The Quiet Woman (1951) User Reviews

A minor British B picture with a coastal setting.

[new_market41 · 6/10 · 24 December 2008]

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'm glad to see that you do something else besides smuggling.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 2 February 2020]

The Quiet Woman is directed by John Gilling and Gilling writes the screenplay from a story by Ruth Adams. It stars Derek Bond, Jane Hylton, Dora Bryan, Michael Balfour, Dianne Foster and John Horsley. Music is by John Lanchbery and cinematography is by Monty Berman.

The Quiet Woman of the title is double meaning, it's the name of the Inn that Jane Foster (Hylton) has become the landlady of, while it also appertains to herself once the story takes its turn into thriller territory.

It's a decent enough "B" picture, where a smuggling discovery leads to romance, which leads to jealousy, which leads to something from the past surfacing to set up for the nifty last quarter. The short running time means the pic doesn't have time to bore, but the whole splendid time capsule of the era is enjoyable, and so too is the East Sussex waterside locations used on the production. 6/10

routine b thriller

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 8 August 2015]

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.

A pleasant time captule of British 'B' film production; an era of film making that has long since become extinct.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 4 August 2018]

A young woman called Jane Foster (Jane Hylton) moves to the Kent coast where she takes over the running of a lonely inn called 'The Quiet Woman'. She used to live in Northumberland where she endured an unhappy life married to a criminal, which nearly got her charged as an accessory when her husband, Jimmy Cranshaw (Harry Towb), was hiding in her house when the police caught him and sent him to prison. Jane discovers that the previous landlord of her pub used to allow a smug, self-confident, but overall good natured artist cum smuggler called Duncan McCleod (Derek Bond) use the place to store his liquor smuggled in from the continent. Initially, Jane takes a disliking to him and demands he remove the contraband liquor from her property, but the pair gradually start to fall in love. However, events take a turn that threatens Jane's newly found happiness after her ex-husband, who has escaped from prison, turns up and demands that she hide him away in her attic. He then proceeds to blackmail her into persuading McLeod to help him make his escape across the channel on his boat. Meanwhile, a former girlfriend of McLeod's and model called Helen (Dianne Foster) arrives in a vain attempt to patch things up with him on the pretext of having her portrait painted. She becomes jealous of Jane for stealing her man, and she discovers the truth about her past and threatens to tell the world unless she agrees to stay away from McLeod. The pressure is mounting because a former naval colleague of McLeod's, Bromley (John Horsley), is staying at the inn and he is now a customs official forcing McLeod to temporarily suspend his smuggling sideline. Nevertheless, he finds out about Cranshaw and gets his right hand man, Lefty (Michael Balfour), to sneak him out of the inn and take him to his cottage and he agrees to take him over to France in order to take the pressure off Jane. But, Bromley is aware that a 'welcoming party' is awaiting them at the other side of the channel so he and Lefty follow them in pursuit in another vessel. Unknown to them, Cranshaw is armed...

A charming and engaging romantic crime drama, which serves as a pleasant time capsule of British quota quickie film production; an era of film making that has long since become extinct. Derek Bond and Jane Hylton effortlessly dominate the film as the two lovers and it really is a joy to watch the way in which their relationship develops. Initially, Jane knows that she is falling in love with him, but cannot bring herself to accept the fact and tries very hard not to like him. She slaps him down about his smug attitude and cites her dislike for his smuggling activities saying he does it for "bravado" rather than the need to survive as so many people were forced to turn to it to do. She also pretends not to find his wisecracking humour funny, but after he has left the room she allows herself to laugh at his jokes. Good support is provided by Harry Towb who is convincingly sinister as Jane's escaped convict ex-husband. Veteran British character actor John Horsley is perfectly cast as the very British ex-naval officer turned customs official and Dora Bryan, who is perhaps the most familiar name in the cast to a modern audience, also deserves praise as Jane's barmaid and loyal friend Elsie. The proceedings are much enhanced by Monty Berman's attractive black-and-white camerawork, which makes excellent use of the locations around the Romney marshes and Winchelsea that add to the film's romantic atmosphere. Directed by John Gilling, who after years of cutting his teeth on second features such as this, would find acclaim as the director of classic horror films like The Plague Of The Zombies and The Shadow Of The Cat at the Hammer studios.

It takes time to get going, but it's good when it opens up.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 3 December 2020]

The Quiet Woman is a low key affair indeed, it starts off at a very casual pace, indeed the first half hour feels like it could have been a comedy, it's pleasant, but slow. At about halfway there is a change up, and the thriller element comes through, for me it then becomes a lot more interesting, we get to learn why the two women are there, it's good.

Harry Towb was very good as Jim, he added something that had lacked, a bit of grit. His appearance does change things up.

I just love Dora Bryan, she was a true unique talent, she adds a lift to this film.

It looks very nice, good location work, it's nicely filmed, and stands up well.

It's a good, if slow moving film, 6/10.

Smuggler's Bay

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 18 June 2017]

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.

Dull Sussex crime story.

