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The Most Rewatchable John Wayne Movies, Ranked – My Blog

John Wayne became an icon over the course of his career, particularly from his roles in war and great western movies throughout Hollywood’s Golden Age. Fans of Wayne might also know him as The Duke, which is a nickname that stuck with him since his childhood. As a young boy, Wayne’s best friend was his dog Duke, and when he befriended a local fireman, who called the dog Big Duke and Wayne Little Duke, the nickname stuck, with Wayne preferring it to his actual name, Marion.His career skyrocketed, and now he is one of the biggest names in the western genre, becoming nearly synonymous with the American mythos of the wild west and western films in general. Wayne starred in over 165 movies, many of which became huge successes. Even though Wayne was problematic in his sociopolitical beliefs, to this day we still can’t get enough of his lovable, rogue, heroic characters throughout his filmography. His cowboy swagger is just one of many reasons we keep going back to Wayne’s film, but which of them are the most rewatchable all these decades later?8 The Alamo (1960)

John Wayne in The Alamo

United Artists
Directed by Wayne himself and written by James Edward Grant, The Alamo was a project that Wayne decided to direct and star in way back in 1945. Based on the true story of the infamous Battle of the Alamo, Wayne starers as Davy Crockett, who assisted a group of soldiers defending themselves against Gen. Santa Anna (Richard Boone, who definitely wasn’t Mexican) in the battle of the Alamo.We are given all the tense, action-packed fighting scenes that we love about westerns with a bit of an education too on the way many Americans perceived the Battle of the Alamo (the film, of course, is rather historically inaccurate and glorifies the American occupation, when in reality they were illegally invading and colonizing Mexico). The movie was nominated for a whopping seven Oscars, including Best Picture. The Alamo can be seen as a classic, and its fights and story never get old, so of course, we go back to it every time.7 Chisum (1970)
ChisumWarner Bros.

Based on the Lincoln County war of 1878, and also adapted for the screen by Andrew J. Fenady, from his short story, titled Chisum and the Lincoln County War, Chisum follows John Chisum (Wayne), who owns a large ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico. It wouldn’t be the same without his sidekick and helper, Pepper. Together and with other men, including Billy the Kid, they get involved with fighting the land developer Lawrence Murphy, who has practically bought the whole town and has plans for Chisum’s ranch. Chisum is a surprisingly complex and detailed movie leading to a good ol’ western showdown, filled with historical context (and numerous real historical figures) and brilliant cinematography. Once understanding the complicated plot and massive ensemble cast, the film just gets better after each watch.6 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
She Wore a Yellow RibbonRKO Radio Pictures
The gorgeous 1949 American Technicolor western She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was one of the most expensive Westerns made at the time. It was part of the great John Ford’s ‘cavalry trilogy’, and Wayne gave one of his best performances, starring as Nathan Brittles. Brittles is a retiring US Cavalry Captain, set to venture on one last patrol to protect his troops from an attack, led by the Indians. As he bravely leads his men into the battle, his commanding officer, Major Mac Allshard, orders him to deliver his wife, Abby, and niece Olivia to Sutross Wells. As a tale of honor and young love, we see that despite wearing a yellow ribbon in her hair (which is a sign that her heart is promised to another man in the Cavalry), Olivia catches the eyes of two young officers who compete for her attention. Along with Wayne’s fabulous performance, the film also won an Oscar for Winston C. Hoch’s masterful Technicolor cinematography.5 Red River (1948)
Red RiverUnited Artists
Red River, directed by Howard Hawks, tells an epic, entertaining story about the first cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail. The film follows Wayne as Thomas Dunson, who sets up a cattle ranch that quickly becomes a thriving success, though he couldn’t have done it without help from Groot and Matt Garth, who is an orphan that Dunson kindly took in when he was a young boy. Unfortunately, the Civil War left Dunson and Matt in some serious need for money, so they lead a cattle drive to Missouri for a better chance of earning some more money.But their journey isn’t all plain sailing, as they bump into some challenges along the way. Red River is more complex than your average western shoot-em-up, essentially a sprawling and visually stunning drama about the west rather than a ‘western’ per se. The film also works wonders as a tale of (symbolic) father and son who don’t quite see eye-to-eye, which is perhaps a reason for it being so re-watchable and an absolute classic.4 Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
John Wayne in Sands of Iwo JimaRepublic Pictures
The 1949 war film Sands of Iwo Jima, directed by Allan Dwan, follows Wayne as Marine Sgt. John Stryker who is sick of the attitude from his men about his tough training techniques. As the war goes on, the soldiers actually begin to accept and respect Stryker’s view on war and even tolerate his hard and actually quite brutal training. They come to realize that it will be in their favor to listen to him, and they will need his training tactics in order to survive the war.One of the earliest post-war films dramatizing the plight of American soldiers overseas, the film chronicles one of the deadliest and bloodiest events in World War 2, known as the Battle of Iwo Jima. Wayne does a brilliant job as Stryker, the hero of the story, even if he was a little harsh, in what is an exciting, action-packed movie that also shines a light on the soldiers in the true story who sacrificed their lives during the war. The Sands of Iwo Jima is a great re-watch, especially as a Memorial Day movie.3 The Cowboys (1972)
The CowboysWarner Bros.
Based on William Dale Jennings’ 1971 novel of the same name, The Cowboys includes one of the best villains and hero death scenes we have been given in western movies, which already makes it totally re-watchable. When Wil Andersen (Wayne) asks a group of school boys for help driving his cattle to the market, they are bombarded by thieves and cattle rustlers, which ultimately leads to a dramatic western fight.No one likes to see the hero of a story die, but we can’t deny that it’s captivating; as Wil Andersen dies, his blood is on the hands of Watts. The death of Wayne’s character is emotional and heartbreaking after he grew close to the boys that helped him, and they even began to see him as a father figure. After his death, the boys finish the trip, they carve into a gravestone ‘Beloved Husband and Father,’ making it all the more sad. No matter how many times we watch it, we are still touched by this certified tearjerker of a story, and we can’t get enough of it.2 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Wayne Stewart The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962 ParamountParamount Pictures
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is perhaps one of the most well known and classic western movies in cinema. Directed by the fantastic John Ford, and starring an amazing cast (the great James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, and Wayne of course), the movie follows the story of Senator Stoddard who, with his wife Hallie, attends the funeral of Tom Doniphon.We then learn of Stoddard and Doniphon’s friendship through flashbacks, as he remembers a time when Doniphon saved him against a local outlaw, Liberty Valance, and the stories and questions that unfold of their involvement as enemies of Valance. With a brilliant cast, the onscreen relationships, tension, and drama makes this movie an easy watch and a brilliant story to follow, and definitely goes down as a classic western, one of the last old-school greats of the genre.1 True Grit (1969)
John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True GritParamount Pictures
Directed by Henry Hathaway, 1969’s True Grit marks the first appearance of Wayne as U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn, and was the first movie adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel of the same name. The story follows 14-year-old Mattie Ross, whose father has just been murdered. Distraught and after revenge, she hired Rooster Cogburn to help go on a mission to find the man responsible. Along their dangerous journey, a Texas Ranger, La Boeuf also joins in, with the hopes of catching him for a reward.Wayne, a decade before his death, won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in True Grit, which is arguably his most beloved, eccentric character who makes every scene more enjoyable. It has become an iconic movie, and there was even a 2010 modern remake of the classic which starred Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, and Josh Brolin.

