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John Wayne Pushed Maureen O’Hara Down That Muddy Hill In McLintock! – My Blog

Andrew V. McLaglan’s 1963 film “McLintock!” is a loose Western adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” (c. 1592), a problematic play to say the least. The story of Shakespeare’s play involves a willful and bitter young woman named Kate who refuses to settle down and get married. This upsets Kate’s younger sister Bianca, as she will not be permitted to marry until Kate is married. A man named Petruchio is hired to, as the title says, tame the shrew, transforming an outspoken and willful woman into a dutiful wife. By the end, he does. One can easily see the play’s misogynist leanings. Critically speaking, one might be able to see a satire at play, however. Or perhaps it’s merely sexist. “McLintock!” is equally tetchy, with John Wayne playing the Petruchio role, and Maureen O’Hara playing Kate. The story was altered somewhat to explain that Kate and Petrucho, called G.W. in the film, were once married, and she left their home to live a rich life in a big city. They never officially divorced, and there was some latent attraction. This was, it seems, meant to take the curse off of the scene wherein the Petruchio character playfully tormented Kate ostensibly for her own benefit. A lot of “McLinktock!” is devoted to a deal with the local Comanche tribe and the romantic dealings of G.W.’s and Kate’s daughter Becky (Stefanie Powers), but the reconciliation between the two adults is where the film’s drama pivots.The middle of “McLintock!” involved a brawl in the town, a mud slope, a lot of stunt performers, and Wayne and O’Hara getting coated in glop. On a 1976 episode of “Donahue,” Wayne talked about how he and O’Hara took the dive, and how he had to literally push his co-star into it.The mud scene

United ArtistsThe scene in question was to feature Wayne and O’Hara standing on the edge of a muddy precipice while all of the film’s comedic and romantic shenanigans were exacerbated thanks to an attempting lynching (yes, the film is quite problematic). The lynching luckily doesn’t happen, and the attempted attackers were to fall into the mud pit, getting as dirty on the outside as they are on the inside. The many townsfolk who did fall into the mud were played by stunt performers, and O’Hara was prepared to step aside and let her double do the dirty work.Wayne explained on “Donahue” that it was a special kind of plaster that the filmmakers used for mud, and that many were reluctant to do the stunt because it was a cold day, and one of the stunt performers had already injured themselves on a barbed wire fence. He said:“Not only I actually did it, Marine O’Hara actually did it. And I’ll explain something to you. The stuntmen, we had taken this place and put some plaster in these things and then put that kind of mud they use in oil wells, and then on … ooh, it’s slimy! And it was about 54 degrees, the wind blowing from the north, and somebody had let the barbed wire fence down, so it was cold. And one of these stuntmen went down and tried it and he cut his head.”Of course, after an injury a lot of renegotiation immediately began to occur. Some of the stunt performers reconsidered their daily wage, and began asking for higher wages. Wayne didn’t declare his motivation for doing so, but he did seem to overhear the financial discussions, and seemed to feel that Maureen O’Hara could do a better, cheaper job than her double.‘Stick me with a hatpin.’United ArtistsWayne said:“Now they’re all standing around talking about, ‘Well I don’t know, I think I’ll do $150 for this…’ And I said, ‘Maureen, you ready?’ and she said, ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘Get over there!’ She got over there I said, ‘Stick me with a hatpin!’ She did and I went ‘Wham!’ Down she went, cursing at me all the way down, and the stuntmen had to change the amount that they felt that stunt was worth.”The hatpin gesture may have been Wayne trying to get his own motivation going.It was a way to negotiate with stunt performers, one might suppose, but not one that O’Hara was happy about. Indeed, O’Hara seems to have shouldered a lot of abuse for “McLintock!” On the film’s DVD special features, she recalled a later scene wherein Wayne spanked her with a shovel, and recalled that he didn’t bother to hit her softly. In her words, “My bottom was black and blue for weeks!” O’Hara wasn’t blindsided by Wayne’s gruff behavior, luckily. Indeed, the two actors has previously starred together in “Rio Grande,” “The Quiet Man,” and “The Wings of Eagles.”They would go on to star opposite each other in 1971’s “Big Jake,” and they were said to be good friends who had similar political opinions — they were two of the most right-leaning people in Hollywood — so the mud and shovel incidents were, one would hope, mere professional exchanges. 

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Interesting things happen at the “Duketober” celebration at the John Wayne museum . – My Blog

The enduring legacy of actor John Wayne, America’s ultimate cowboy, was celebrated last month, fittingly enough, by the Cowboy Channel in association with the John Wayne: An American Experience museum in Fort Worth, Texas.


The “Duketober” celebration is a month-long airing of classic John Wayne movies via broadcast and streaming. It will culminate with a 50th anniversary live panel discussion on Nov. 3 in remembrance of Big Jake, the 1971 movie that bought Wayne together with sons Ethan and Patrick, who will participate in a discussion about his films and career.Wayne’s legacy has taken a few hits in the last couple of years.

A 50-year-old Playboy magazine interview outlining some of his controversial views on race surfaced, sparking his USC alma mater to remove an exhibit on him. There’s also a movement to remove his name from the Orange County airport. So far, that action has failed to gain ground . But Wayne’s cinematic legacy, particularly his western movies, continue to rank among the finest ever produced by Hollywood. Such films as The Searchers, True Grit, Stagecoach and Rio Bravo are considered classics of the genre.

