The Films of John Wayne

Great Thread. Wayne is a magnificent (underrated) actor.

14 years after "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance," they reunite. Another masterpiece and John Wayne's final role: Don Siegel's "The Shootist."

91WwDCOL18L._SL1500_.jpg


Wayne died of cancer like his character in "The Shootist." Beautiful Cinematic Exit.
 
I love John Wayne and his movies. Grew up watching them with my grandpa.


The Searchers has become my favorite now that I'm older. "That'll be the day" still makes me smile, every time.
 
for pure western fun, my top four that I enjoy are...

Rio Bravo
El Dorado
The Sons of Katie Elder
The War Wagon

I also enjoy The Wings of Eagles and his final film, The Shootist, but it's so sad as that movie mirrored his battle with cancer in real life...
Those are all great movies and some of his best. He fought cancer for a long time, even had one lung removed in 1964.
After studying some of Wayne's films in a college film studies course, I have become a huge fan of his work. I have most, if not all of the films he did with Ford, and most of his war-related pictures.
I'm working on collecting all of his movies....I currently have 70 of his movies on DVD.

John Wayne's cowboy films are amongst my Dad's favourites and I grew up watching a lot of them with him and becoming a big fan myself.
That's how I got started too. He was probably my dad's favorite actor, and we were assured that when any new Wayne movie premiered we would be there. I will always remember after we saw THE SHOOTIST...dad looked at me and said "He's really dying....and wanted to go out with a bang."

http://johnwaynebirthplace.museum/


If you are ever driving across Iowa on Interstate 80, drop in.
The Bridges of Madison County are also in the Winterset area.
That's nice, thanks for posting it. I doubt if I will ever make it there, but I would like to try sometime.

Brilliant thread, C. Lee.

Despite being stuck with the birth name Marion, John Wayne was the quintessential man's man. I think only Russell Crowe, Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood (in terms of actors working today - or part time in Eastwood's case) come close to the masculine ideal embodied by Wayne. I think he was - and still is - criminally underrated as an actor when properly utilized. As John Ford biographer Joseph McBride observed, '[He] was to Ford what David was to Michelangelo.'
I know what you mean....and isn't it a shame that only older actors can be classified that way? Young stars today have to be "pretty" as much or more so than they have to be actors.

Great Thread. Wayne is a magnificent (underrated) actor.

14 years after "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance," they reunite. Another masterpiece and John Wayne's final role: Don Siegel's "The Shootist."

91WwDCOL18L._SL1500_.jpg


Wayne died of cancer like his character in "The Shootist." Beautiful Cinematic Exit.
He was an enormously underrated actor...and an underrated comedian. He had great comedic timing and as the sign of a great comedian was always willing to be the butt of the joke.

His last movie (the Shootist) is both sad and uplifting, to me, at the same time. Sad that you know it's his last movie, and that he, like his character, were suffering and dying from cancer (except that the medicine of the modern day was going to keep him alive longer than the medicine of the movie's time would have)....but uplifting when you think that for a man of 69 years of age (at the time the Shootist was made) to still be the main star of a movie, for it to be such a good movie, and the fact that he was able to go out at the top of his game...is fantastic. You can check back through the histories of many a star or well known actor....and by the time their 60's were rolling around, they were out of the game, regulated to bit parts, or appearing in productions that were embarrasing to think about. But Wayne went out on top.

I love John Wayne and his movies. Grew up watching them with my grandpa.

The Searchers has become my favorite now that I'm older. "That'll be the day" still makes me smile, every time.
Buddy Holly wrote his hit song "That'll be the day" after watching the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq9FCBatl3A&feature=player_detailpage
 
On Jan 13th I watched -

OPERATION PACIFIC (1951) Starring John Wayne, Patricia Neal, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, and William Campbell.