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John Wayne doesn’t want to be an actor and likes a director . – My Blog

He became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but John Wayne once saw acting as just ‘a brief detour’. His real dream was to become a film director.Cinema’s most iconic cowboy could have spent his days behind the camera had he not inadvertently stepped in front of one on a John Ford set, allow the director to see his potential.


The disclosure is in a memoir he was working on that lay undiscovered among family papers. It said Wayne, who ԁıеԁ in 1979, was working at 20th Century Fox in the 1920s simply to pay the bills.It added: ‘I had no thoughts of becoming an actor. Acting was a kind of apprenticeship toward becoming a director. It was also a source of petty cash…

‘I was ԁеаԁ-set on becoming a director.Elsewhere, he adds: ‘If need be, I would take a brief detour into acting or whatever else was necessary to accomplish my goal.’The memoir was found by Michael Goldman in inquire his book, John Wayne: The Genuine Article, published this month. Even Wayne’s family did not know of its existence in their archives.

Its 72 typed pages paint a portrait of an ordinary man who became the Oscar-winning star of True Grit and The Searchers, a larger-than-life icon nicknamed the Duke.Wayne was working on it shortly before his ԁеаtһ in 1979, having repeatedly rejected requests for an autobiography.He wrote about the 1920s, when he headed for Twentieth Century Fox’s studio and found menial jobs in props and stunt-work, learning his for horse-riding, roping, ɡսոѕ and fighting.

he memory of being desperate for money never left him and in the memoir he writes: ‘The big Depression was still two years away, but my one personal depression was staring at me from the bottom of my empty soup bowl.’I needed a job .’He describes working as an extra – kicked off John Ford’s set for inadvertently stepping in front of a camera – and, like some star-struck teenager, was overwhelmed by the excitement of seeing his own movie heroes.On encountering Tom Mix, a silent Western star, Wayne writes of trying ‘to figure out how to make the best impression possible on the greatest cowboy star in the world’.
He records Mix ignoring him on his attempt to ingratiate himself.Mr Goldman notes the irony of Wayne idolising Mix: ‘The man who would become “the most iconic cinematic cowboy in history” was racking himself over how to make an impression on “the most Cinematic cowboy in history”.’The biographer says of Wayne’s ‘brief detour’ in front of the camera: ‘It was a detour that lasted until his ԁеаtһ.’Wayne would ultimately direct just four films, including The Alamo and The Green Berets , “passion projects” for him. But directing was not what he became known for.Wayne does not elaborate in the manuscript on why he never made directing a priority in subsequent years.

