The Quiet Man
Posted on March 10, 2008 at 8:00 am
AI grew up in Chicago, a city that really knows how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. There’s the parade, of course, and every year they dye the Chicago River green. And every year WGN shows The Quiet Man, the unabashed love letter to Ireland made by director John Ford with John Wayne and Irish and Irish-American actors like Maureen O’Hara and Barry Fitzgerald. Some people think the movie is sexist, but they ignore the movie’s key themes about how important it is for both men and women to believe that they bring something important to the relationship. In the words of Michaleen Oge Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald), it is about a love story that is impetuous and Homeric. It has passion, humor, glorious Technicolor, and one of the greatest fight scenes ever put on film. It’s a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Gorgeous scenery, great Irish humor, the best movie Wayne (real name: Marion Morrison, Irish) ever made.
“So the IRA is in on this too?” “If it was, Squire Danaher, not a scorched stone of your fine home would be standing.”
And “Yer widow – me sister – coulda’ done a lot worse.”
My parents saw this recently and RAVED about it. Putting it on my rental list now, thanks for the reminder!
Thanks so much, Mother Seer! Just about every line in the film is deliciously quotable. Linda, I hope you enjoy the film as much as I do and that you come back and let me know.
“He’ll regret it to his dying day — if he lives that long!”
“Is this a courting or a donnybrook? Have the good manners not to hit the man until he’s your husband and entitled to hit you back. ”
And of course: “The proprieties must be observed.”
It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. John Wayne is such an icon (for good or ill) that people forget that he was also a darned good actor.
Don’t know this film! I too will put it on my list. Thanks Nell, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone.