The Quiet Man (1952)
When it comes to films set in Ireland, even all these decades later, The Quiet Man is still the most notable of the bunch. Also, arguably, the most successful. Director John Ford won Best Director for the 1952 film. It was his fourth win, which is the record (and nobody alive has more than two). The Quiet Man was nominated for Best Picture as well, but did not win.
John Wayne plays Sean Thornton, a retired boxer who returned from America to Ireland, where he was born. His time in the United States helps the plausibility in terms of why John Wayne sounds like, you know, John Wayne. Sean falls for a redheaded lass named Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara). However, it’s Victor McLaglen, who plays Mary Kate’s overbearing brother, who got an Oscar nomination.
The village of Cong, one of the locations, still has a statue of John Wayne in character.
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