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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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The Quiet Man (1952)

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

Green Thoughts

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Quiet Man on DVD

No major studio would touch John Ford's dream project, and so "B" studio Republic Pictures agreed to bankroll it if Ford would make them a bread-and-butter Western first. Ford delivered Rio Grande (1950), and Republic made good on its promise. Ford shot on location in Ireland in dazzling Technicolor (with bold, sparkling greens), and came up with one of his most enjoyable, full-bodied films. John Wayne stars as Sean Thornton, an ex-boxer who escapes a dark secret and returns to his ancestral stomping grounds. He immediately falls for spunky redhead Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara) but must fight for her honor. Ford clearly has such a good time that the potentially intense drama comes across as good-natured and bawdy, with doses of physical humor and dizzying romance. Today's audiences may balk at the rough treatment O'Hara gets, but she's no victim; she obviously gives as good as she gets. Ford includes one great boxing ring flashback that apparently inspired Martin Scorsese during the making of Raging Bull (1980).

Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, Francis Ford, Eileen Crowe, May Craig, Arthur Shields, Charles B. Fitzsimons, James O'Hara, Sean McClory, Jack MacGowran, Joseph O'Dea, Eric Gorman, Kevin Lawless, Paddy O'Donnell
Written by: Frank S. Nugent, based on a story by Maurice Walsh
Directed by: John Ford
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 129 minutes
Date: April 26, 2007