1935 - John Wayne

Yup, that was the Wild West, that was!

It's easy to look back analytically and poke fun at the howling historical inaccuracies these films contained, but what the heck, they were always entertaining.

My mother jus' loved The Duke. Never missed a film whenever it showed on TV.

-Derek

Tsk tsk. Disparaging the Duke. What have the kids these days come to?

Yep. Ol' John got his start doing a lot of hookey westerns. I remember one in which he was dubbed as a singing cowboy, the voice over of a another man singing was used and it was truly horrible and an ordeal to watch!

But movies such as that are more than made up for by his later works which are true classics.

yup and the good guys always wore there holsters way high up-just under ther elbows-there pants were always creased and tucked neatly into their bootys-they never ever ran out of bullets and Lash Larue was not a stripper down to Pinky's

I always enjoy a good John Wayne movie and he was always so entertaining! I wonder how many films he made? Last Sunday they showed two on TV, one of him when he was young and another when he was older. Both were excellent viewing.

B.

I haven't watched all that many westerns (loved and wept over Shane as a teenager). Then I saw Cat Ballou, and Lee Marvin's wonderful portrayal of a drunken has-been gunslinger just finished it for me - made it impossible from then on to see the genre as anything other than comedy . . .

I turned away from a bookshelf in a store during the Edinburgh Festival around 1960, I think, and bumped into Jack Palance. Unmistakable with that face, and he was bigger than I imagined he was. I'm 6'3" and he was that at least.

First, we must all bow at the greatness of the Duke, for his name and screen presence are of hollowed nobility. I don't have the time right now but I'm going to dig this thread up later and tell you a great John Wayne story, that actually happened to my dad in the fifties.....

Hey Don, I would love to read that story, I'll be waiting for it!

I never liked John Wayne back in the day. I would probably relate to him more now.

I love John Wayne as a cowboy. I've lost track of the number of times I've watched Rio Bravo, Eldorado, McClintock. He made the West come to life for me. I also enjoyed watching Randolph Scott in Westerns. My favourite western author was Louis L'Amour and I enjoyed watching his Sackett series on tv with Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott (he also makes a good cowboy).

John Wayne was truly the legend. His westerns are some of my favorite movies. I would say that his early ones are better for a film buff than for the normal viewer. Those old fims are a little rough, but they are good. I do enjoy talking about the man.

Rio Bravo's one of my favorites, but I have to admit it's because of Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Angie Dickenson, though I really loved the relationships John Wayne had with every character in the movie.

True Grit was probably my fave John Wayne performance, though. And I loved McQ (yeah, I know, not a Western).

When I was growing up, I watched Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, but as I've grown older, I've become a dyed in the wool John Wayne fan. I loved him with Maureen O'Hara. She played his wife in McClintock(?) I'm not sure if that's the film's name, but I loved it. I also loved TIE A YELLOW RIBBON, especially the scene where he rides into the Indian camp and meets with the old chief.

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'. Excellent movie. Has a lot to say about discounting the contributions our elders can still make.

JeanneTGC said:

Rio Bravo's one of my favorites, but I have to admit it's because of Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Angie Dickenson, though I really loved the relationships John Wayne had with every character in the movie.

True Grit was probably my fave John Wayne performance, though. And I loved McQ (yeah, I know, not a Western).

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"Stumpy, you're a treasure." has got to be one of the greatest screen kisses ever filmed.

And McQ was a Western... it was just set in a different year.

Elvis wanted to be in a movie with John Wayne. The negotiationg by Tom Parker lost Elvis the Texas Ranger role in True Grit, but Tom Parker made it fall through with his demand for Elvis to have top billing.

He was also considered for Ricky Nelson's role in Rio Bravo, but was in Germany by filming.

Aragon said:

Elvis wanted to be in a movie with John Wayne. The negotiationg by Tom Parker lost Elvis the Texas Ranger role in True Grit, but Tom Parker made it fall through with his demand for Elvis to have top billing.

He was also considered for Ricky Nelson's role in Rio Bravo, but was in Germany by filming.

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Too bad for Elvis, but I loved Glen Campbell in True Grit, too.

I have always wondered and never found proof of something, another interesting fact. Indiana Jones and John Wayne share a choice. Duke was the name of Wayne's dog when he was growing up.

