Disc Details
Special Features:	Full frame format Chapter selection Commentary by actress Maureen O'Hara Featurette: "The Making of The Quiet Man" Featurette: "The Joy of Ireland" "Remembering The Quiet Man" Montage Trailers Cast and crew bios and filmographies Production notes Original restored audio and enhanced original restored audio
Video Format:	Full Frame (1.33:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono) English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono enhanced)
Subtitles:	English.
Captions:	Yes
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

"The Quiet Man" is a major change of pace for director John Ford and his frequent star John Wayne. "The Quiet Man" was also the personal favorite of both men. Director Ford struggled to bring the story to the screen for nearly 12 years.

"The Quiet Man" is a love story in more ways than one. The movie was a work of passion for all involved. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara had incredible chemistry together. "The Quiet Man" was the second of four films they did together. I've loved redheads ever since I saw this movie as a child. Ms. O'Hara is all woman! "The Quiet Man" was unusual at the time because it was filmed on location in Ireland. Although several interiors and a few exteriors were filmed on the Republic backlot, a majority of the movie was shot on location. "The Quiet Man" benefits greatly from the lush location scenery. Ford shot the film in Technicolor. The only thing missing is widescreen format. John Ford won his fourth Best Director Oscar for this movie. If you have never seen "The Quiet Man" I envy you because you get to see it for the first time very soon!

Picture Quality: 10/10
"The Quiet Man" was filmed in lush Technicolor. The DVD was made from a restored print. The picture is beautiful. They don't make them like this anymore! Of course, some folks might find that to be a problem. The film has a soft focus haze much of the time. The light is diffused and at times the whites bled over into the brighter colors. This was intentional on the part of the filmmakers. Keep in mind that "The Quiet Man" won an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Folks who prefer a crisp clear picture may wonder why I rate this picture so high. The images found on "The Quiet Man" DVD go back to a different time in Hollywood history. Today’s films have built on those from the past. Sometimes today's filmmakers forget where they came from. The images in "The Quiet Man" are artistic and beautiful. Maybe we should make them like this once again.

Sound Quality: 8/10
The mono sound track is fine for the film. This is a dialogue intensive movie. There are few sound effects which would have benefited from a 5.1 stereo soundtrack. The enhanced soundtrack sounds much fuller than the unenhanced soundtrack, but both of them get the job done. Victor Young's score sounds great.

Menu: 8/10
Nice interactive design. Easy to navigate.

Extra Features: 10/10
"The Making of 'The Quiet Man'" is a 26-minute featurette hosted by Leonard Maltin. As with the "Making of" featurettes on "High Noon" and "Rio Grande," Artisan has put together a well researched little documentary. Leonard Maltin shares all the behind the scenes information you could possibly want to see. Included are interviews with Andrew McLaglen, John Wayne's children, the original theatrical trailer, and an archived TV interview with John Wayne and John Ford.

"The Joy of Ireland" is a 30-minute featurette with Maureen O'Hara, Andrew McLaglen and Patrick Wayne. Ms. O'Hara has the bulk of the screen time as she shares her memories about making this classic film.

"Remembering 'The Quiet Man'" is a three-minute montage of memorable scenes from the movie. The Cast and Crew Bios include info about John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, director John Ford and Producer Merian C. Cooper (King Kong). There are 15 screens of production notes.

Maureen O'Hara's commentary track is outstanding. She shares as many memories about these legendary screen stars as time allows. A wonderful treat. Especially since the film is 50 years old. I only hope that more and more studios will release this type of DVD while we still have the older stars to share their memories with us.

The Final Word:
Another must have DVD from the Golden Era of Hollywood. Please support Artisan in their quest to bring older films to a younger generation.

Rusty White