The Quiet Woman

I have always craved for British crime dramas or thrillers from the late fifties and early sixties period. But this one was made in 1951, so in a way, we still are in the forties mode. Very very British in the style, without any influence from the American film industry, and maybe not always in the good way. This film is talkative, it lacks something which we will find several years later, especially from John Gilling, the future director of FLESH AND THE FIENDS, SHADOW OF THE CAT, FURY AT SMUGGLERS BAY, BANDIT OF ZHOBE, THE CHALLENGE...Actually, this thriller drama is interesting for those who like the British cinema of this period, for its atmosphere, settings. Yes, from this angle, point of view, it is charming. But nothing exceptional.

Having previously been married to a criminal, Jane Foster (Jane Hylton) takes over a coastal pub named 'The Quiet Woman' to start a new life with the help of her loyal and protective employee Elsie (Dora Bryan). She is indignant to discover that the previous owner had allowed an amiable local artist and part-time smuggler Duncan McLeod (Derek Bond) to use the pub for storing contraband goods but despite this, a romantic attachment develops between them. Helen (Dianne Foster), an old flame of McLeods, tricks her way into staying at the pub to pose for him but becomes jealous of Jane and taunts her about knowing her past and threatens to expose her. Pressure then mounts on McLeod when an old Naval colleague Inspector Bromley (John Horsley) arrives at the pub to stay for several weeks. He now is working as a customs officer. And then Jane's escaped convict husband turns up and demands her help.

This is a pretty typical British B picture of the period with flimsy plot and the minimum of props, much being made of outdoor filming and studio-bound back projection of seascapes in the latter stages that fail to convince the viewer the action is taking place in mid-English Channel. The best aspects of this film are the solid acting from a cast of well-known character actors/actresses of the period. In particular Dora Bryan gives a nice performance as Jane's trusted friend who is fiercely protective of her employer while keeping the romantic aspirations of McLeod's sidekick Lefty (Michael Balfour) at bay. The pleasant coastal photography gives the film a genuine seaside atmosphere.

If like me, you grew up with second feature films like this in the early 1950s, then you accept them as entertainment and enjoy the way things were done in those far more innocent times. If you criticise them, it should only be done against the criteria that prevailed then and not by today's standards. Given that, the only disappointment for me was the weak, improbable ending. I have the distinct impression that the scriptwriter suddenly decided he had better things to do than invent a plausible finale. A pity.

I have this film on DVD, it is a great film from the 1950's, great acting and a good story line makes this movie, and with most old movies they where film on location as is this one, not in a studio I think it is always good to get a feeling of natural surroundings, which was filmed in Sussex in one of my local pubs, which is called "The Star Inn" the pub is located in the small coastal village of Normans Bay, East Sussex and still retains a lot of the original features from the movie. The pub dates back to 1402. Dora Bryan was in the film, she sadly died back in 2014 in Hove, East Sussex which is not far from where this film was made. I think most of the cast has sadly departed us now.

Saluting by the male characters and calling their betters "Sir" went on a lot in this film but their wartime experiences were part of the plot. It took me a while to recognise Harry Tawb as his distinctive look and voice was not fully developed yet.

The pub in this film was named after a mythical creature.

A nice snapshot of postwar gentlemanly dodgy dealing with the only loser being the excise man so we were all rooting for the smugglers of course. The smuggling was not the central plot however so this was more of a romance story than an exciting smuggling film was it was till enjoyable even for those not all that keen on romantic films.

The Quiet Woman is a low key crime thriller with a lot of outdoor location shooting but a humdrum and light plot.

Duncan McLeod (Derek Bond) a local artist with his assistant Lefty Brown (Michael Balfour) do a bit of part time smuggling of liquor across the English Channel. They store the liquor at the local pub Quiet Woman. Now it has been taken over by newcomer Jane Foster (Jane Hylton) and her employee Elsie (Dora Bryan) and they tell McLeod that they do not approve of whatever arrangements he had with the previous owner.

However Jane succumbs to the charms of McLeod but trouble ensues when her criminal husband turns up after escaping from prison and demands his wife's help and the two customs officers are hot on the heels of McLeod.

A pleasant but undemanding film with Jane trying to start a new law abiding life but finds out that it is difficult to get away from her past. Harry Towb made his film debut as Jane's thuggish husband who in later years became better known for children's television show, You and Me.