Stars:
John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, and Victor McLaglen
Writer:
Frank S. Nugent
From
The Story By: Maurice Walsh
Director:
John Ford
Feature
length: 129 minutes
Extras:
Commentary With Maureen O’Hara, The Joy Of Ireland With Maureen O’Hara,
Remembering The Quiet Man Montage, The Making Of The Quiet Man, Cast & Crew
Information, Production Notes, Trailers
Languages:
English Monaural Sound and Three-Channel Enhanced Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 32
Sound:
Monaural Sound and Three-Channel Enhanced Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1952/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Republic Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Artisan Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Concluding
the set of Special Edition DVD releases of classic Republic Pictures films to
celebrate their 50th year anniversary from Artisan Home Entertainment is “The
Quiet Man.” One of the most beloved pictures to star John Wayne and Maureen
O’Hara, the film was produced by Republic Pictures with John Ford directing
after Ford, Wayne, and O’Hara completed delivery of the western “Rio
Grande.” Both “Rio Grande” and “The Quiet Man” were big successes both
financially and critically for Republic Pictures, which had sought to elevate
its profile from the b-movie westerns the studio turned out in the 1940s.
Artisan
Home Entertainment presents “The Quiet Man” in the original (1.33:1) aspect
ratio preserving the look of the film’s original Technicolor theatrical
exhibition with the same digitally mastered transfer from the previous DVD
release. The Technicolor is bright and vibrant with lush reds and greens, but
the picture looks a bit soft and there is some grain from age that can be seen
in the background throughout the film. The original restored English Monaural
Soundtrack is provided along with a new enhanced Three-Channel Soundtrack, that
adds a higher volume to the soundtrack, but I preferred the English Monaural
Soundtrack, which is clear and natural sounding. However it is thoughtful of
Artisan Home Entertainment to give viewers both to choose from and English
Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are encoded on to the DVD as an option
as well. Maureen O’Hara provides a thoughtful feature length and scene
specific audio commentary track where she proudly shares her Irish heritage with
detailed anecdotes of behind-the-scenes occurrences while debunking rumors.
Maureen
O’Hara also participates in a new-videotaped interview that is a part of
“The Joy Of Ireland” documentary (30:17), which is complimented by the
original “Making Of The Quiet Man” documentary (27:46), which is hosted by
Leonard Maltin with 12 scene selections. A montage of classic scenes from the
film is included in the “Remembering The Quiet Man” (3:09) featurette.
Detailed cast & crew information and onscreen production notes along with
DVD-Video trailers for “The Quiet Man: Collector’s Edition” (1:16), “Rio
Grande: Collector’s Edition” (1:35), and “High
Noon: Collector’s Edition” (1:44) wrap up he extra features on this DVD
release.
The
menus are feature full motion scene selections and are easy to navigate and a
note by Maureen O’Hara regarding “The Quiet Man: Collector’s Edition DVD”
opposite the scene selections is included within the insert inside the DVD keep
case. The case features a green cardboard slipcase that enhances the look of the
packaging as a whole. “The Quiet Man: Collector’s Edition DVD” is
available now along with “Rio
Grande: Collector’s Edition DVD” and “High
Noon: Collector’s Edition DVD” sold separately from Artisan Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.