Grade: B
Synopsis: A man (John Wayne) moves home to Ireland and falls in love with a woman (Maureen O’Hara) whose ornery brother picks a fight.
Despite the presence of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, biggest star of The Quiet Man is Ireland itself. The scenery is amazing, and director John Ford takes full advantage of it.
Majestic landscapes aside, The Quiet Man is also notable for the great tandem of John Wayne and Victor McLaglen. McLaglen, one of the few men who can match Wayne both in terms of presence and stature, provides the perfect foil, and their climatic battle is a cinema classic, even though Ford obviously, and unwisely, sped up the film in some parts.
Wayne and McLaglen far outshine their costar, Maureen O’Hara, who comes across as quite unlikable (and even a little touched in the head) early on, but thankfully does manage to win you over by the film’s end. The problem is that you’re hard pressed early on to understand just why Wayne’s character would go through so much trouble for such a bull-headed woman he just met.
The Quiet Man is often mentioned as one of John Wayne’s best films, and while it may not belong amongst the likes of Rio Bravo (1959) or Ford’s own The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), it’s still certainly worth a look.
