean Aloysius O'Fearna), and he lavished all of his affection for the Irish landscape and Irish people on this film. He also stages perhaps the greatest donnybrook in the history of movies, an epic fistfight between Wayne and the truculent Victor McLaglen--that's Ford's brother, Francis, as the elderly man on his deathbed who miraculously revives when he hears word of the dustup. Barry Fitzgerald, the original Irish elf, gets the movie's biggest laugh when he walks into the newlyweds' bedroom the morning after their wedding, and spots a broken bed. The look on his face says everything. The Quiet Man isn't the real Ireland, but as a delicious never-never land of Ford's imagination, it will do very nicely. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Grand movie it is!! March 23, 2003
Deborah MacGillivray (US & UK)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful
When one thinks of John Wayne they usually imagine Calvary, Indians and the Old West. But John, on occasion, did venture into other areas. In this instance, Ireland, and produced one of his most beloved films. It teams him with long time friends, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Arthur Shields and Barry Fitzgerald (Shields & Fitzgerald were real life brothers), in a project that was near and dear to John Ford. If you think the old town patriarch resembles Ford, it's with reason - it was his father. Stocked with wonderful Irish character actors like David Farrar and Sean McClory, the ever delightful Jack MacGowan, Ken Curtis (Festus of TV's Gunsmoke as Dermot Fahy uncredited and singing! Former Sons of the Pioneers!!), Mildred Natwick as the Widow Tillane, along with Wayne's kids at the horse race scene.Wayne is Sean Thornton, a quite peace loving man come home to Ireland. There is much speculation about the Yanks and why he has returned to the wee humble Irish village where his family was from. He was a fighter in the States named Trooper Thornton, but accidentally killed a man in the ring. Haunted by this he wants to go 'home' to his mother's Ireland and find peace. But his factious neighbours do not understand his reluctance to take on the town Bully Red Will Danaher in order to win the love of his wife O'Hara. Often this movie is criticised as being the "Brigadoon" of Ireland, and that is so, but it's the Ireland of our hearts and imagination and obvious of Ford's heart and imagination. The dialogue is Witty, full of Irish quirkiness. Beautiful location work and the dynamite teaming of O'Hara and Wayne. With marvelous songs like Turalye Anne, Galway Bay, Isle of Innisfree and The Humour is On Me Now and more ( There is a soundtrack available on CD this movie as well). For many years the version on VHS was a pale washed out copy, but this version gives you the 40 shades of green of Eire and the brilliant red hair of O'Hara, they way it should be. The DVD is so sharp, it's truly like seeing it for the first time.
At this steal of a price, every DVD should have a copy. 'Tis Grand, Aye, Grand indeed!
 poor digital mastering and few extras May 14, 2002
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is my favourite film. I've had it on video for some time, and expected the DVD version to be much better.
The picture is sharper, and sometimes too sharp when the artificial backdrops really show up - but that's just part of the quality of the time (1952), and not realy an issue.
What is an issue is the obviously sausage machine way that the mastering has been done with occasional green ring marks on the film which, if more carefully monitored would have been removed.The sound is not great, but acceptable. The extras are almost non-existant. The US version has more - e.g. the making of ... Overall the DVD has better picture, and sound than the video, but could have been so much better.
Oirish in the extreme August 10, 2003
Liam Tighe (Ireland)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
The quiet man is sexist, racist, derogitory. It approves of public disorder. The use of violence to settle disputes, wife beating, gambling, excessive drinking and the ancient practice of dowry. It is simply BRILLIANT. Once one realises that this world as portrayed by John Ford and crew never really existed (or did it) then you can enjoy this lark of a movie, which Wayne should have been awared his second Oscar for. ( He should have got his first for "The Searchers") Pure hokum in the worst possible taste sure and begorra it was wonderful to behold. Relax and don't take life so seriously, enjoy it.
Good old irish (blarney) September 6, 2003
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
The quiet man , (my eye) .
this film is a must for any film buff, it is a master piece of comedy, blarney, tragedy, & most of all just about the best film J.W.& M.O. ever made.
the 1 liners are timless,(he"ll regret it till his dying day ,
if ever he lives that long ) &(do yer see that road down there, well dont take that one, it"ll do you no gud at all ).
all in all an escalating film with a ending to die for.
 Badly mastered, but lots better than the VHS version September 22, 2004
nowster (Manchester, UK)
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
This DVD was sourced from the US video transfer, using NTSC/PAL standards conversion, not a fresh telecine run of the original film at 25fps and a frequency downshift of the soundtrack (as is more usual). As such, motion is blurry, with still frames seeming to consist of three overlaid original film frames.This wastes space on the DVD (the film frames aren't as clean as a "PAL" TK run), and is probably one reason why the extras are missing. It's still much better than the very dark VHS version.
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