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The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man (1952)

August. 21,1952
|
7.7
|
NR
| Drama Comedy Romance

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

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SnoReptilePlenty
1952/08/21

Memorable, crazy movie

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Curt
1952/08/22

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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Kimball
1952/08/23

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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Darin
1952/08/24

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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Silent_Cal
1952/08/25

This is a classic film by the renowned director John Ford, the man who single-handedly defined the Western genre. It stars some gorgeous photography of picturesque Irish locations in eye-popping color, a notable first in Hollywood history. It also stars John Wayne in an atypical role as a retired American boxer who returns to his ancestral homeland, and comes out of retirement so he can beat up a young local woman and her elderly brother.At first it looks like it's going to be a Hollywood romance spiced with local color. John Ford favorites Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond reprise the broad Irish accents they used throughout Ford's cavalry films, and the other Irish locals spend most of their time in the village pub, singing and fighting in true stereotypical Irish fashion. Maureen O'Hara plays a young woman with a fiery Irish temper who falls for the Duke.But then it gets confusing. O'Hara's character is less feisty and hot-tempered, and more hysterical and psychotic. The romance involves Wayne repeatedly chasing O'Hara, grabbing her, and roughly having his way with her. The climax begins with Wayne dragging her bodily across half the country, and then fighting Victor McLaglen for about an hour and a half.Perhaps this is what passed for romantic comedy in 1952, which just proves that societal progress is a good thing. The casual sexual violence in the film is shocking, confusing, and just plain weird. By about halfway through the film I honestly had no idea why or how the romance between the two leads was still going. On a second viewing, it might become clear that the real relationship we're meant to care about is the brawny homoeroticism shared between Wayne and McLaglen.

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Michael_Elliott
1952/08/26

The Quiet Man (1952) *** 1/2 (out of 4) American Sean Thornton (John Wayne) heads to Ireland where he plans on buying the home that he was born in. This upsets Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) since he has been trying to buy the property for years. Soon after Will has even more to be upset with when Sean decides that he wants to date Will's sister Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara).John Ford's THE QUIET MAN is not only a very good romantic comedy but it's also a love letter from the director to Ireland. Ford would make a handful of films in or about Ireland and it's clear that his eye (aka the camera) has a soft spot for the beautiful locations and this bleeds over to the screen just like Monument Valley was a key thing in his Westerns. THE QUIET MAN is certainly a highly entertaining little gem and it's certainly not exactly what you'd expect from the director-star.It was probably wise to not have Wayne attempt an Irish accent and the reason for him not having one is perfectly cared for in the film but there's no question that this is unlike any other performance the actor gave. He's basically asked to play the romantic lead and he certainly nails the performance and it remains one of the best of his career. His comic timing here is quite good and he mixes it up well with the supporting players and especially Barry Fitzgerald whose comedy steals the picture. O'Hara is brutally strong in her performance and the toughness she brought the role was terrific. Then there's McLaglen who really deserves so much more attention that he receives as he's wonderfully entertaining here and a lot of the film's charm comes from his performance.There are many great scenes inside the picture including the famous kiss sequence, which was put to use in Steven Spielberg's E.T.. There's also the terrific fight at the end of the picture, which has to be one of the most entertaining to ever be put on film. Ford's direction is spot on and there's no question that the visuals are quite a treat. There's a lot of entertainment to be had from THE QUIET MAN and a lot of the credit has to go to the terrific cast.

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stackja
1952/08/27

For John Ford a triumph.As the Academy Awards, USA 1953 bears witness.John Wayne, a wonderful performance, as in all his films.Maureen O'Hara, as ever great.John Ford favorites, Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond give good support.Barry Fitzgerald just the right character for the role.And as does Arthur Shields And Ken Curtis in a small role.I note various negative opinions.Seems not everyone likes this film.This movie is one of my favorites since the 1950s.If one accepts it as intended, it is perfect.

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BasicLogic
1952/08/28

The movie was adapted from Maurice Walsh's short story. If you have read it, then you'd immediately have found out that the whole movie was cast with absolutely wrong cast, John Wayne was not in the least as what the short story had portrayed as the man, Sean Thornton, not even close in 100 miles.Sean Thornton, in the story, was indeed a very quiet man, a professional boxer retired from New York boxing ring, seeking an even quieter retirement life back to his hometown in Ireland. He was a tough guy, very reserved and at the same time very humble but with a very strong mind and will.But the screenplay writer and the director, John Ford, had messed up the whole lot and changed it into a farce-like light-heart comedy. It lost the depth of the great short story with a very deep and profound atmosphere which made the short story kind of memorable and an instant classic."The Quiet Man" and "The Most Dangerous Game" are the two most famous and modern classic, the reasons why both of these two short stories had become so great was the unbelievable and unbearable tension in both. Yet the movie of "The Quiet Man" was a loud, noisy, skin-deep shallow comedy without essence at all.Victor McLaglen who played the Squire 'Red' Will Danaher, was definitely another wrong cast. In the story, the guy was a very tough, dark, stubborn, self-righteous, and dangerous, an egoist and willful strong minded tough guy. But the movie had transformed him into a half wit redneck-like thug. So with both important and memorable characters that made the short story so great had been molested into two shallow guys, Sean Thornton had become a loud mouth, always with an ironic sneering smile on his face guy, also a bit too old for the leading role. Squire 'Red', just a countryside rustic roughneck. Neither of them got something special.Maureen O'Hara, who played Mary Kate Danaher, was the only cast that was kinda close to what portrayed in the short story. But in the messy shallow movie, totally ruined by the two wrong male characters, lousy directing and a deep drama-like great storyline messed up into a half farce, half comedy, only one of the cast was barely okay, would not turned this pathetic movie around into a much greater and more memorable one.

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