[johnshephard-83682 · 4/10 · 20 March 2020]

Amiable, time-passing B movie of little merit but for some nice location shots in my locality. It features all the usual hallmarks of the cheapo quickie - some clunky dialogue, improbable plot developments, and an uninspiring romance at the centre. Anodyne, new-coming country innkeeper Jane (Jane Hylton) falls for equally anodyne smuggler/artist/ex-naval officer Duncan (Derek Bond). It gets complicated with the arrival of dominatrix Helen (Diane Foster), his former lover, who immediately treats Duncan's sidekick Lefty (Michael Balfour) and barmaid Elsie (Dora Bryan) as her persona slaves, and they seem happy to let her. She sets out to sabotage the budding romance, and is assisted when Jane's escaped convict husband Jim (Harry Towb) turns up, demanding that Jane shelters him, or else he will tell the police that she's been hiding him for days. On the basis of this absurd threat Jane agrees, and hides him in the attic (actually just another room on the same landing as the guests bedrooms). Helen spills the beans, Duncan and Lefty smuggle Jim to the coast, pursued by customs man Bromley (John Horsley) and Jane, who gets there just as quickly on foot as Bromley does in his car with a head start, and then we have a boat chase across the channel, a punch-up, and a frankly ridiculous demise when Jim is hit in the sea by a crew-less boat which he makes no attempt to avoid. It's all good, unlikely fun, the cast spend a lot of their time in the pub, which appears to have virtually no other customers, it all ends well for the loving couple, and you can enjoy the scenery.

Great Film

[mhadesign · 9/10 · 20 May 2016]

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.

So low key as to be almost unnoticeable

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 13 August 2016]

THE QUIET WOMAN is a low rent romance/mystery/thriller from the popular Tempean Films, which churned out B-movie after B-movie during the 1950s. This one was written and directed by the hard-working John Gilling, and the result is just about passable, although it's the kind of film that's really dated in the ensuing years. It feels slow and genteel these days rather than the gripping thriller it strived to be. One of the most interesting things about the production is the location shooting in the southeast. Rye harbour and New Romney are used as locations here alongside a mill in Icklesham and even the railway station in Winchelsea. These locations are great for nostalgia buffs interested in building a picture of Britain in days gone by.

Otherwise this is a low key effort that focuses on human drama and relationships throughout. Half a dozen characters interact in and around a boarding house on the south coast. Derek Bond is the rather dull and old-fashioned smuggler hero and the bland Jane Hylton the object of his affections. Dora Bryan and Michael Balfour are much better as the second-tier players who embark on their own volatile relationship. John Horsley is a stiff detective, Harry Towb (in his film debut) the bad guy, and Dianne Foster a quite mesmerising femme fatale. Despite smuggling being one of the sub-plots, nothing much happens in THE QUIET WOMAN, and it's very much a minor effort.

For A Movie About A Quiet Woman, There's An Awful Lot Of Talking

[boblipton · 4/10 · 18 September 2020]

Jane Hylton runs a pub on the water, but she used to do other things. Derek Bond is an artist, but he also does other things. And John Horsley doesn't do anything, but he also does other things. We find out soon enough what these other things are. Not all of them are nice, but the movie still goes on for 67 minutes, because there has to be a final scene involving a fight at sea in the fog, in what appears to be about four feet of water.

There's some good camerawork by Monty Berman, but this sort of movie, which tries to retain the audience's interest by the occasional Surprising Revelation doesn't do much to interest me. Character is revealed by action, not talk - unless it's one of those movies in which the characters are terribly clever people who say interesting things, which these people aren't.

Hylton's Quiet Intensity

[kidboots · 8/10 · 24 December 2018]

It was clear from the start that Rank had a potentially major talent on their books with Jane Hylton. "The Quiet Woman" (which refers to Hylton's character as well as the name of the tavern) may be only a B but she brings such a quiet intensity to her role you are interested in her from the start. You know that behind that serene exterior, she has a secret, far more gripping than any of the smuggling story which is the basis of the movie.

During the 1950s Tempean gained a reputation for quality and consistency on a budget and with "The Quiet Woman", to make it a bit different from the usual London surroundings, the cast and crew went on location to Romney Marsh. In a twist, the person propelling the narrative was a woman - Hylton played the aloof Jane Foster, new proprietor of the remote "The Quiet Woman" inn who wants no trouble with the law. She has already told artist and occasional smuggler (Derek Bond) just what he can do with his boxes of contraband, the previous owner, happy to turn a blind eye when his boat shed was used as a hiding place. Jane has a friend and protector in Elsie (Dora Bryan is terrific in an unusually sympathetic part). Apparently Diana Dors had been cast but was replaced by Bryan when she fell foul of the director.

Things come to a head with the arrival of Helen, an ex girl friend of Duncan's, hoping to oust his current interest. She starts putting two and two together and rightly surmises that Jane has something to hide. The reason for Jane's furtiveness has already arrived - he's Jane's husband, newly escaped from prison after serving time for embezzlement. Getting to know her past is understanding her circumstances. She had been a victim of domestic violence, of bullying and intimidation and she has promised herself she will be nobody's doormat again!! He wants her to get him a boat to cross the Channel in but Jane is now made of sterner stuff, she is not the scared young girl he married.

Dianne Foster is terrific in her debut as Helen, her antagonism puts everyone off including Duncan's old army buddy who is now a customs officer but who finds that with the escape of a prisoner, he joins forces with the little group at the inn, in trying to protect Jane.

Highly Recommended

The normal 1950s mix of toffs and common people.

[plan99 · 8/10 · 4 September 2023]

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.