“The John Wayne: An American Experience (JWAAE) museum in the Fort Worth Stockyards has created a perfect synergy for the Cowboy Channel to highlight this incredible western film legend and showcase many of his classic films for our audience,” said Cowboy Channel CEO Raquel Koehler Gottsch.

“Our fans absolutely adore John Wayne, and we couldn’t be happier to have a great relationship with his family and be able to share his movies with our audience and dedicate an entire month to such a western star legend.”“He would be thrilled to learn that so many people still cherish his films after all these years and I know he’s smiling somewhere,” said son Ethan Wayne.

The Cowboy Channel will also feature a Halloween movie marathon of Wayne films, and fans can tune-in to such classics such as Rio Grande, Sand of Iwo Jima, and The Shootist.

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James Caan shares a memorable collaboration with John Wayne on the set of El Dorado. – My Blog

In 1997, James Caan joined The Late Show with David Letterman to starred on John Wayne after they alongside one another on the hit movie El Dorado.While Wayne portrayed the noble elder gunfighter Cole Thorton, Caan plays his loyal friend, Mississippi. Furthermore, the movie was directed by esteemed producer Howard Hawks.


James Caan notes that the first big-name he worked with in Hollywood was John Wayne. Wayne was 33 years older than Caan and already had boomed success in the industry, so naturally, James Caan admired the Duke.“He was great because he could intimidate you,” explains Caan. “He’d stay on you forever, and you’d just crumble. I mean, he’d just try you.”However, on the set of El Dorado, James Caan recalls getting directions from Howard Hawks, also known as Coach.

“So this one night I remember I was between he and Mitchum and Howard Hawks was about 72 at the time, and we’re outside in this old Tucson. This big old western town and Hawks comes up and says, ‘now look, Kid, when you say that line, here’s what’s going to happen. Duke, you go down the middle of the road right down the center because we are going to surround this bar. Mitchum, you go around that way, and Kid, you go around.’ I said, ‘alright, Coach.’ because that’s what we called him, Coach.’

“He was coach,” notes Letterman. “John Wayne was Duke, and you’re the Kid.” After Hawk gave the instructions, he began walking back to the cameras. James Caan, who does a perfect John Wayne impression, reflected on when Wayne tried to offer the then-youngster a few tips.“So now he has to walk back up 50 yards back to the camera. There’s all kinds of extras, and he’s walking back, and the dude looks at me and goes, ‘now look, Kid.’ He says, ‘when you say that there line, I want you to turn around and give me that look you give me.’

“Give Me That Look That You Give Me.”The men begin to laugh hysterically because Jame Caan has no idea what John Wayne is talking about. Regardless, Caan still gave it a try.“I have no idea what he’s talking about. But the truth is that Mitchum explains me that I was laughing at him all the time. Every time he talked because you had to. How can you take him seriously? That ‘why did you do it’ look. So he said, ‘give me that look that you give me.’ I said, ‘alright. Alright Duke.’

At this point, it isn’t Wayne who is mad about Cann’s performance. It is Hawks. However, the Duke still offered his advice. James Caan must.“He gets behind the camera everything starts going, and they go ‘ACTION!’ and I send my one line and I take a step, and I turn around. Coach goes ‘CUT’. Comes running up, and he goes, ‘look, when you take the step. Don’t take the step. I want you to say the line and go. Just go!’ He starts to walk back to the camera, and Wayne goes, ‘now look, Kid. Don’t take a whole step, take a half a step and then turn around and give me that look you give me.’

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John Wayne’s words to his daughter before taking his last breath . – My Blog

John Wayne was in around 170 movies during his long career in the acting world. It’s hard to determine exactly how many because he had starred in so many early on in his career that was considered more obscure.


By the time he was done acting, fans heard him deliver hundreds of thousands of lines to the cameraWhile his acting career was the life he projected, Wayne also had a life outside of the set. He was married three times and divorced twice. In total, John Wayne had seven children during his life. Wayne will always be remembered as the epitome of the Western genre. The tough, macho man behind countless iconic films. He was in movies like “True Grit,” “The Shootist,” “The Cowboys,” and “El Dorado.”

John Wayne’s Last Words : When he was lying in his death bed, however, he wasn’t talking about the Old West or old-fashioned violence. Instead, family was his main concern. According to a Neatorama post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen, Wayne spent his last days in a hospital bed in-and-out of consciousness. He passed away on June 11, 1979, surrounded by many family members.

His daughter, Aissa Wayne (born March 31, 1956) was at his bedside. She held his hand and asked if he knew who she was. He responded with his very last words ever, “Of course I know who you are. You’re my girl. I love you.”

Wayne passed away from stomach cancer. He had been suffering from poor health for several years at this point. Deezen described Wayne on the set of his last movie, “The Shootist” by saying he was often irritable and missed days on set due to poor health. He even had an oxygen tank on set.

Beyond the stomach cancer, John Wayne also had heart issues. He had a long life of smoking, drinking, and a questionable diet. He actually had a pig valve put into his heart. His last appearance would be at the 1979 Academy Awards where he was notably thinner and very sick. He even had a wetsuit on underneath his outfit to make him look bigger.

According to Mental Floss his grave in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach reads, “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”

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