The Quiet Man - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[brent]

Maureen O'Hara had no double for the scene where John Wayne drags her across the fields back to the village and got bruised by the rough terrain.

[cassandra]

Maureen O'Hara's brother Charles B. Fitzsimons played one of the IRA men, and Barry Fitzgerald's brother, Arthur Shields, was cast in the key role of the Rev. Playfair, the town's Protestant vicar. Victor McLaglen's son Andrew served as an assistant director.

[sandra]

One of John Ford's budget-cutting measures was to forego using his usual make-up man, Web Overlander. He told John Wayne he would have to use Maureen O'Hara's make-up person. However, the actor was sensitive to make-up (which Overlander knew) and his face puffed up like a blowfish after one treatment. Ford immediately sent for Overlander.

[nora]

The movie's fans who visit Cong to see the sites where the movie were filmed are called "Quiet Man Crazies".

[amber]

John Wayne was disappointed by the unconvincing studio sets that were used for exterior scenes.

[kenneth]

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.