--- title: "The Quiet Man: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-quiet-man/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-quiet-man" critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Quiet Man (1952): what the critics said Critics' score 77 from 12 reviews: 11 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like The Quiet Man a great deal, and the praise gathers in the same places. The Technicolor photography of the Irish countryside is mentioned in nearly every review, and several treat it as the film’s chief pleasure. Maureen O’Hara draws the warmest notices, for a heroine with more independence and appetite than the period usually allowed. The big fight is singled out repeatedly, and a number of critics admire how Ford moves between romance, comedy and something sadder without the joins showing. The reservations are about the view of Ireland. Several reviews call it rose-tinted, nostalgic or stage-Irish, and The Skinny adds casual misogyny and some hammy acting to the charge sheet while still recommending it. The spread is otherwise narrow. The one outright dissent is the oldest: The New Yorker, reviewing it on release in 1952, finds the whole thing cute, quaint and overlong, and thinks Ford has slipped into treacle. ## Radio Times — Tony Sloman Rating 5/5. John Ford won his fourth best director Oscar for this immensely popular chunk of old blarney; John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara shine, with fantastic support, a lilting score and deservedly Oscar-winning Technicolor photography, though the picture-book view of Ireland may seem rose-tinted and dated now. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-2qzwgt/the-quiet-man/) ## Slant Magazine — Carson Lund Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 November 2016. The review celebrates the film’s sublime Technicolor visuals and Ford’s fluid blending of romance, comedy, and character complexity in a personal passion project that feels like an oral folk tale. It singles out the lush Irish landscapes and O’Hara’s fiery presence for particular visual praise while noting the film’s tonal variety and thematic depth. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-quiet-man-2016/) ## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 17 February 2015. The critic argues The Quiet Man deserved the 1952 Best Picture Oscar over High Noon, praising Ford’s masterful handling of tones and a large ensemble in an episodic Irish pastoral that feels like an entire universe rather than a single story. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/john-wayne-goes-to-ireland-for-what-should-have-won-bes-1798276673) ## Sight and Sound — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2015. Nostalgia tinges Ford's postwar output, most unrepentantly in this adaptation of a Maurice Walsh story. Maureen O'Hara's feisty colleen stands out for her independence and sensuality, while the rousing donnybrook and verdant Technicolor photography are highlights. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-best-john-ford-films) ## The New York Times — Dave Kehr Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 2013. The Quiet Man is an uplifting fantasy of a traditional community thriving by resisting modern encroachments, featuring a magnificent couple born out of conflict and a broken man finding redemption; it is one of Ford's prestige projects he was proudest of, earning him a best director Oscar. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/movies/homevideo/new-dvds-how-green-was-my-valley-and-quiet-man.html) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic views the film as more than charming Oirish whimsy, noting its inversion of Ford's earlier social messages, strong Technicolor imagery, memorable fight sequence, and depiction of underlying social and religious tensions alongside American cultural insensitivity. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/quiet-man-review/) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1951. The film is a robust romantic drama of a native-born's return to Ireland, filmed on location with strong physical performances from Wayne under Ford's direction and memorable supporting characters like Barry Fitzgerald. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1951/film/reviews/the-quiet-man-1200417129/) ## Film Comment — Max Nelson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The review portrays Ford’s Irish fable as a pastel dreamscape that mythologizes the past while revealing melancholy and unease beneath its charm. It highlights the hard-won natural celebration at the story’s close amid the characters’ participation in an imagined history. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/the-quiet-man-john-ford-dvd-review/) ## Time Out — PT Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2016. Ford's flamboyantly Oirish romantic comedy hides tough ironies in its mistily nostalgic recreation of an exile's dream, but the illusion/reality theme is soon swamped within a vibrant community of stage-Irish types; Ford once called it the sexiest picture ever made. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-quiet-man-1) ## The New Yorker — Philip Hamburger Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 1952. Ford's sentimental new film presents Ireland and its people as excessively cute and quaint over a long runtime; while the countryside scenes and action sequences like the steeplechase and fight are well-photographed, the director has fallen into treacle compared to his earlier work. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1952/08/23/1952-08-23-056-tny-cards-000045220) ## Paste — Matthew Jackson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 22 August 2022. The critic celebrates "The Quiet Man" as John Ford's most intimate and personal film, highlighting its brightness and charm in contrast to his usual Westerns. He praises the director's deep personal investment in portraying his Irish heritage and the film's enduring appeal as a classic. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/john-ford/the-quiet-man-john-ford) ## The Skinny — Ross McIndoe Rating ★★★★. 7 December 2015. Ford’s film remains highly endearing as a Sunday-afternoon classic even as it shows its age through casual misogyny, hammy acting, and slapstick. The director’s skills flourish in this humbler setting with gorgeous shots and no wasted frames. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-quiet-man) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-quiet-man.md