The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story of the same name by Irish author Maurice Walsh, later published as part of a collection titled The Green Rushes.

The film features Winton Hoch's lush photography of the Irish countryside and a long, climactic, semi-comic fist fight.

[4][5][6] In the 1920s, Sean "Trooper Thorn" Thornton, an Irish-born American retired boxer, travels from Pittsburgh to his birthplace of Inisfree to purchase the old family farm.

Some village residents, including parish priest Father Peter Lonergan and local matchmaker-cum-bookmaker Michaeleen Óge Flynn,[b] trick Will Danaher into believing that Widow Tillane will marry him if Mary Kate is no longer under his roof.

He gleefully allows the marriage, but he refuses to give Mary Kate her dowry when he finds he was deceived, and the Widow Tillane knows nothing about the deal.

The villagers eventually persuade Will to release Mary Kate's furniture (which she owns), but Will refuses to hand over the monetary part of the dowry (which is his contribution).

Followed by a growing crowd of villagers, Sean forces Mary Kate to walk with him the five miles (8 km) back to the Danaher farm.

When Will refuses, Sean throws Mary Kate back at her brother, declaring he will abide by the Irish custom "no fortune, no marriage".

A donnybrook ensues, then evolves into a long Homeric fistfight between Sean and Will after they insincerely agree to adhere to the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

This is not the same as the Lake Isle of Innisfree, a place in Lough Gill on the Sligo–Leitrim county border made famous by poet William Butler Yeats, which is a tiny island.

Among those are Lettergesh beach, where the horse race scene was filmed,[15] "The Quiet Man Bridge", signposted off the N59 road between Maam Cross and Oughterard[16] and the "White O'Morn" cottage.

[17] The film also presents Ford's depiction of an idealized Irish society, with only implied social divisions based on class and differences in political or religious affiliations.

One piece of music, chosen by Ford himself, is most prominent: the melody the "Isle of Innisfree", written not by Young, but by the Irish policeman/songwriter Richard Farrelly.

The melody of the "Isle of Innisfree", which is first heard over the opening credit sequence with Ashford Castle in the background, becomes the principal musical theme of The Quiet Man.

When Maureen O'Hara died in October 2015, her family stated she listened to music from The Quiet Man during her final hours.

[21] In 1952 A.H. Weiler of The New York Times viewed the film "as darlin' a picture as we've seen this year," with "dialogue that is as tuneful as a lark's song.

"[22] In another contemporary review, the entertainment trade paper Variety called the picture "beautifully filmed" and wrote that "Wayne works well under Ford's direction," but found the 129-minute running time "unnecessary.

"[23] Harrison's Reports described the film as "a delightful and rollicking comedy melodrama of Irish life, directed with skill and acted with gusto by a fine cast.

The photography is glorious and Victor Young's score, inspired by folk airs, is a complete joy for an exuberant, vigorous picture.

On January 22, 2013, Olive Films released The Quiet Man on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray, as a 60th Anniversary Special Edition.

It was narrated by Gabriel Byrne, and had interviews with Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Charles F. Fitzsimons, and Maureen O'Hara.