Ireland: The Quiet Man

No week of mostly all things Irish would be complete without something from the Quiet Man starring "Himself" John Wayne & "Herself" Maureen O'Hara. Here are the Movie Notes from Wikipedia:

The film was something of a departure for Wayne and director John Ford, who were both known mostly for action-oriented films. Ford read the story in 1933 and soon purchased the rights to it for $10. Republic Pictures agreed to finance the film with O'Hara and Wayne with Ford directing, only if all three agreed to film a western with Republic. All agreed and after filming Rio Grande they headed for Ireland to start shooting. John Wayne would eventually describe the movie as the favourite of his long career.

One of the conditions that Republic Pictures placed on John Ford was that the film came in at under two hours total running time. The finished picture was two hours and fifteen minutes. When screening the film for Republic Studio executives, Ford stopped the film at approximately two hours in: on the verge of the climactic fight between Wayne and McLaglen. Republic executives relented and allowed the film to run its full length. It was one of the few films that Republic filmed in Technicolor; most of the studio's other color films were made in a more economical process known as Trucolor.

The film employed many actors from the Irish theatre, including Barry Fitzgerald's brother, Arthur Shields, as well as extras from the Irish countryside, and it is one of the few Hollywood movies in which spoken Irish can be heard.

The story is set on Innisfree, an island in Lough Gill, County Sligo. Many scenes for the film were actually shot in and around the village of Cong, County Mayo and on the grounds of Cong's Ashford Castle. Cong is now a wealthy small town and the castle a 5-star luxury hotel. The connections with the film have led to the area becoming a tourist attraction. The Quiet Man Fan Club hold their annual general meeting in Ashford Castle each year.
The film also presents John Ford's depiction of an idealized Irish society, with Catholics and Protestants living in harmony, and no social divisions based on class or religion. The Catholic priest Father Lonergan and the Protestant Rev. Playfair maintain a strong friendly relationship throughout the film.

Here is the climactic fight scene at the end of the movie. Everybody should see this movie once!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bm0RIs-VJU