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John Wayne in real-life hero moment as shoot descended into riot—’thank god no one killed’ – Old western – My Blog

Today, the John Wayne hit The Lawless Frontier airs on TCM from 1.30pm. The 1934 film was shot in less than a week at Red Rock Canyon, north of Los Angeles, and was made on a budget of around £10,000 ($11,000). Though it is relatively unknown in the huge catalogue of Wayne films, it did help him on his road to establishing himself among Hollywood’s elite – but not without a few stories to tell along the way.

His career saw him become one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws for three decades, and in 1999 the American Film Institute chose Wayne as one of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

While Wayne remains a popular figure with film fans the world over, accounts from his time in Tinsel Town demonstrate the frustrations he occasionally shared with those he worked with. Among them was the fabled director John Huston.The pair were colleagues on the 1958 film The Barbarian and the Geisha, which was among three pictures Wayne signed up for in a multi-million dollar deal with Twentieth Century Fox.Huston, already an Oscar winner for his directing skills on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, opted to cast Wayne in his new western after he was impressed with his work on Red River.Set in 1856, The Barbarian and the Geisha sees Wayne’s character sent to Japan by the US government to act as the consul, but he experiences hostilities from the local authority when he arrives, before falling in love with a young geisha.But the shooting of scenes for the film descended into chaos after a near-fatal episode saw many cast and crew left unconscious during a horror moment on set. Michael Munn’s 2001 book John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth explored the devastating encounter.Huston, Munn recalled, was shooting a scene in Japan where Wayne set a village alight, and loaded dead bodies onto boats to burn them. Incredibly, the line that attached the burning barge to the set broke, with the wind sending it right into local fishing boats in a small cove.This led to the fuel boats blowing up, and in turn, saw local villagers attack the film’s Japanese cast members. Recalling his horror, Huston reportedly remembered that “a lot of people were knocked unconscious”, before thanking God that “no one was killed”.Wayne also detailed the experience, but it affected his relationship badly with Huston. Wayne continued: “When I saw the riot begin, I ran down to the docks and began waving my hands and shouting for everyone to calm down.“The rioters saw me, and I guess they liked John Wayne enough to stop the riot. I promised all the fishermen that I would make good their losses out of my own pocket if the studio wouldn’t.“Well, when Huston saw and heard this, he just walked away and never said a word. He couldn’t bear the fact that he’d goofed badly and that I was the one who handled the situation.”Later Wayne discussed his distaste for Huston, describing him as a “greatly overrated” filmmaker. Writing in the 1988 book John Wayne: Prophet of the American Way, critic Emanuel Levy noted this relationship and how it ended.He wrote: “Wayne told reporters that ‘the most successful films I have made have been about people, not plots and backgrounds,’ and that he was ‘surprised at Huston’s attack, that all-out go for sheer beauty like a Japanese print.’“‘I’ve endured a lot of bad scripts and bad directors,’ he said, but ‘the time comes when you gotta speak up.’ He admitted that ‘for a while I couldn’t make up my mind whether to flat quit and go home and let them sue me, or stay and give this thing a whirl.“‘Guess I’m in so deep now I can’t back out–but the Old Duke’s not happy.’ A consummate professional, he felt the contract was binding, but he never worked again with Huston again.”

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John Wayne or Jeff Bridges, who plays the role of Rooster Cogburn well? – My Blog

Two movies made 50 years apart, both based on a novel by the same name. Two different iconic actors took turns playing the rough-and-tumble marshal Rooster Cogburn in their respective versions of “True Grit.” John Wayne played him in the 1969 version, Jeff Bridges in 2010. Both were celebrated critically. Now, Duke’s official Instagram account is comparing the performances to see which one did it better.Of course, the question was posed by the John Wayne account. So it’s safe to say the people who responded in the comments were at least slightly biased toward the 1969 version.


Then again, both Rooster Cogburn actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. So it’s really anybody’s game.“John Wayne & Jeff Bridges were both nominated for Oscars for their performance as Rooster Cogburn. Which version of the movie is your favorite, 1969 or 2010?” the Instagram caption read.

In the world of remakes, few movies do as much justice to their original counterparts as the 2010 version of “True Grit” from the Coen Brothers. There was no consensus among fans whatsoever. But some of the most popular sentiments seemed to be that the 1969 “True Grit” with John Wayne as Cogburn featured the more iconic performance. Though, many fans thought the 2010 movie was closer to the source text than the original.

“I have to fall on the side of the Duke. BUT, that’s the BEST remake of a film, I’ve ever seen! Loved them both,” a fan replied to the Instagram post.“2010 Much richer film and truer to the book’s feel. Wayne was robbed of an Oscar for the Searchers and this was a lifetime achievement award,” another added.Two Versions of ‘True Grit,’ Two Very Different Approaches to Character . One of the biggest complaints John Wayne fans had of Jeff Bridges’ approach to Rooster Cogburn was how disheveled he appeared.

“Jeff Bridges was horrible had marbles in house mouth and portrait Roster as a slob,” another fan replied to the post from John Wayne’s estate.But a different fan pointed out that, indeed, the portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the novel by Charles Portis was one of a slobbish man.This isn’t to say that the Bridges performance is better for accuracy. It’s just that Henry Hathaway, the director of the 1969 “True Grit,” and the Coen brothers took different approaches to their movies. As a result, the actors contrasted greatly in their portrayals of Rooster Cogburn.

At the end of the day, however, the win may have to go to John Wayne on this one. After all, we’re still waiting on Jeff Bridges to reprise the role in a sequel. Duke did it in the 1975 film “Rooster Cogburn.”

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John Wayne’s ”expensive” sayings made the fans ”nod”’. – My Blog

John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979) was an American movie Actor, director, and producer, known in movies like Stagecoach, Angel and the Bad Man, Red River, and The Shootist.They say that life is a good teacher and through them who lived this life we can learn a lot, especially from great people like John Wayne a.k.a Duke.Today I am going to share with you Wayne’s 5 rules you should be remembering in your daily life:


1. Money cannot buy happiness but its more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.
This is a long debate everywhere, rich people say that “those who say money can buy happiness are the ones who don’t have” and broke people reply that “you don’t know how miserable we are just because we don’t have coins in our pocket”.John Wayne made it clearer that though money cannot buy happiness but when unhappy moments arrive money can make someone comfortable.


2. Forgive your enemy but remember the bastard’s name.
Forgiving your enemy is in your favor, most of the time carrying such burden in your heart is more painful while the bastard doesn’t even know.Just to be careful, put their names somewhere in your mind. Once a soldier always a commando and once enemy, I don’t know.

3. Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they’re in trouble again.
Do what is right, help people but never expect something in return.According to John Wayne, the only thing you can expect from people is that if you have helped them in the hard times, they will remember you when they’re in trouble again.

4. Many people are alive only because it’s illegal to shoot them.
Everyone has enemies and some people do harm to us to the level we even wish to kill them. Not only our enemies would be killed if to kill was not illegal but also some innocents and powerless people.About this rule, something you have to learn is that we’re surrounded by people that don’t kill us only because it’s illegal.
5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.
Haha this rule is somehow funny but it is true on the other hand. You will find people telling you stop drinking alot it will solve nothing but at least you’ll have that sedative moment.Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.

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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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