Festus said:

Hey Don, I would love to read that story, I'll be waiting for it!

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Sorry it took so long, but the story goes like this,

My dad was a young soldier on furlow in New Mexico early 1950's, well he wandered into this little town with a buddy of his and of course they were looking for a place to drink. Well it just so happens this town was a regular hangout for all the actors working westerns including the Duke and his posse. So my dad is in uniform at the bar with his friend about midnight when guess who and about five of his friends pop into this little cantina. Now both my dad and his friend know who's there but are just scared to death to say anything. Well, the duke and his friends get a table and start ordering booze and making noise like crazy when Wayne notices my dad and friend at the bar and tells the table to be quiet. He then calls out across the room to the two Soldiers, "Hey, you fellows at the bar!" (the way my dad use to tell it he needed a change of shorts just about then) So, they turn around and Wayne questions them in his iconic voice, "You fellows drink tequillia and eat peppers?" At which point my dad replied, "We sure do Mr. Wayne."
"Well then what are you standing over there for, come on over and grab a seat and help us finish off this bottle," he bellowed out. So, my dad and friend pulled up a chair and bullshit with the whole lot untill the wee hours of the morning, when the duke just stood up paid what according to my dad was an outrageous bill for the time, wished them both luck telling them how proud the country and he was for there service and left.

What amazed my father was the amount the man drank and never even batted an eye, but what john Wayne thought was great, is that my dad could keep eating hot peppers with him when the rest of the crowd gave up after just a few...

True story, kind of fun to think about from time ot time.

Wow Don, that is an awesome story. I will need to file that away among all the other stories of that man. Thank you.

I have a second hand Wayne story, but I like it. Told to me by a female manager of mine, many years ago now and it illustrates the point that how someone of power treats the 'little people' shows a great deal about their character.

She was young, early twenties, tops, working as some kind of assistant on a movie set and she was supposed to bring John Wayne some coffee. She was dressed appropriately for the day (the '60's, I think), so she was in a skirt, nylons, heels, perfectly coiffed, etc. She was rushing, because she'd been told that the Duke was waiting and wanted his coffee. But the ground was uneven and she was in high heels. As she reached his trailer, he came out, she looked at him and tripped.

Coffee went flying everywhere, including onto the Duke, and she was on her hands and knees, nylons ruined, knees bleeding, etc. She was sure that she'd be fired and worse. She was crying and didn't know what to do.

The Duke went over, picked her up, put her on her feet, kissed her forehead, and said, "It's okay, honey." Someone tried to bawl her out, and he bawled THEM out. Then he called for someone to take care of her and they treated her just like she was his daughter. Then he went back into his trailer to change while she was taken to the set nurse.

Needless to say, she thought he was the greatest man, ever.

JeanneTGC said:

I have a second hand Wayne story, but I like it. Told to me by a female manager of mine, many years ago now and it illustrates the point that how someone of power treats the 'little people' shows a great deal about their character.

She was young, early twenties, tops, working as some kind of assistant on a movie set and she was supposed to bring John Wayne some coffee. She was dressed appropriately for the day (the '60's, I think), so she was in a skirt, nylons, heels, perfectly coiffed, etc. She was rushing, because she'd been told that the Duke was waiting and wanted his coffee. But the ground was uneven and she was in high heels. As she reached his trailer, he came out, she looked at him and tripped.

Coffee went flying everywhere, including onto the Duke, and she was on her hands and knees, nylons ruined, knees bleeding, etc. She was sure that she'd be fired and worse. She was crying and didn't know what to do.

The Duke went over, picked her up, put her on her feet, kissed her forehead, and said, "It's okay, honey." Someone tried to bawl her out, and he bawled THEM out. Then he called for someone to take care of her and they treated her just like she was his daughter. Then he went back into his trailer to change while she was taken to the set nurse.

Needless to say, she thought he was the greatest man, ever.

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I wonder what would have happened if the recipient of the coffee spill had been Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom or any of the other "little boys" that play act these days.

He was truly a great man before he was anything else. Nowadays you expect to hear that the actors mistreat people. But then, the paparzi would irritate me.

I do know Fred Thompson is a nice guy to meet.