thequietmango-blog

[thequietmango-blog]

How 'The Quiet Man' Changed Cong Forever

In early June of 1951, the director John Ford arrived in the obscure village of Cong, Co Mayo, to make The Quiet Man (1952). Cong had hardly been glimpsed at by the Irish urbanite, let alone penetrated by such an exotic thing as a camera lens.

Since the Famine it had been one of the poorest rural allocations in the west, dependent on the mealy cottage industries of timber, firewood and fishing. It was just four miles from where Captain Boycott lived, and the peasantry of Cong were among those that alienated him in the mass 'boycott' of draconian rents in September 1880.

Ford chose this historic location after much soul-searching. He came with a troupe of personnel, a rag-bag of technical and artistic paraphernalia and a cast that included Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne, who was dressed in 'white tropical trousers and a crimson shirt', according to an amused bystander. Alongside the 80 staff from Republic Pictures, Ford drafted in 200 locals for a wage of 30 shillings a day.

The Rural Electrification Scheme had been launched hot on their heels by the ESB in 1946. Ford inexhaustibly had the campaign for electricity in Cong speeded up, knowing the scale of power units that would be needed for filming. This also meant a release from primitive oil-burners and candles for the cottagers of Cong: for the first time people were able to hang a 40-watt light bulb to lighten the daily rituals.

He had telephone wires fitted in the area, which involved dynamiting parts of the countryside; loud bangs that often interrupted the serenity of open-air filming.

Although the bread rations all over Ireland still lingered from the recent war, Ford had special reinforcements of wheaten soda bread brought for his Cong throng. The filming had also fallen into a neat parcel with the formation of the Irish tourist board, An Bord Fáilte, that July.

During the economic stagnation of de Valera's Ireland, this was a microcosm of prosperity. On July 11, 1951, a national newspaper reported: "One began to feel that Cong was going to take a long time to get over this."

It never did.

Cong is still dining heartily on the spoils of the film. From a sign on the Clifton road that points to "Quiet Man Country", Cong is the West of Ireland's Disneyland; a rural boutique of Wayne/O'Hara-themed dramatisations, quizzes, memorabilia, film screenings in pubs, a branded cafe and a thatched heritage centre to entertain the surge of tourists that arrive each year.

[thequietmango-blog]

The Production of The Quiet Man

The film was something of a departure for John Wayne and John Ford (Director and Producer), who were both known mostly for Westerns and other action-oriented films. It was also a departure for Republic Pictures, which backed Ford in what was considered a risky venture at the time. It was the only time the studio, known for low budget B-movies, released a film receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

Ford read the story in 1933 and soon purchased the rights to it for $10. The story's author was paid another $2,500 when Republic bought the idea, and he received a final payment of $3,750 when the film was actually made. Republic Pictures agreed to finance the film with O'Hara and Wayne starring and Ford directing, but only if all three agreed to first film a Western with Republic. They did, and after completing Rio Grande, they headed for Ireland to start shooting.

One of the conditions that Republic placed on Ford was that the film run under two hours. However, the finished picture was two hours and nine minutes. When screening the film for Republic executives, Ford stopped the film at approximately two hours in, on the verge of the climactic fistfight. 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 colour 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 the Irish language can be heard.

Filming commenced on June 7, 1951. All of the outdoor scenes were shot on location in Ireland in County Mayo and County Galway. The inside scenes were filmed toward the end of July at the Republic Studios in Hollywood.

The story is set in the fictitious community of Inisfree. This is not the same as the Lake Isle of Innisfree, a place in Lough Gill on the Sligo-Leitrim border made famous by poet William Butler Yeats, which is a tiny island. Many scenes for the film were actually shot in and around the village of Cong, Co Mayo, 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. In 2008, a pub opened in the building used as the pub in the film (it had actually been a shop at the time when the movie was shot); the pub hosts daily re-runs of the film on DVD.[5] The Quiet Man Fan Club holds its annual general meeting in Ashford Castle. Other locations in the film include Thoor Ballylee, Co. Galway, home of poet W.B. Yeats for a period, Ballyglunin railway station near Tuam Co. Galway, which was filmed as Castletown station, and various places in Connemara Co. Galway and Co. Mayo. Among those is Lettergesh beach, where the horse race scene was filmed, the Quiet Man Bridge, signposted off the N59 road between Maam Cross and Oughterard and the "White O'Morn" cottage. The latter is located on R336 south of Maam, but has long ago fallen into ruin.

The film also presents Ford's depiction of an idealized Irish society, with 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 – which represented the norm in what was then the Irish Free State. (Religious tensions occurred in the 1930s, but were the norm only in Northern Ireland.) The only allusions to Anglo-Irish animosity occur after the happy couple is married and a congratulatory toast expresses the wish that they live in "national freedom" (the term national has been censored from most editions) and before the final donnybrook when Thornton demands his wife's dowry from Danaher. Danaher asks Hugh Forbes, who had been commander of the local Irish Republican Army unit during the fight to expel the British, if the IRA was in on this; to which Forbes replies, "If it were, not a scorched stone of your fine house would be standing.

[thequietmango-blog]

It was a very calm afternoon in Cong down by the Monks' Fishing House #TheQuietManGo #thequietman #cong #mayoireland (at Cong Co Mayo)

[thequietmango-blog]

The Quiet Man Statue in Cong Village J (at Cong Co Mayo)

[thequietmango-blog]

How to Install ‘The Quiet Man Go!’ on your Device

Please see below how you can install the app:

For Installing your Android App from Browser

Please follow these steps to install your app on your Android Device. To start with, please ensure that the “Unknown sources” box is checked (in the browser) to allow installation of non-Market applications.

1) Simply Open the below URL on your Android Phone Browser http://d2wuvg8krwnvon.cloudfront.net/appfile/0f0643ea70f5.apk

2) This will download the .apk file.

3) Tap install and the app will be installed onto your device. Once the app is installed you can delete the .apk file which you had downloaded as it’s no longer needed.

For installing your iPhone App from Safari Browser

Please follow these steps to install your app on your iPhone:

1) Simply Open this URL on your iPhone Safari Browser http://snappy.appypie.com/app/download-plist/appId/0f0643ea70f5

2) Click the Launch button which will open a dialog box that will say 'snappy.appypie.com would like to install "APPNAME"

3) Tap install and the app will then install onto your iPhone

4) If you are getting “Untrusted App Developer” message when trying to run Appy Pie’s test App on iPhone then follow the instructions as given in this link.

For feedback or any issues with your App, please email us at support@appypie.com.