Mar 25, 2011

Lip read and unveil one of Hollywood's best kept secrets!


Maureen O'Hara tells the story this way in her autobiography:


"There is only one fitting way to end our discussion of The Quiet Man, and that's with a whisper. No matter what part of the world I'm in, the question I am always asked is: "What did you whisper into John Wayne's ear at the end of The Quiet Man? It was John Ford's idea; it was the ending he wanted. I was told by Mr. Ford exactly what I was to say. At first I refused. I said, "No, I can't. I can't say that to Duke." But Mr. Ford wanted a very shocked reaction from Duke, and he said, "I'm telling you, you are to say it." I had no choice, and so I agreed, but with a catch: "I'll say it on one condition -- that it is never ever repeated or revealed to anyone." So we made a deal. After the scene was over, we told Duke about our agreement and the three of us made a pact. There are those who claim that they were told and know what I said. They don't and are lying. John Ford took it to his grave --so did Duke-- and the answer will die with me. Curiosity about the whisper has become a great part of the Quiet Man legend. I have no doubt that as long as the film endures, so will the speculation. The Quiet Man meant so much to John Ford, John Wayne, and myself. I know it was their favorite picture too. It bonded us as artists and friends in a way that happens only but once in a career. That little piece of The Quiet Man belongs to just us, and so I hope you'll understand as I answer:


I'll never tell"


Well, someone uploaded this zoomed clip from the movie and asked people to try to lip-read it. Want to give it a try?


The DVD featuring the audio comments you just heard, is on Amazon: The Quiet Man (Collector's Edition)
at

26 comments:

  1. ClassicBeckyMarch 25, 2011 at 1:54 PM

    I can't lip-read! Somebody put me out of my misery....what did she say?!!!!

    Great post, Clara...I didn't know about the big secret.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SophieMarch 25, 2011 at 2:27 PM

    Before I even read your post I thought you must be referring to the little secret of "The Quiet Man" just by the title ;D I wish I could lip-read because I've been dying to know what she said for so long, lol. Maureen's cheeky little smile after she says it... oh gosh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lolaMarch 25, 2011 at 3:42 PM

    Lo está invitando a tener sexo con ella.
    Do you want........?

    ReplyDelete
  4. ClassicBeckyMarch 25, 2011 at 4:54 PM

    Iola, I feel better now ... thanks!

    Clara, is that a picture of you at the top? That looks almost exactly like me when I was a teenager. I'm not kidding, we even had a couch like that!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Clara FercovicMarch 25, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    ClassicBecky: Yeah, I know, everybody who knows about this is dying to find out :)

    Sophie: LOL :)

    Lola: Gracias por participar! Sí, pero el misterio es cuáles son, exactamente, las palabras tan terribles que Ford le hizo decir. Porque Maureen no se impresionaba con poco y su libro está lleno de "son of a bitch"es y otras amables expresiones :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Clara FercovicMarch 25, 2011 at 5:18 PM

    ClassicBecky: Sorry I hadn't seen your second comment. No, it's not me, I wish I was though: that's Audrey Hepburn sleeping with her pet deer.

    And about Maureen's secret: like I said to Lola, I think it was something more scandalous, because Maureen wasn't a person who would be embarrassed of saying that line...it has to be something VERY rude, otherwise she wouldn't make such a fuss about it :)

    Thanks for visiting, girl!

    ReplyDelete
  7. emma wallaceMarch 25, 2011 at 11:47 PM

    Ooh! How fascinating! Love those little mysteries! And LOVE this film!

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Lady EveMarch 26, 2011 at 12:33 AM

    Clara - I guess I'm going to have to try to read Maureen's lips after all (I'm imagining the scandalous things she might be saying). Before I saw Becky's comment I was thinking of posting about how much I love your photo of Audrey with fawn & the little Yorkie at the other end of the sofa...so...I love that classic picture of 3 beautiful creatures!

    ReplyDelete
  9. ClassicBeckyMarch 26, 2011 at 2:30 AM

    That's AUDREY HEPBURN? I suppose you all think I have a lot of nerve, but I swear she looks just like me at 15 or 16. But I certainly never looked like her any other time. Must be the pose and the couch! LOL

    I agree, Clara, I think Maureen must have been a little more raunchy in what she said. After all, she was a full-of-fire, gorgeously earth Irish woman! Maybe it's better not to know. It would be such a disappointment to find that she said something like "I think Tyrone Power is much cuter than you are." LOL

    ReplyDelete
  10. Clara FercovicMarch 26, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Emma: Yes, it's fascinating! I hope someone can tell us what is she saying :) Thanks for reading :)

