- Unknown Binding
- Publisher: National Agricultural Library (1992)
- ASIN: B00010A6Y4
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent book. The author has certainly carried out his investigations and analysis well. The book identifies and outlines the very many locations where different scenes of The Quiet Man were filmed. Although many of the scenes filmed were in an around Cong, Co Mayo, there were more than a few other scenes from a little more distant locations. What the book does is allow the reader to follow the filming and highlight the locations so that when later visiting the area it is posssible to accurately visit where the filming of different scenes occurred. The reality however is that no matter how beautiful the Irish landscape looks in the film it is still not possible to do full justice to the natural beauty unless one visits these areas at first hand.
Reasons are postulated for why the scenes were protrayed in a particular way rather than what could or should have occurred and in so doing the author gives us an insight into the background and people dynamics of those working on the film from the producer, the actors and actresses, extras, set craftsmen and even the local people of the area. What can not be understated however is the need to view the film first before reading the book.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
JUST about every video or DVD collection in every Irish home contains a copy of The Quiet Man. It's as common as a kettle in the kitchen. Now Des MacHale's book - the result of a life-long fascination with director John Ford's 1952 Oscar-winning masterpiece - looks set to achieve the same ubiquity. And deservedly so, for it is very obviously a labour of love on which the author has not spared the trivia trowel. But this is no surface-skimming missal; no Quiet Man quiz book (heaven forbid). Rather, MacHale has produced a 250-page treasure trove of information and photos and illustrations that "Quiet Man-iacs" the world over will devour with glee. Most remarkable, though, is the author's frame-by-frame examination of arguably the greatest Irish movie of all time. This painstaking task, which involved several hundred hours of pausing, rewinding and fast forwarding, has resulted in the most detailed analysis ever of a motion picture. That's great news, especially for film students, because although The Complete Guide to The Quiet Man is not targeted primarily at them they will find it an invaluable study aid. It's to the movie's millions of fans worldwide that MacHale - a professor of mathematics at University College Cork - really targets his book, which was 20 years in the researching and writing. In it we revisit the breathtakingly beautiful West of Ireland locations in and around the Co Mayo village of Cong that helped earn the film its Oscar for Best Colour Cinematography Simple yet super-precise diagrams pinpoint the camera positions so that visitors - or more accurately pilgrims - can savour the sights as they were seen through the viewfinder. Many never-before-seen black and white and colour photos of the cast and crew at work and play rekindle favourite scenes. We also learn of the scenes in Frank Nugent's screenplay that were never filmed and those that ended up on the cutting room floor. And anecdotes related by villagers and suppliers carry us behind the scenes and paint a picture of that idyllic summer of 1951 when Hollywood descended on backwood. There's also a chapter on those films that influenced Ford - including some of his own - in his making of The Quiet Man. The examples cited might dismay many diehard fans, but the evidence presented by MacHale can't be disputed - Ford obviously and unashamedly stole and borrowed bits and bobs from all around. A line of dialogue here, a scene there, from this film and that were mixed and matched into the story of ex-boxer Sean Thornton's (John Wayne) return from America and his troubled courting of and marriage to the flame-haired Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara at her most beautiful). This we learn and a whole, happy lot more from a book whose only fault is the absence of an index. Perhaps MacHale's 20 years of research and writing left him too exhausted to complete this final task. Hopefully for future editions he will address this.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you, like me, are looking for a photographic book about The Quiet Man this is a waste of money, especially when buying the more expensive hardcover. The reviews here are all enthusiasts about the author and the large quantity of photos, so I thought this was the book I was looking for, but I was disappointed ! Those hundreds of photos they talk about are for the most part amateur , which means very poor quality. Professional photos are a minority, many just depicting the places of location, some others in a very small size. Good quality pictures of cast and film are but a few. So if you are interested in the story of the filming, better choose the paperback edition. If you only want a collection of quality photos from the movie Quiet Man with cast and crew in them, look for something else.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Story Behind the "Quiet Man"
If you grew up during the 1950s and are a fan of John Wayne movies, especially THE QUIET MAN, you will love this book. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Jeanne Hawks
Even better now there's an index
An update to my review of November 2000 - the book has now been re-issued with an index, so now it is absolutely faultless.
Published on 14 Sep 2001 by scottishtom@yahoo.com
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