Most audiences recognize John Wayne for his accomplishments within the war and Western film genres. However, he very occasionally set foot away from what viewers expected from him, although it was only for specific circumstances. Ordinarily, the movie star knew how to throw quite the punch, resulting in plenty of available stuntwork.
Wayne made the switch to The Quiet Man, once again collaborating with director John Ford and actor Maureen O’Hara. First, they had to agree to make Rio Grande to get the necessary funding to make their passion project, which also gave the lead actors the opportunity to generate more chemistry with one another.
John Wayne did some of his own fighting in ‘The Quiet Man’
According to the official Wayne Facebook page, he had a double who did plenty of work over the course of The Quiet Man. There is a lot less dangerous stuntwork here than in his other movies, but there are still some legendary scenes that set Hollywood history. Stuntman Chuck Roberson was his favorite stuntman, but he had another name attached to the project.
“For this film, it was Bill Maguire who doubled for Duke,” the Facebook page wrote. “Bill did most of the stunts for Duke in The Quiet Man except for the riding scenes and the main fight scene. Joe Mellotte was simply a stand-in for John Wayne in a few scenes.”
The post continued: “The riding scenes were doubled by Joe Fair. Terry Wilson and Bob Morgan were the stuntmen who took part in the climatic brawl, which was filmed in the studios. Patrick Ford (John Ford’s son) did the stunts for Victor McLaglen.”
Wayne truly demonstrated another side of him in The Quiet Man. He shared electric chemistry with O’Hara that continues to earn praise from his longtime fans. He’s explored dramatic storytelling with nuance in this collaboration with O’Hara and Ford.
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