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Secrets John Wayne Revealed to Ron Howard About Filmmaking . – My Blog

Although they were celebrities for different reasons, Ron Howard worked with John Wayne on one of The Duke’s late-period movies. Howard said Wayne gave him some interesting advice. In addition, Howard revealed what made Wayne a little different from other actors.


As an actor, Howard is most known for his appearing in the sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days as well as George Lucas’ American Graffiti. However, he also appeared in Wayne’s final Western, The Shootist. The film also included James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, and John Carridine. With that cast, the film was almost like a roll call of Old Hollywood actors. Howard’s appearance in the film almost feels like a passing of the torch from one generation to the next.

In an interview with Men’s Journal, Sean Woods asked Howard if working with Wayne and Stewart taught him anything about manhood. “John Wayne used a phrase, which he later attributed to [film director] John Ford, for scenes that were going to be difficult: ‘This is a job of work,’ he’d say,” Howard recalled. “If there was a common thread with these folks – Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Ford – it was the work ethic. It was still driving them. To cheat the project was an insult. To cheat the audience was damnable.”

What Ron Howard said John Wayne, Bette Davis, and Jimmy Stewart had in common : In a separate interview with the HuffPost, Howard also praised Wayne’s work ethic. “I always admired him as a movie star, but I thought of him as a total naturalist,” Howard said. “Even those pauses were probably him forgetting his line and then remembering it again, because, man, he’s The Duke.

But he’s working on this scene and he’s like, ‘Let me try this again.’ And he put the little hitch in and he’d find the Wayne rhythm, and you’d realize that it changed the performance each and every time. I’ve worked with Bette Davis, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda. Here’s the thing they all have in common: They all, even in their 70s, worked a little harder than everyone else.”

How critics and audiences responded to ‘The Shootist’ : Howard obviously admired Wayne’s methods as an actor. This raises an interesting question: Did the public embrace The Shootist? According to Box Office Mojo, the film earned over $8 million. That’s not a huge haul for a film from 1976. However, the film is widely regarded as a classic among 1970s Westerns.

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How did Paul Koslo ever have a tense encounter with star John Wayne ? – My Blog

In 1975, the Canadian actor starring The Duke in Rooster Cogburn. At the time, Koslo was only 19 and still relatively green in the industry. So working with the Hollywood legend was a bit stressful.


During an installment of World on Westerns, Paul Koslo shared his experiences with John Wayne, including a time where he nearly stepped on Wayne’s lines.As the story goes, Wayne had a short 15 line monologue. And once he was finished, Koslo was supposed to respond. And as they were filming, Wayne said his part. But when it was Koslo’s turn, he froze.“The director said ‘Paul, why didn’t you say your lines?’” the actor remembered.

“And I said, ‘well, because I didn’t wanna cut him off because he hadn’t said all of his lines yet.’” Hearing the conversation, John Wayne jumped in saying, “who’s gonna? Nobody’s gonna cut me off. I can say whatever I want, you got it, kid?”Of course, the interaction made Koslo nervous, and the only response he could muster was, “okay, sir.”However, the actor admitted that the Western icon wasn’t as intimidating as the story made him sound.

Koslo shared that as long as his co-stars worked hard, Wayne was always their biggest supporter.“My impression of him was that if you did your stuff, and you were right on top of it, he was your best buddy. But if you were like a slacker, or you weren’t prepared, he could get on your case.”During the AWOW interview, Paul Koslo also shared some details behind the age-old feud between John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn.

“I mean, Kate and him, they were always like this,” said Koslo, while punching his fists together.According to Koslo, politics were behind the fight. Hepburn was a democrat and Wayne was a republican.“It seemed like… in a fun way. I don’t know if it was for real,” he admitted. “You know, she would be sitting on the hood of a truck going like a hundred feet down to the set where they were shooting, and how Wallis was having heart attacks. She was really a daredevil, and she was full of piss and vinegar.”

The actor also noted that he didn’t get to spend much time with the actress, so he couldn’t get a proper gauge on the so-called feud. Almost all his time was spent with The Duke.The only interaction Koslo had with Hepburn was while shooting an intense scene where they were “moving this nitroglycerin to another location because we were going to rob the U.S. Treasury with it, and [John Wayne’s] about to ambush us.”And that happened right before Paul Koslo nearly stepped on John Wayne’s lines.

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