American submarine USS Thunderfish, commanded by Cmdr. John T. 'Pop' Perry (Ward Bond) is on a mission during WWII. The second in command, Lt Cmdr. Duke E. Gifford (Wayne) and a small group of men are evacuating a bunch of kids, a baby, and two nuns off of a Japanese held island. They get back on board and set sail for Hawaii....but quickly run across a Japanese carrier. It being too great a target to pass up, they fire several torpedoes at it....they hit, but do not detonate (the problem with torpedoes was a real event from the early stages of the war)...and now have to evade depth charge attacks with the kids on board. They eventually get away and make it back to Pearl. Duke goes to the hospital to look in on the baby...and runs into his ex wife nurse Lt. (j.g.) Mary Stuart (Neal).....he didn't know she was a nurse or in Pearl. He wants to get back together with her (they had broke up after the death of their baby) his saving this baby as well as other experiences since they divorced has been factor in his wanting to reconnect with her. She is torn between her affections for him and the man she is now dating, brother of his sub commander, Lt. (j.g.) Bob Perry (Carey) a Navy pilot.

They are sent back out with new torpedoes. They encounter some more Japanese ships, and when they try to torpedo one, it again doesn't explode. But the Japanese ship signals surrender. The commander, "Pop" thinks the torpedo may have knocked a hole in the ship and caused trouble, so he orders the sub to surface and check on it. As soon as they surface, the Japanese ship reveals hidden guns and opens fire. Pop is hit, and orders the sub to dive while he is still outside. It dives, moves to a new position, and resurfaces with the crew racing to the topside guns, while firing on the enemy ship now in command Duke orders the sub to ram the ship. After the Japanese ship sinks, a search for Pop's body yields nothing. They head back to Pearl again for repairs. The ramming of the enemy ship and the sub commander ordering his sub to dive without him being able to reenter it are based upon actual events during the war.

Back at Pearl, Pop's brother blames Duke for his death, courts his ex, and Duke and his crew are assigned the task of finding out what is causing all the torpedo duds. After many tests they believe they find the problem and are sent back out to sea. While out, they encounter an enemy fleet, and the new torpedoes work. They also get word that there is a major engagement between American and Japanese carriers near by, and they are to hunt for downed fliers. They get there and are picking some up when they are attacked by Zeros...a couple of Duke's men are killed and Duke himself is wounded saving one downed pilot....Pop's brother Bob. On the way back to Pearl, Bob admits he was wrong for thinking bad of Duke, and basicly admits that Duke is a better man than him. They dock in Pearl, the wounded are carried off, and Duke and Mary walk off arm in arm.

A decent movie, a bit on the low budget side. There are not a lot of Submarine movies so a must see for fans of that genre.
 
On Jan 16th I watched -

REUNION IN FRANCE (1942) Starring Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Philip Dorn, Reginald Owen, and John Carradine.


After nine years of making "B" and "C" class movies, Wayne was now making "A" features. Crawford was a bigger star than him at the time, so being billed second in a Crawford movie was a good thing, not bad. This really helped to introduce him to a whole new set of movie going audiences.

The movie starts in 1940 Paris. Hitler is causing trouble in several countries around Europe. To wealthy spoiled Michele de la Becque (Crawford) it is a petty annoyance that delays her getting some of the special amenities of life that she is used to. Her fiancee Robert Cortot (Dorn) tries to tell her things are going to get bad, so she goes on vacation to southern France....and then the Nazis invade. Through montages we see her slowly making her way back to Paris through bombings and strafings until she arrives home to find Paris under Nazi control and her house being used by the Nazis as a headquarters. She also finds that her fiancee is now a Nazi collaborater. Not wanting to have anything to do with him now, she needs a way to support herself, so goes to one of the fashionable clothing stores she used to buy from to ask for a job. At first they don't believe her, but then see that she is desperate so hire her. One night as she walks home a man steps out of the shadows and asks if she speaks English....it is downed American pilot (flying for the RAF because America was not in the war in 1940) Capt. Pat Talbot (Wayne....he does not appear until 40 minutes into the movie). She takes him home, but is followed by a suspicious Gestapo agent (Howard Da Silva) who sets up watch outside her place.

