Money Lessons & "The Quiet Man"

By: Philip "Flip" O'Toole

“A fine, soft day in the spring it was when the train pulled into Castletown, three hours late as usual, and himself got out…” 

-Father Lonergan, Opening Scene of The Quiet Man (1952)

 The Quiet Man

As an American of Irish heritage, I must take a moment to wish all a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. A tradition in our house which began many years ago is to watch John Ford’s 1952 classic The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. The movie was filmed on location in Ireland, mostly in County Mayo and County Galway and except for the stars, featured native Irish actors. The film tells the story of retired American boxer Sean Thornton, played by John Wayne, who returns to his homeland to forget his troubles after killing a man in the boxing ring back in America.

The film is loaded with great characters, music and quotes. It is a story about love, money, culture and ends with one of the greatest fight scenes in movie history. The Quiet Man earned seven Oscar nominations and won both Best Director and Best Cinematography. In one of the great robberies in Oscar history, Victor McLaglen lost out on the Best Supporting Actor award to Anthony Quinn. McLaglen’s portrayal of Will Danaher, the antagonist to John Wayne’s protagonist, is one of the great performances of the 1950’s in my humble opinion.

As I tend to do when enjoying music, sports or movies, I see correlations between art and life. The Quiet Man is no different. There are a handful of lessons woven throughout the story which underscore human behaviors that we see every day in our line of work. So, without further ado, here are a few quotes from The Quiet Man and how they relate to money in 2024…

“The best fishing in the country. Trout as long as your arm. And salmon! The last one I got, I expected Jonah to pop out of his mouth.” -Costello (Engine Driver)

Overconfidence

One theme that is woven throughout the film is the locals’ fascination with fishing. In the opening scene, Costello the Train Engineer proudly shares his big fish story with Sean Thornton as he arrives in Ireland for the first time since his childhood. We often hear big fish stories in our world and there is nothing wrong with being confident about money. Without confidence, it is hard to take risks. But overconfidence is one inherent bias of which we advise our clients to be aware. 

According to a Columbia Threadneedle presentation on Behavioral Finance, the results of a 1973 study demonstrated that the more information provided to experienced bookmakers, the more their confidence grew, while their accuracy fell. Overconfidence tends to show itself when times are good, and winners are handily outpacing losers, but also tends to appear as investors gather more information about a particular investment or planning topic. Investors in 2024 have more information in the palm of their hands than at any point in human history. We would argue that clients are drowning in information but starved for wisdom. We feel it is our job to help our clients make sense of the noise. 

“He’ll regret it to his dying day, if ever he lives that long.” -Will Danaher

Loss Aversion

Upon learning that the Widow Tellane sold a coveted piece of land to Sean Thornton, Will Danaher drops this line to himself while nursing a glass of whiskey. The loss of the land to the Yank who just appeared on Irish soil is too much for Danaher. Forget the fact that Danaher is the wealthiest man in Innisfree, the loss of this one property weighs on him negatively more than all his other wealth combined.

Loss Aversion may be the most prevalent behavior that we battle daily. Because the fear of loss is so much greater than the joy of gain, many people fall prey to loss aversion bias. This can come in the form of being too conservative, holding onto losing investments in hopes of a recovery or selling winners too soon. This is also why investors tend to focus more on historical bear markets like 2000-2002 or 2008 than they do the periods of great expansion. It is our job to help our clients focus on the task at hand and not allow the catastrophe of the day to disrupt the long-term plan.

“He’s walking her back, the whole long way…” -Hugh Forbes

Herd Mentality

As word begins to spread that Sean Thornton is walking his wife Mary Kate all the way from the Train Station in Castletown to his brother-in-law’s home in Innisfree to demand his wife’s fortune, excitement builds across the countryside. Hugh Forbes after receiving a phone call in a crowded pub declares to all that a fight between the village’s two heavyweights is about to commence. By the time Sean and Mary Kate arrive at the home of “Red” Will Danaher, the herd has gathered like a Tiger Woods gallery on Sunday at Augusta.

The flip side of loss aversion is herd mentality. Unlike loss aversion which preys on fear, herd mentality preys on greed and the fear of exclusion.  Many books document financial bubbles over the years that have exhibited the characteristics of herd mentality behavior. From Tulip Mania in the 1630’s to The South Sea bubble of 1720 to the Dot-Com bubble of 2000, history is littered with real life examples of investors chasing performance, usually to keep up with the Joneses. It is our job to shine a light on the herd for our clients when it begins to impact their thinking and decision-making.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

As Saint Patrick’s Day comes and goes, I hope you have a chance to sit down and enjoy The Quiet Man, or at least have it on in the background as you enjoy your corned beef and green beer. I promise that you will be thoroughly entertained and come away with at least one new quote to add to your lexicon. Whether it is Costello at the train station, Danaher in his parlor, or Forbes in the pub, The Quiet Man is filled with colorful characters, a great story and plenty of repeatable dialogue (although I encourage the use of closed captioning especially for Barry Fitzgerald’s Michaleen Oge Flynn).  

And while you are watching the three scenes highlighted above, remember that humans possess inherent biases when it comes to money. Overconfidence, Loss Aversion, and Herd Mentality are three of the most common that we encounter often. It is certainly our job to be perpetual students of global markets and economies, along with being forward-thinking planners. But it is not lost on us, that one of the most important parts of the job is understanding human behavior when it comes to money. Oftentimes, we are the last line of defense between a client and a suboptimal decision, and we stand ready for the challenge.

We wish you all a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. Slainte!