Turned down by all the major film companies, The Quiet Man brought together John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara for only the second time on screen, won two Oscars and was showered with both critical and popular praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Even today, its worldwide video and DVD sales are quite outstanding.
The Quiet Man is rightly hailed as a Hollywood classic. Set in the 1920s and shot in the 1950s, the timeless, fairy-tale character of director John Ford's Ireland is as captivating now as it ever was.
Gerry McNee first saw the movie when he was very young and it has intrigued him ever since. In the Footsteps of the Quiet Man is a tribute to the film and all those involved in its making, for the story behind the story, the off-screen drama, is a fascinating tale in itself. McNee has researched his subject thoroughly and conducted countless interviews to produce a stimulating and compulsive homage to what critic and author Andrew Sarris called 'a retreat into the pastoral and horse-driven past [but] very much ahead of its time'.
In the Footsteps of the Quiet Man is a revealing and touching account of when Hollywood came to beautiful Connemara in the West of Ireland. It is a fitting tribute to the film and all those involved in its making, as the story behind the film - the off-screen drama - is an enthralling tale in itself.
