When John Ford screened his final cut for Republic's top brass they liked it, but it was 129 minutes long--they reminded him that the studio would not release a film over 120 minutes, claiming that audiences could not or would not sit in a theater for over two hours. Ford staunchly objected, claiming he already cut out "all the fat" and there was nothing left to cut. They stood their ground and sent him back to cut nine minutes. Ford did his best to contain his ire as he collected his film and fumed out the door. As the story goes, a few days later he called the brass and informed them "the final print" was ready for screening. When the last man took his seat Ford signaled the projectionist to dim the lights and run it. Then, at exactly 120 minutes, right in the middle of the climactic fight, the screen goes white and the house lights came up. There followed a deafening silence. Ford said something like, "As you can plainly see, there is nothing left to cut out. So, I give you 'The Quiet Man' at exactly 120 minutes! Now, you're begging me for the last nine minutes! Do you honestly think the audience will be any different?' He got his extra nine minutes.