The Quiet Woman

1951
1h 11m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Coastal pub proprietress is inveigled into a smuggling plot.Coastal pub proprietress is inveigled into a smuggling plot.Coastal pub proprietress is inveigled into a smuggling plot.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

260

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Featured reviews

8StevenKeys

A winsome, mysterious woman (Hylton) tries to escape her troubled past in reviving an East Sussex tavern on the Bay with a trusty friend in tow (Bryan), encountering a pair of "pirate(s)," one an artist (Bond), the other a bosun's mate (Balfour), both proving helpful when her unruly half (Towb) comes calling in this rom dram quickie (71m) from Tempean / Eros. Directed and co-written by John Gilling (Recoil) (Adams), Quiet projects well on convincing, clever, sometimes very frank dialogue ("wished he'd died in prison") and one of filmdom's great kisses (@ 29:50) (Berman). Co-stars John Horsley as the coy customs officer and Dianne Foster in standard casting of the exceedingly beautiful, bitchy rival, it's one of the movies that has me falling head over heels for post-war British crime drama (River Beat, They Made Me a Fugitive, For Them That Trespass, The Slasher, Double Confession). A sea noir set near "Romney Marsh" with a smart script and notes that match the mood (Lanchbery), to call it simple is an admission of a weak heart, for these pictures that proliferated when England, a war victor, was struggling to adjust, are filled with feeling and suspense (3/4).

searchanddestroy-1

Too British for me

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.

4Prismark10

Smuggler's Bay

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.

9mhadesign

Great Film

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.

5malcolmgsw

routine b thriller

Setting the film on the coast gives this film the advantage of being different from the majority of thrillers which are set on the mean streets of London.so I suppose you could coin a new descriptive phrase,film mere,for this film. It relies far more on the acting than the story,which you could describe as a lot of old rope.Dora Bryan and Michael Balfour give excellent support to the rather leaden leads. This film rather let's itself down by some truly dreadful process photography,which rather highlights the financial constraints placed on the production.There is not a lot more to be said about this film so I will conclude the review.

More like this

6.0

Impulse

6.0

Rendez-vous avec Callaghan

6.0

5.7

5.8

5.6

6.0

6.8

Le criminel aux abois

6.0

Black Widow

6.4

Trois heures pour tuer

5.8

The Steel Key

6.9

Le destin est au tournant

Trivia
Dora Bryan replaced Diana Dors, who had quarreled with the director.

Goofs
When Elsie is going up the stairs after the flower delivery she trips as she goes round the corner on the landing.

Quotes
Duncan McLeod: Morning, Jane. Lovely morning.
Jane Foster: Good morning, Mr McLeod.
Duncan McLeod: Did I mention that my other name was Duncan?
Jane Foster: I believe you did. I don't remember mentioning that mine was Jane.
Duncan McLeod: Obviously an oversight
Jane Foster: [looking at him painting] I'm glad to see that you do something else besides smuggling.
Duncan McLeod: Oh, yes.
Jane Foster: Why do you smuggle?
Duncan McLeod: Keeps me out of mischief. I'm afraid you take rather a poor view of me, don't you?
Jane Foster: Possibly. It's quite a normal view to take of people who break laws. I mean, willfully break them.
Duncan McLeod: Trying to tell me you've never broken one yourself?
Jane Foster: What do you mean by that?
Duncan McLeod: Well we all do from time to time, don't we? Some more than others. You know - extra rations, dodging income tax and so forth. Quite human little failings really.
Jane Foster: Does smuggling liquor across the Channel come under the category of a human little failing?
Duncan McLeod: Oh, definitely.
Jane Foster: If you ever get caught, I hope the Customs authorities take the same view.
Duncan McLeod: Thank you! Didn't think you cared that much.
Jane Foster: I don't! If you want the truth, Mr McLeod, I hate people like you. You don't smuggle because you need the money, you do it out of bravado; because you think it's smart to get away with something.
Duncan McLeod: I wouldn't say that...
Jane Foster: Your worse than a real crook because you can look at what you're doing objectively and know that it's wrong. You think it's a good joke. But it's not. It's bad...
Duncan McLeod: You look wonderful!
Jane Foster: You make me quite sick, Mr McLeod!