    The Lady Eve: LOL, I love that picture too, everything seems so peaceful :) Oh, if you get what's Maureen saying, tell us, even if it's full of ** and **** and then **** LOL. Thanks for stopping by :)

    ClassicBecky: We don't think you have a lot of nerve, girl! I believe you! I laughed out loud with your disappointing Maureen's line :) Thanks for commenting :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. DorianTBMarch 26, 2011 at 6:36 PM

    Clara, I loved your post about the marvelous Maureen O'Hara's mysterious murmurings to John Wayne at the end of THE QUIET MAN! Keeping it a charming mystery is probably best, but I like to think O'Hara said something along the lines of "Impetuous! Homeric!" :-) Well, maybe one day we'll find out what Bill Murray said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of LOST IN TRANSLATION, and we can work our way up to solving the Maureen O'Hara whisper mystery; baby steps, you know! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Clara FercovicMarch 26, 2011 at 11:19 PM

    Thanks, DorianTB, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had no idea about the mystery from Lost in Translation, now we have two missions to accomplish :) And, well, if we don't solved them, the fact they kept it secret all these years is really interesting anyway :)
    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Clara FercovicApril 5, 2011 at 12:45 AM

    TESTING THIS THING--

    ReplyDelete
  14. ClassicBeckyMay 22, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    That's AUDREY HEPBURN? I suppose you all think I have a lot of nerve, but I swear she looks just like me at 15 or 16. But I certainly never looked like her any other time. Must be the pose and the couch! LOL

    I agree, Clara, I think Maureen must have been a little more raunchy in what she said. After all, she was a full-of-fire, gorgeously earth Irish woman! Maybe it's better not to know. It would be such a disappointment to find that she said something like "I think Tyrone Power is much cuter than you are." LOL

    ReplyDelete
  15. ClaraMay 22, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    ClassicBecky: Sorry I hadn't seen your second comment. No, it's not me, I wish I was though: that's Audrey Hepburn sleeping with her pet deer.

    And about Maureen's secret: like I said to Lola, I think it was something more scandalous, because Maureen wasn't a person who would be embarrassed of saying that line...it has to be something VERY rude, otherwise she wouldn't make such a fuss about it :)

    Thanks for visiting, girl!

    ReplyDelete
  16. lolaMay 22, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    Lo está invitando a tener sexo con ella.
    Do you want........?

    ReplyDelete
  17. ClassicBeckyMay 22, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    I can't lip-read! Somebody put me out of my misery....what did she say?!!!!

    Great post, Clara...I didn't know about the big secret.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Intangible HeartsMarch 17, 2012 at 4:51 PM

    Loved your post and now I'll always wonder!

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousAugust 15, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    I have watched this film every now and then since I was a child. I am partially deaf and lip read quite well. I can not say for 100% this is what she said, but to my eyes it seems she say's "John if you want to get screwed, then go f--k yourself" she is smiling as she says it so it is hard to make out all the consonants, but this is what it looks like she says.

    ReplyDelete
  20. AnonymousAugust 23, 2013 at 9:04 AM

    Her's the answer to "Lost in Translation http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5MV7Sym8bIQ#t=136

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousOctober 20, 2013 at 1:57 AM

    @Anonymous
    I referenced your wonderful blog post on
    my most recent Quiet Man entry.
    Thank you!
    http://annettehoffman.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/the-quiet-mans-ireland-day-2-or-a-day-fit-for-a-quiet-man-crazy/#more

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousDecember 15, 2014 at 6:20 PM

    At one time, like Maureen O'Hara never tells the secret, Herbert Benton Connor, a relative of Napoleon, never tells his age to anybody. All of a sudden, some one searched his birth date and he was only 83.

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousDecember 16, 2014 at 7:29 PM

    Like Maureen O'Hara, the man, Edvards Liedskalnins, never told anybody how he build his Coral Castle. He took the secrets to the grave with him.

    ReplyDelete
  24. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2015 at 10:46 AM

    I figured it was something from Michaeleen:

    Wanna get impetuous and Homeric and break the bed?

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousOctober 26, 2015 at 6:31 PM

    Like Maureen O'Hara, Agatha Christie did not write one word and told anybody about her 11 days. She took the secrets to the grave with her.

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousJune 25, 2016 at 1:52 PM

    Like Maureen O'Hara, Yuri Nosenko did not tell his new name to the public due to the witness protection program. He said, "He was nobody. He was a tumbleweed. To recruit such person who defected in Russia, American, returns back in America and to give him mission to kill, no way. KGB never will go on this. Never. Because it’s so obvious.” He is like “George in the Mask.” Well done, Yuri.

    ReplyDelete