John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952) is the most popular cinematic
representation of Ireland, and one of Hollywood's classic romantic
comedies. For some viewers and critics the film is a powerful evocation
of romantic Ireland and the search for home. This book contains new and
original information and photographs about the film The Quiet Man. Des
MacHale has found a range of unexpected new information about the film.
The book opens with the letters of John Ford's secretary, Meta Sterne,
giving authentic information and commentary about what went on behind
the scenes on location in Ireland. There were many rumours of a sequel
to The Quiet Man but they never came off. However, a belated sequel Only
the Lonely starring Maureen O'Hara was produced in 1991 and it is
described and analysed. The emergence of the screenplay of The Quiet Man
is a long and complicated saga. The book examines the initial rejected
screenplay by the Welsh novelist Richard Llewellyn which contained much
of the inspiration for the final cut of the movie. The memoirs of
Maureen Coyne--Cashman, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, are published
here for the first time. She is one of the few surviving bit players and
she describes her experiences on set with Wayne, O'Hara, and Ford. The
real-life incidents on which the ecumenical scenes in the film are based
are discussed.The final part of the book covers more recent events
including the Quiet Man conference held in Galway in 2004 and the
opening of Pat Cohan's bar in 2008 which featured in the film as a real
bar. The book also contains dozens of previously unseen stills from the
movie and many unseen photographs of locations and personalities.