Over the next couple days we are introduced to a new Gestapo agent (Reginald Owen) who sends the incompetant acting one away, and Crawford works with the people at the store she works at to arrange a way for Wayne to get out of the country. This is when she decides to tell her fiancee she has changed her mind and wants to go back to him, because he may be able to get him out using his influences with the Nazis. Wayne poses as her chauffeur, flirts with her, is seen by the new Gestapo agent who tells her fiancee Robert about it. Eventually the Gestapo agent and two other Nazi officers pick them up....and take them for a "ride" in separate cars. The tension mounts...at a Nazi checkpoint, both cars arrive at the same time, as they are having their papers checked, a radio announcement says to be on the lookout for two English soldiers dressed up as German officers. As Wayne looks surprised, they jump the soldier, disable the radio and phone and run out to their car. In the other car, the Gestapo officer pulls a gun, tells Crawford to drive, and jumps in the back seat...he too is an escaping Englishman. A chase and shootout ensues...before the fake Gestapo agent dies he tells Crawford that her fiancee is not a traitor, he is a member of the resistance fighting the Nazis from the inside. Wayne and his guys make it to a pickup site and are flown back to England....Crawford returns to Paris to be with her fiancee. Kids in the street call them traitors without knowing they are resistance fighters.

This was made early in the war. People still didn't know how bad the Nazis were...so they were shown more as mean stupid petty people than as evil dangerous murderers. It's an interesting film if not overly memorable or exciting. It has some tension, but nothing major.
 
I'll admit to being more of a fan of Clint Eastwood Westerns. I just thing that Clint is a better actor overall. However, that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy Wayne's films. One of my favorite John Wayne movies was actually his last.
The Shootist (1976)-Not only is it a great movie and the cast all do excellent jobs, but it's a different kind of role for Wayne (and sadly prophetic as it turned out). He's fantastic in it.
There is also The Longest Day (1962)-While it doesn't technically "star" Wayne (it has a ridiculously talented and diverse cast), he still has a pretty big role and is quite good in it.
Of course the Searchers was fantastic, everyone knows that.
 
List of John Wayne Appearances on the Radio.
He didn't do much radio work. Probably more then a few appearance have been
lost to the mists of time.
Nor does this list includes all available radio work.

Mostly Wayne recreat his screen roles for radio plays.

Sceen Guild Theater 4-12-1943. PITTSBURG.
Marlene Dietrick and Randolph Scott co-star.

Screen Director's Assignment 1-9-1949 STAGECAOCH
Claire Trevor and Ward Bond co-star.

LUX Radio Theater 3-7-1949 RED RIVER.
Walter Brennan and Jeff Chandler co-star.

Screen Director's Playhouse 8-5-1949 FORT APACHE
Ward Bond co-stars.

LUX Radio Theater 3-12-1951 SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON.
Mel Ferrer and Mala Powers co-star.

LUX Radio Theater 9-24-1951 MOVIETIME U.S.A.
8 scenes from 8 movies are recreated.
Wayne and Robert Ryan present a scene from FLYING LEATHERNECKS.
 
Bless ya Lee for doin' one of our all time American greats a great service here on da Hype. If'n you can believe it, I grew up on Wayne, an pilgrim... He's always been one'a my favorites. WAR WAGON, MCCLINTOCK, TRUE GRIT, THE SEARCHERS, STAGECOACH, THREE GODFATHERS... they were my youth growin' up. My grandma had pictures of The Duke all over her room and even had a bust of Wayne for many a year. What more can be said? Well, he always played a MAN, that's fer dang sure.

(You really have to read this in your mind in Wayne's voice to get the full effect. :woot: :cwink: :word:)
 
We watched Big Jake for my Dad's Birthday last night, one of mine and my Dad's favourite John Wayne films. I love his latter films he made between his late 50's and his death, as a gruff, older tough guy set in his ways I think he excels.

There are two exchanges between John Wayne and Richard Boone that are awesome, showing the kind of badass presence that you can't learn. The film is also probably the closest John Wayne ever came to making a spaghetti western in terms of the brutality, but it also shows Wayne's knack for comedy with some humorous scenes.

Big Jake has 3 sons in the film, one is shot in the beginning but the other 2 join him on his mission to get back his Grandson. The two sons are played by Wayne's real life son and Robert Mitchum's real life son, which is pretty cool.

By all accounts Jake wasn't a great father and hadn't seen his kids in 10 years, one of the sons has daddy issues, but the Duke doesn't do deep and meaningful in touch with his feelings stuff, his remedy is to throw the son off his horse and crack him on the jaw for being a whiny, lippy punk! :funny:

The film features a through-line of characters that have heard the legend of Big Jake and think he's dead, it also has a classic "The hell it is!" line from Wayne.

I'm glad you started this thread Doc, we are gonna get some more of John Wayne's films out, brings back good memories.
 
Glad to see that most people enjoy the Duke's movies...he was definately one of a kind.

I love BIG JAKE, it's probably my favorite Wayne film. Will do an expanded review later. The scene with Patrick you mention is a good one.....Jake has just returned home after being away for 10 or more years, his oldest son (Patrick Wayne) is pissed at him, and keeps derogatorily calling him "Daddy"....Jake, standing on the ground, looks up him on his horse and says...."Well, if you won't respect your elders...maybe you'll respect your betters." and grabs him and tosses him into a mud hole. A lot of great back and forth between throughout the movie.

I have watched 3 more of his movies this last week, just haven't got around to writing about them yet (I've been watching a bucketload of movies of all types....below zero temps have kept me inside and snuggled up with my DVD player).
 
On Jan 17th I watched -

THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER (1965) starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Michael Anderson Jr., Earl Holliman, Martha Hyer, Jeremy Slate, James Gregory, Dennis Hopper, and George Kennedy.

Beloved, proud, and stubborn Katie Elder has died, and her four sons are coming home to bury her. Three are at the train station, the rakish gambler Tom (Martin), the serious no nonsense Matt (Holliman), and the young impetuous Bud (Anderson), waiting for the fourth....the infamous gunman John Elder (Wayne). Also waiting for him at the station is the aged but sensible town sheriff Billy Wilson (Paul Fix) and his young quick to anger deputy Ben Latta (Jeremy Slate). John does not get off of the train when it arrives...but a shady looking cowboy (George Kennedy) does. They go to the funeral (where many townspeople tell of how much they loved Katie) and no one notices John up on a hillside between rock formations watching the proceedings. After everyone leaves the ceremony....John comes down to visit the grave, and sheriff Billy Wilson is there to meet him. He tells John that he isn't wanted for anything in this part of the territory, so he won't arrest him, but he doesn't want any trouble and he should move along. John says he doesn't want any trouble, just wants to settle his folks estate...and Billy tells him there is no estate. It comes as a surprise to him that his father had been murdered six months earlier...right after losing his ranch in a card game and that his mother had been living in an old shack provided by the banker because he felt sorry for the beloved old lady.

John goes to where Katie had been staying and meets up with his brothers. He hasn't seen any of them in 10 or more years and quickly go from slapping each other on the back to arguing over petty issues pretty quickly. Young and pretty townswoman Mary Gordon (Hyer) shows up with a basketful of food for them. When John thanks her for it, she replies "Don't thank me. I didn't do this for you....I did it for Kate, because she would have wanted me to. I don't care a thing for you four." She then asks where her four big wonderful sons were when she was having to scrounge for a living. Tells how she wouldn't take any charity from anyone because she had her four sons providing for her (which obviously they weren't). They then go into town to settle up her bills. They here more stories about her making dresses and giving guitar lessons to live on. The banker tells how their father had lost the ranch in a card game to a new guy in town, Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) who is trying to buy up everything and how he had gave her the shack to live in to have a roof over her head. While this is going on, Hastings and his hired men are watching them and go in behind them and ask the people what they were asking about. When the undertaker (John Doucette ) says it's none of their business...they press hard, which leads to one of those iconic moments form the movie when John comes back and ends the conflict with an axe handle to the face.

John and his brothers ride out to their old ranch now taken over by Hastings...he's still in town, but they are met at the door by his wussy son Dave (Dennis Hopper) who is jumpy jittery and afraid of his shadow. He won't talk to them about anything and screams for them to leave the ranch. Just then, "looking for trouble" deputy Ben Latta arrives and asks what the problem is...and Dave promptly says that he asked them to leave and that they not only refused but threatened him (which they didn't)...so Ben promptly arrests them. At which time brother Tom (Martin) promptly knocks him off his horse and takes his gun away from him. They then lead the deputy back to town and talk to Sheriff Billy about what happened...and he promptly lets them go. They go back to the shack, and a rancher from 50 or so miles away meets them, and tells them of the letter their mother had sent him about wanting the rancher to give her a bunch of horses on consignment, and she would repay him after she had sold them. He says he wanted to meet the woman who had balls enough to suggest it. They ask if he will consider doing it with them now that Katie is dead, and he says why not. So they ride off to get the horses. Later that night, deputy Latta and Hastings come into the sheriff's office and shoe Billy a wanted poster for Matt they had found. Latta wants to go and arrest the lot of them, but Billy says he will ride out and talk to them because Latta is too hot headed. As Billy rides up to their shack (that they are not at, because rode off to another county to get the horse) he is shot by Hastings and left to die.

When Billy's horse returns without him, deputy Latta rides out to the shack and finds him...and of course immediately believes the "Elder Gang" did it. He gathers a posse and goes looking for them. The posse catches up with them with the horses...and arrest them for the murder of Billy and for stealing a herd of horses. Angry deputy Latta will not listen or check into their alibi and the entire town, encouraged by Hastings and his men, believe they are guilty and want to lynch them. Finally listening to some good advice, Latta decides to move them to another county before the locals kill them...too bad he doesn't know all the volunteers to ride with him are on Hastings' payroll and plan to ambush them down by the river. They shackle the brothers together in twos, put them in a wagon and head out. At the river as the ambush starts, John disarms the driver and all the brothers jump into the water and hide under the bridge. A big shootout ensues, one brother is killed, another wounded, and they manage to escape back to town and hold up in the livery stable. The fear of John's shooting keeps the town at bay, and that night, Matt sneaks out and grabs Hastings' son to try and get info on what the hell is going on. The Marshal that came to check on things hears the truth from Dave Hastings. This leads to a final showdown between John and Hastings that ends in a bang....a big bang. The Elder's are exonerated....but one is dead and now two are seriously wounded.....the end.

Not as many shootouts as you would expect from a Wayne western, but the ones that happen are grand. There's a great Elmer Bernstein score. A couple of standout stunts that keeps you talking about them. A fair amount of humor to offset the seriousness. Definately a must see for Wayne and western fans.
 
John Wayne and Dean Martin made a good screen team.
Love both movies they did together.
Wayne also guested starred on the DEAN MARTIN VARIETY SHOW.
 
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"....."Nothing's to good for the man who shot Liberty Valance."..... is my favorite Wayne film, but I greatly enjoy all his films....his speeches in "The Alamo" leave a lasting impression.....for the better.

I wonder how our descendants........say some thousands of years in the future.....will view figures like John Wayne?

It's interesting that John Wayne is also one of the best examples of Holywood mis-casting IMO....playing Ghengis Kahn in "The Conquerer".....and it may be the inclusion in that film that began his fight with lung cancer.
 
Last edited:
I admit, as a curiosity I watched "The Conqueror" as a bit of a curiosity, and while a decently made film, its a little uncomfortable to sit through. Not only for the Asian stereotypes, and Wayne trying his best to play a believable Kahn, but because I read into the backstory of the film, and knowing that the radiation from nearby nuclear tests pretty much doomed everyone on that film.
 
I became a John Wayne fan too watching with my parents the Duke's heroic exploits. Among the many favorites I like are The Searchers, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Horse Soldiers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Sons Of Katie Elder, The War Wagon, Rio Lobo, & Big Jake. I really loved his performances as a no nonsense, tough guy & it's a shame he never got around to working with Eastwood.
 
I haven't seen a single John Wayne movie. Watched some of Rio Bravo (30 minutes) and The Searchers (15 minutes), but that doesn't really count.

I have wanted to see Green Berets for a while, though.
 
Anybody else watch The Longest Day for the 70th Anniversary of the landings?
 
No, I watched another D-Day film. "The Americanization of Emily" with
James Garner, Julie Andrews, and James Coburn.

Picked up RED RIVER from Criteron.
There are 2 versions of the movie, will watch the longer one.

Saw son Patrick Wayne in the "Gatling Gun". He plays Phil Harris son.
Not much of a role for Pat.
Not much of a movie, C-.
Phil Harris co-starred with John Wayne in "The High and The Mighty".
 
I've been neglectful of this thread.....

In the last few days, I gave watched several John Wayne movies. All have not been what people typically think of as John Wayne movies.

FLAME OF BARBARY COAST (1945)

Starring John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, Joseph Schildkraut, William Frawley, Virginia Grey, Paul Fix, and Butterfly McQueen,

At the turn of the 19th/20th century Montana cowboy Duke Fergus (John Wayne) goes to San Francisco to see the big city and the Pacific Ocean. He makes his way to the Frisco Barbary Coast and the casino ELDORADO where he meets it's crooked owner Tito Morell (Joseph Schildkraut; The Diary of Anne Frank, The Life of Emile Zola) and hi girlfriend/casino main singing star 'Flaxen' Tarry (Ann Dvorak; Scarface, The Return of Jesse James). He immediately takes a shine to Flaxen and she to him....but she still helps Tito take Duke for all of his money in a crooked card game. Duke heads back to his Montana ranch, stews about the situation for a bit, then finds gambler 'Smooth' Wylie (William Frawley; I Love Lucy, My Three Sons ) to teach him everything he needs to know about crooked gambling. Duke goes back to Frisco, takes Tito and several other gambling houses for hundreds of thousands of dollars and proceeds to build the biggest ritziest casino/dance hall in town. He manages to get Flaxen (who is sweet on both guys) to come sing at his joint (which totally pisses off Tito) but on opening night the 1906 earthquake hits San Francisco. In the quake, Flaxen is severely hurt, and it is Duke who takes care of her. As the city rebuilds, Tito runs for mayor while Duke backs his opposition...but Tito plans to win in any way possible which leads to several fights at polling stations. In the end....Tito loses the election and Duke and Flaxen leave Frisco to head for Montana.

One of the things that makes this different from other Wayne movies is....it can almost be considered a musical. Dvorak is the casino singer...and as such sings 6 or 7 songs. Another singer in Frisco, Rita Dane (Virginia Grey; The Rose Tattoo, Tarzan's New York Adventure) also sings several songs. And John sings one while being a cowboy in Montana.

The main reason to watch this is because you are a Wayne completest.


THREE FACES WEST (1940)

Starring John Wayne, Sigrid Gurie, and Charles Coburn.

The movie opens during the airing of the radio program WE THE PEOPLE (this was a real program at the time) in 1940. The show is introducing doctors who have fled the Nazi invasions throughout Europe who want work in the USA. Here we meet Dr. Karl Braun (Charles Coburn; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Stanley and Livingstone) and his 20 something daughter Leni (Sigrid Gurie; The Adventures of Marco Polo, Algiers). The small farming town that John Phillips (John Wayne) lives in offers to pay their way out to them if they stay and be the town doctor and nurse. The Brauns arrive in the middle of a dustbowl sand storm and are immediately taken around to see dozens of people in the middle of a flu epidemic. Old Dr. Braun unquestionably does his duty, but his daughter fears for his health and tries to talk him into leaving. The whole area is in bad shape from the dust bowl, a government official even tells them to pack up and leave. Everyone looks up to John, and he tirelessly tries to run his farm, keep the Brauns in town and talk the other farmers into staying the course. John and Leni start falling for each other (even though she pines for her old fiancé who died back in Europe fighting the Nazis). Eventually it becomes too much and John now has to talk everyone into packing it up and moving to Oregon. As they head out, Leni gets word that her fiancé is alive and heading to California to meet her. She and her father leave the Oregon bound convoy to go to California. When they get there, they find that her fiancé wasn't a Nazi fighter....he's a sieg hieling Nazi on a mission. Leni leaves him and heads for Oregon where she marries John.

This is not your usual Wayne movie mainly because he doesn't fight or shoot anyone and is just a farmer. It's a love story/anti Nazi propaganda/dust bowl story.

Some interesting trivia.....Sigrid Gurie and her twin brother Knut were born in the USA but their family moved to Norway a year later. She immigrated back in 1936 to be an actress, her brother stayed in Norway. When the Nazis invaded Norway, Knut joined the resistance....he is famous for destroying the Nazi "heavy water" (nuclear fuel) plant that was made into the movie THE HEROES OF TELEMARK where Richard Harris played him.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"