Don't Make a Scene: The Quiet Man

The Story: The Economy of John Ford.

 

And this being the week of St. Paddy's Day, what better way to display that quality than this example from The Quiet Man? I was only going to include the last two shots of Barry Fitzgerald, but the whole sequence is done with less than five shots and moves very quickly. 

 

But, a lot is going on.

It's moving day, for one thing. The newly-wed Thorntons have had their first spat on their wedding night, resulting in "separate sleeping arrangements." But, nobody else knows that, and husband Sean has been sworn to secrecy lest he embarrass his wife, Mary Kate.

  

She needn't have worried. There's lots of embarrassment to go around. Ford crowds the little hovel with the usual too-many people (Ford knew how to convey community) with his main-stay for eliciting comedy—drunks. They assume the normal wedding night shenanigans have occurred, as they accomplish their favor—they've managed to convince Mary Kate's wretch of a brother to give her the furniture portion of her dowry. Part of which is a rocking manger. She's embarrassed. Husband is amused...up to a point. She wants to avoid husband's eye and his shared secret. And the locals are soused, grinning from ear to ear. 

 

And Wayne...as he explained "just played straight-man."

 

The whole thing is about sex, but not an entendre—single, double or triple—is even hinted at, so buried in the "clashing cultures" gambit of the story.

And then it's all topped when the cradle is brought in to the bedroom, where Barry Fitzgerald notices that the conjugal bed (that never was) is wrecked, broken...splintered, really...does an exquisite Jack Benny pause and utters two of my favorite lines—words, actually—in all of Ford's films.

And...believe it or not...those two final shots with those words were banned in Boston on the film's initial run.

Begorah! Saints preserve us!

 

The Set-Up: Sean Thornton (John Wayne), late of boxing and new to Innisfree, has reclaimed the family property—much to the stewing irritation of neighbor "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen). Not only that, he's had the gall to woo and marry Danaher's sister, Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara), under false pretenses. At the wedding, he has made a show of withholding Mary Kate's dowry, an embarrassment that has made Mary Kate doubt the legitimacy of the marriage and delay any conjugal activity. This has prompted the couple's first marital spat, which resulted in Thornton's dumping his bride onto the marital bed, busting it, while he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the parlor.

It is the morning after.

 

Action.

 

HUGH FORBES: Hello, the house! 

HUGH FORBES: Anyone up? -

MARY KATE DANAHER: Good mornin'! - 

HUGH FORBES: Good mornin'. 

HUGH FORBES: I...I suppose its a bit early to be callin'. 

OWEN GLYNN: Well, After you left last night, Mary Kate, a couple of us persuaded Danaher to change his mind. 

HUGH FORBES: Its a...what might be called a sort of a belated wedding present. 

MARY KATE DANAHER: My things... 

MARY KATE DANAHER: My furniture! 

OWEN GLYNN: We'd've brought them over last night, but due to the circumstances... 

SEAN THORNTON: Thanks, thanks. -

OWEN GLYNN: Oh! Here. Here.

MARY KATE DANAHER: Oh! Oh! easy now. - 

IGNATIUS FEENEY: God bless all here. 

MARY KATE DANAHER: That's right. Oh, be careful. 

MARY KATE DANAHER: Over there by the wall. 

MARY KATE DANAHER: No, no, no. Now, turn it around...

MARY KATE DANAHER: ...so that the light shines on the music. - 

MARY KATE DANAHER: That's grand. That's grand now. - 

MICHALEEN FLYNN: Oof! 

MICHALEEN FLYNN: Where do you want this? -

SEAN THORNTON: Mighty handy. - 

MARY KATE DANAHER: It... It was my mother's, 

MARY KATE DANAHER: and my mother's mother's 

MARY KATE DANAHER: ...before!

MICHALEEN FLYNN: Where do I put it? - 

SEAN THORNTON: Where do you suppose? 

MICHALEEN FLYNN: "Where do you suppose..." - 

OWEN GLYNN: Were sorry about the dowry, Mary Kate. -

HUGH FORBES: We couldn't get him to change his mind. - 

HUGH FORBES: Not even Father Lonergan could do it. - 

SEAN THORNTON: Well, let him keep it. - 

MARY KATE DANAHER: Keep my fortune? - 

SEAN THORNTON: Sure! You've got your tables and chairs about you. -

SEAN THORNTON: What do we care about his money? 

MARY KATE DANAHER: My money. 

SEAN THORNTON: Let him have it if it means that much to him. -  

SEAN THORNTON: Gangway!

MARY KATE DANAHER: What manner of man is it that I've married? - 

HUGH FORBES: A better one, I think, than you know, Mary Kate. 

MICHALEEN FLYNN: Impetuous!

MICHALEEN FLYNN: Homeric!

The Quiet Man

 

Words by Frank S. Nugent

 

Pictures by Winton C. Hoch and John Ford

 

The Quiet Man is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Olive Films (I recommend the Signature version)