This is the last of the Oscar Retrospectives in the mini-series "The Winner Is John Ford," focusing on the cinematic years for which John Ford won three of his four Oscars for Best Director (we already looked at 1935, the year he won his first for The Informer).
The Quiet Man was John Ford's passion project. It's the movie that he'd been wanting to make since 1933, constantly researching, rewriting, and re-developing. First, it was a politically-tinged drama, something more akin to The Informer; by the time it hit the big screen, it was a fish-out-of-water romantic-comedy; in every iteration, however, it was a valentine to his parents' homeland, Ireland. Ford was born in Maine, but his parents were both Irish (his mother, according to Searching for John Ford, only really knew Gaelic). Throughout his life, he clung to his heritage and gave time and attention to Irish causes and stories. His Westerns and war films would usually have at least one "stock" Irish character - Barry Fitzgerald dependably on hand, as he is in The Quiet Man; an admirer of the playwright Sean O'Casey, he directed an adaptation of the work The Plough and the Stars and produced a biopic, Young Cassidy; and any criticism people have of How Green Was My Valley is usually directed at how the Welshmen are written as, played by, and treated like Irishmen. But that was Ford. The Quiet Man was finally, finally, his chance to tell an Irish story in an Irish setting with Irish actors - and in color, showing off the beauty of the land. They say passion projects can be doomed to failure, but not only has The Quiet Man maintained its status in cinema - it won Ford his record-breaking fourth Oscar:
It is a feat not likely to be bested any time soon. Only two other directors have even won three, and both of them - Frank Capra and William Wyler - are long dead. Another interesting point: Picture-Director splits are rare, but How Green Was My Valley is the only time Ford won Best Director and the movie Best Picture. The Quiet Man, as we know, lost the big honor to The Greatest Show on Earth, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
DeMille was also up for Best Director. In 1950, he was given an Honorary Oscar for "37 years of brilliant showmanship"; if the intention was to salute a man at the twilight of his career, it was premature. That same year, his Samson and Delilah became the highest-grossing film; two years later came The Greatest Show on Earth, again, the highest-grossing film of its release year. So, finally, the brilliant showman became a Best Director nominee for the first and only time. He joined a slate that included not only his old friend Ford, but John Huston, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and Fred Zinnemann.
This slate, in fact:
