Revealing mistake: During the courting scene as they're riding through the countryside, the man controlling the horse has a pipe in his mouth. It casts a shadow on the rear-projected background, making it very obvious. So does Maureen O'Hara's hat. John Wayne's shoulder does as well.
The Quiet Man (1952)
1 revealing mistake - chronological order
Directed by: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald
Continuity mistake: When Sean shows up to meet with Mary Kate and her brother he is carrying pink roses. The entire time he is in the house the roses are now red.
Michaleen Flynn: Well it's a nice, soft night, so I think I'll go and join me comrades and talk a little treason. G'night, Sean.
Thornton: G'night, Michaleen.
Trivia: Many of the actors in this film were related. Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shield were brothers. Charles and James Fitzsimons were Maureen O'Hara's real-life brothers (Fitzsimons was her real surname), and Francis Ford was director John Ford's brother. In the race scene where Maureen O'Hara is in a hay wagon, the four people with her are John Wayne's children. Patrick and Melinda in the wagon with O'Hara, Michael and Toni stand next to the wagon.
Question: When Sean Thornton first arrives, it's the daytime. He meets Father Launigan on the road, who invites him to attend "Mass in the morning." Sean is at Cohan's Bar that evening, but then he attends "Mass in the morning." Was he up all night at the bar because he's yet to go to his new cottage? And how many times does Sean light a cigarette, take two puffs, then flick it to the side? What's up when he breaks the door down on their wedding night and flicks his cigarette inside the house?