The Quiet Man (1952) on Netflix
Sean Thornton, a retired American boxer, comes home from Pittsburgh to Inisfree to buy the old family farm. He falls for Mary Kate Danaher, whose brother Will wants that land for himself.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.7/1046,399 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sean Thornton comes from Pittsburgh by train to Castletown in Ireland and asks the way to Inisfree, the village where he was born. Michaleen Oge Flynn drives him there on a horse-drawn chaise, and along the road Sean sees red-haired Mary Kate Danaher in a field. The cottage at White O'Morn belongs to the widow Sarah Tillane, and Sean tells Michaleen he wants to buy the place he was born in. Father Peter Lonergan, who knew his family, welcomes him. Widow Tillane accepts Sean's bid, so her neighbor Squire 'Red' Will Danaher, who wanted the land, becomes his enemy. Sean wants to marry Mary Kate, but she is the Squire's sister, and Will refuses his consent.
Cast
Show all 20 cast
- Joseph O'Deaas Molouney - Train Guard
- Eric Gormanas Costello - Engine Driver
- Kevin Lawlessas Train fireman
- Paddy O'Donnellas Railway porter
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Quiet Man (1952)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Republic placed a condition on Ford that the film run under two hours, but the finished picture was two hours and nine minutes; when screening it for Republic executives Ford stopped the film at about two hours, on the verge of the climactic fistfight, and the executives relented and allowed it to run its full length.
- Ford read the story in 1933 and soon purchased the rights to it for $10, and the story's author was paid another $2,500 when Republic bought the idea, receiving a final payment of $3,750 when the film was actually made.
- Republic Pictures agreed to finance the film with O'Hara and Wayne starring and Ford directing, but only if all three agreed to first film a Western with Republic; they did, and after completing Rio Grande they headed for Ireland to start shooting.
- Ernie O'Malley, an Irish Republican Army officer during the war of independence and commander of the anti-Treaty IRA during the Civil War, advised Ford on local culture and was on set with him every day; according to O'Hara, the two "would natter away like old buddies" and were friends.
- The film was a family affair: Francis Ford, who played the old man who gets up from his deathbed to watch the fight, was John Ford's older brother; the director's son Patrick Ford did much of the stunt work for Victor McLaglen and was a unit director; and Charles B. Fitzsimmons and James O'Hara are brothers of Maureen O'Hara.
- When Maureen O'Hara died in October 2015, her family stated she listened to music from The Quiet Man during her final hours, and filmmaker George A. Romero was also said to have died listening to the score.
- In 2008 a pub opened in the building used as the pub in the film, which had actually been a shop at the time the movie was shot, and it hosts daily re-runs of the film on DVD.
