Pastoral Dreams in Innisfree, Ireland, U.S.A.: a
Re-examination of John Ford’s The Quiet Man
In 1952 John Ford finally made The Quiet Man, which he had wanted to
make since the early 30s, at which the time the short story by Maurice Walsh,
upon which it is based, first appeared (“The Quiet Man,” Saturday Evening Post,
February 11, 1933). Since its release, it has been his most widely loved film.
There are surely many reasons for this, but perhaps the most obvious is that it was
a very personal film for Ford, and, accordingly, he spent much more time and
energy on it than he did on projects he made quickly and primarily for profit (i.e.,
Rio Grande 1950). In The Quiet Man his care and attention to detail come
through on the screen. The performances from all concerned are exemplary, but
especially impressive are Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen,
and John Wayne, who, in the unenviable position of playing straight man to a cast
of quirky characters, gives what many (myself included) feel is the performance
of his career.
However, the public’s love for the film has not always been shared by
film critics. In fact, with the exception of reviews at the time of its release and
brief discussions in larger general studies of Ford’s work, very litt