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John Wayne Revealed the Movie’s True Political Statement He Wished the Military Followed – My Blog

Many John Wayne fans continue to love and support Rio Grande, even though its reception was a bit lukewarm. Nevertheless, the actor once revealed that it actually held an important political statement to those behind-the-scenes. Wayne explained how Rio Grande actually followed through on military strategy that he wished took place.

‘Rio Grande’ tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke in Texas
John Wayne as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Rio Grande follows Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke (Wayne), who is the head of a cavalry post in Texas. His mission is to protect the settlers against Apaches, who are launching attacks from the Mexican side of the river. However, things take a sudden turn into the unexpected when Yorke’s 16-year-old son, Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr.), shows up. The lieutenant colonel hasn’t seen his son since he was a baby, but now he’s one of the new recruits.

Yorke continues to have run-ins with Jeff, who he treats extra harshly compared to his peers. The situation becomes increasingly complicated when the lieutenant colonel’s estranged wife, Kathleen (Maureen O’Hara), shows up to pick up her son to return home. Their family drama begins to bleed its way into Yorke’s existing hardships involving the cavalry post.
John Wayne said ‘Rio Grande’ is actually a political statement on North Korea’s invasion of South Korea

According to Michael Munn’s John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Rio Grande was more than a “regular cavalry” Western flick. It actually had a political statement that wasn’t revealed for quite some time after its release. Wayne himself told Munn that the movie is about North Korea’s invasion of South Korea.
“Rio Grande was written by James McGuiness as a metaphor for the invasion of South Korea by North Korean Communist forces,” Wayne said. “In Rio Grande it’s the Apaches who come across the border to make their attacks, and then go back over the border where the cavalry weren’t supposed to go. But Lieutenant Colonel York, the part I played, knew he had to lead his men across the border to save the lives of innocents.”
Wayne continued: “In Korea, the Communists were making their raids into South Korea and then going back to the North. Well, I felt that our forces should have gone after them, and that’s what York did in Rio Grande—and it was the right thing to do.”
John Waye didn’t initially want to make the movie
Wayne, O’Hara, and filmmaker John Ford didn’t initially want to make Rio Grande. However, they did want to make The Quiet Man, which would become known as one of the trio’s greatest works. All of the major studios turned them down at the time because they felt that it would certainly bomb at the box office. Nevertheless, they had to make the Western to secure the funding for their quieter, more intimate romantic drama.
Rio Grande gave Wayne and O’Hara the opportunity to test their on-screen chemistry, which was magnetic. Audiences continue to swoon over the emotions that they were able to generate. This would only further translate into The Quiet Man.

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‘Black movie queen’ Maureen O’Hara – a close colleague of John Wayne passed away in front of the audience’s mourning. – My Blog

The star of the movie “Miracle on 34th Street”, a familiar co-star of actor John Wayne, has passed away due to old age and weakness. Maureen O’Hara, an Irish star, was once known as “the queen of movies. color”, died at his home in Boise, Idaho, USA, on October 24, at the age of 95.


The information was confirmed by Johnny Nicoletti, her long-time manager. “She passed away in the loving arms of her family, as well as on the soundtrack of the movie The Quiet Man that she loved so much,” one Maureen O’Hara’s relatives shared.

During her illustrious career, O’Hara had five times played the screen lover of actor John Wayne. She appeared in many classic Hollywood films, such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952). , Our Man in Havana (1959) and The Parent Trap (1961).

However, she never received an Oscar nomination. A year before Maureen O’Hara’s death, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to present her with an honorary Oscar for her service to Hollywood.

During the 1940s, when color film began to flourish, Maureen O’Hara appeared in a series of compelling works such as To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), The Black Swan (1942), The Spanish Main (1945). and The Quiet Man.

Possessing fair skin, red hair, as well as green eyes, she “shines like the sun on a silver screen,” as the New York Times described it. It was Dr. Herbert Kalmus, the inventor of color film, who gave Maureen O’Hara the nickname “color film queen”.

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The reason why John Wayne is labeled ‘Draft Dodger’ in Wor ւ ԁ War II . – My Blog

When actor John Wayne visited American soldiers in Vietnam in the summer of 1966, he was warmly welcomed. As he spoke to groups and individuals, he was presented gifts and letters from American and South Vietnamese troops alike. This was not the case during his USO tours in 1942 and ’43.According to author Garry Wills’ 1998 book, “John Wayne’ America: the Politics of Celebrity,” the actor received a chorus of boos when he walked onto the USO stages in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Those audiences were filled with combat veterans. Wayne, in his mid-30s, was not one of them.


Around the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Wayne was not the big-name actor we remember him being today. He was fresh off the box-office success of the 1939 film “Stagecoach.”Being drafted or enlisting was going to have a serious impact on his rising star. Depending on how long the ԝаr lasted, Wayne reportedly worried he might be too old to be a leading man when he came home.

Other actors, both well-established and rising in fame, rushed off to do their part. Clark Gable joined the Army Air Forces and, despite the studios’ efforts to get him into a motion picture unit, served as an aerial ɡսոոеr over Europe. Jimmy Stewart was initially ineligible for the draft, given his low weight, but like some amazing version of Captain America, he drank beer until he qualified.In his 2014 book, “American Titan: Searching for John Wayne,” author Marc Eliot alleges Wayne was having an affair with actress Marlene Dietrich. He says the possibility of losing this relationship was the real reason Wayne didn’t want to go to ԝаr.

But even Dietrich would do her part, smuggling Jewish people out of Europe, entertaining troops on the front lines (she crossed into Germany alongside Gen. George S. Patton) and maybe even being an operative for the Office of Strategic Services.Wayne never enlisted and even filed for a 3-A draft deferment, which meant that if the sole provider for a family of four were drafted, it would cause his family undue hardship. The closest he would ever come to Worւԁ Wаr II service would be portraying the actions of others on the silver screen.

With his leading man competition fighting the ԝаr and out of the way, Wayne became Hollywood’s top leading man. During the ԝаr, Wayne starred in a number of western films as well as Worւԁ Wаr II movies, including 1942’s “Flying Tigers” and 1944’s “The Fighting Seabees.” According to Eliot, Wayne told friends the best thing he could do for the ԝаr was make movies to support the troops. Eventually, the government agreed.

At one point during the ԝаr, the need for more men in uniform caused the U.S. military brass to change Wayne’s draft status to 1-A, fit for duty. But Hollywood studios intervened on his behalf, arguing that the actor’s star power was a boon for ԝаrtime propaganda and the morale of the troops. He was given a special 2-A status, which back then meant he was deferred in “support of national interest.”The decision not to serve or to avoid it entirely (depending on how you look at the actor) haunted Wayne for the rest of his life. His third wife, Pilar Wayne, says he became a “super-patriot for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying at home.”

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John Wayne Wanted to Make His Home Alarm a Hilarious Tape Recording of His Voice: ‘I See You, You Son of a B****’

John Wayne Wanted to Make His Home Alarm a Hilarious Tape Recording of His Voice: ‘I See You, You Son of a B****’

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