Live Life Team
Genre: Romance
Director: John Ford
Starring Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond
In America, Sean Thornton (Wayne) was a boxer, but he retired from this career after accidentally killing a man in the ring. Now, he has returned to his Irish home town of Innisfree, a place, he hopes, where he can finally be at peace. Sean’s first move is to buy the cottage in which he was born. This alienates the town bully, Squire “Red” Will Danaher, who wanted that land for his own use. Sean then meets and falls for Danaher’s sister, Mary Kate (O’Hara) a red-haired colleen with a feisty will and passionate heart. Getting Danaher’s permission for the marriage is a thankless task, but when Danaher refuses to hand over his sister’s dowry and Sean refuses to fight him for it, Mary thinks he’s a coward and walks out. The romance in their relationship (and there is plenty of romance) is off to a slow start.
The director John Ford, while working away on westerns, was trying to drum up the backing for The Quiet Man, acting as homage to the Emerald Isle of his roots. Eventually Republic the westerns and B-movies studio chose to fund The Quiet Man. The romance between Sean and Mary takes on a theme of deep understanding in the worth and strengths of each other which grows while the sparks fly, a rather rocking romance.
