Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man (1952)

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Review

You may (rightly) wonder why I am capping a 1952 film. There are several reasons.

The film is at 8.1/10 at IMDB and #189 in the top 250 of all time. If you squint real hard, Maureen O'Hara has pokies in several of the images. It won two Oscars, and was nominated for 5 more. The imagery shot in Ireland is lovely. Four stars from Maltin 83% from Apollo, 90% from Apollo readers, three stars from Berardinelli.

Those are the excuses. The real reason -- It is my favorite John Wayne film, Maureen is a fiery redhead probably without a modern equal, and I get tired of doing the same modern actresses and recent productions all of the time.

John Wayne plays Sean (Trooper) Thornton, an ex-prizefighter who returns to his birthplace in Ireland from America after killing a man in the ring. He immediately does two things. He makes an enemy of the richest man and biggest bully in town, Squire Danaher, and falls in love with his sister Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara).

He purchases his ancestral home, which the good Squire has been trying to acquire. The Squire must give permission for Trooper to court Mary Kate, and of course refuses. The rest of the town conspires to fool the squire into giving permission, and giving Mary Kate her dowry.

Mary Kate will not have sex with Sean without the dowry, and the Squire won't give the dowry to them unless Trooper fights him for it. Trooper resists the fight, as he has sworn to never fight again, but can only take so much.

This is my choice for Wayne's best performance, and the chemistry between Wayne and O'Hara is undeniable. The rest of the cast is, without exception, excellent. The DVD transfer looks like a 49-year-old film, and lacks sharpness, but has very little grain or noise, and has good color saturation.

No great truths are revealed in this film, and it won't make you think much, but this feel good romantic comedy is almost a sure bet for a romantic evening.

Written by: Tuna ...courtesy of Scoopy.net