I grew up in the days when John Wayne was perhaps the most
looked up to actor on the planet. His portrayal of the deep rooted American
hero was what represented us to the world and his popularity was among the
largest found for any movie star. While most will associate him only with
westerns it was one of his most personal films that I still count among the
best he ever made. THE QUIET MAN involved a location far from the west or even America,
taking place in Ireland. And until now the difficulties in making that film
were not that well known. This documentary takes care of correcting that loss
of information.
The movie goes back and forth from talking about the effects
the movie had on the small town in Ireland where it was made to the struggle
that Ford had in bringing the film to fruition. It was a 20 year journey that
he made in an attempt to bring the world he was born in to light on the silver
screen and it wasn’t an easy trek. The career that he built in the U.S. helped
garner him enough power that he was able to do it and in the end the result not
only further established him as an amazing director, it won him a best director
Oscar and was nominated for best picture that year. The movie was a blockbuster
and has become heralded as one of his best.
The story of the movie itself involved a boxer (Wayne)
retired from the ring for reasons unknown as we start, who returns to the home
of his birth to take over the family land. He meets a fiery redhead (Maureen
O’Hara), falls in love and wants to marry. Unfortunately her stubborn brother
(Victor McLaglen) does his best to keep the two apart. The eventual showdown
between the men ends the movie in what was one of the funniest and longest running
fight scenes in movies.
But the movie was more than just a story of ill-fated
lovers. It was a love story of the land of Ireland itself as told by one of its
sons. It was a way of bringing his homeland to the screen for all to see how
lovely it was, how simple life was for him as a boy that had Ford so willing to
risk as much as possible to make this film. All of those struggles, from simply
getting the studio to allow him to make the film to funding to finding just the
right people to fill out the roles, is what makes this documentary so
fascinating.
In addition to the story of Ford, as I mentioned earlier, we
get to see the location he shot the film in today along with memories of it
being made shared by some who were there. Certain stores in the film may not
have been what they were depicted as in the movie but they’ve retained the
names and signs used for fans of the film that visit now. There is even an
appreciation group that gathers to celebrate the film in this town.
In the end this is an entertaining film that not only
reveals what went on behind the scenes but encourages you to go out and find
the movie to watch all over again. I have little doubt that in so doing those
who have seen the movie will fall in love with it once again while those who
have never been exposed will find themselves drawn into the story, amazed at
the performances of all involved. Not only does this documentary remind us of
this classic film, it lets us know that with determination all things are
possible.
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