Expert: Paul Rabe - 1/4/2009

Question
Please help me. I am looking for a movie in which John Wayne pays a dowery to his brides brother and then drags her ascross the plains to return her to him.

Answer
You're talking about one of my all-time favorite scenes in a John Wayne film, and I've seen over 100 movies he's appeared in. The scene is in _The Quiet Man_, and the Duke drags Maureen O'Hara to her brother long after the brother refused to pay the newly wed couple a dowry. The villagers, the wife, and the audience all wonder why Wayne justn't go to the brother and smack in the choppers for this insult -- but Wayne's character hides a secret in his past that explains his reluctance to get into another fight. When O'Hara decides that Wayne doesn't love her enough to stand up to her mean-spirited brother, she attempts to leave him -- at which point Wayne decides he'll show his love by FINALLY standing up to the brother. The confrontation that follows is one of my all-time favorites.

I watch parts of this film every time it comes on TV, and never get tired of the scene you mention. It's John Ford at his absolute best.