Why John Wayne Turned Down Starring In A Western With Clint Eastwood – My Blog
Two figures stand tallest among the history of American Western cinema – John Wayne and Clint Eastwood both have storied careers in the genre, but when they had an opportunity to work together on a film in 1970, Wayne unfortunately vehemently denied the opportunity and turned it down. In justifying his response, the reason behind Wayne’s decision lay with both Eastwood’s star persona, as well as the changing landscape of the Western film genre, as well as the particular film in question.
John Wayne is famous for being one of the first huge stars of the Western genre of cinema. Finding his start in the 1930s, just as movies that had synch-sound replaced silent films, he was the face of an entire era of Western cinema during a time when the genre dominated the cinema landscape. Films like John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy glorified certain ideals of that time, including black and white morality, American Exceptionalism, and a positive view of Manifest Destiny. More nuance came into Wayne’s persona with later releases such as The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but he never strayed far from these ideals. The 1960s and ’70s and brought a new era, heralded by movies like Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, which were a darker and more violent form of Western. These newer types of Western began to feature more moral ambiguity and, at times, their themes and concepts would challenge closely held American beliefs. Clint Eastwood, the American face of this new era, became almost as big a star as John Wayne was himself at the peak of his career.
It was in the early 1970s that an attempt was made to bring these two eras of the Western together via the two actors who embodied them the most. Larry Cohen, a director known for B-movies such as The Stuff and Q: The Winged Serpent, wrote a script for a Western titled The Hostiles. The script focused on a gambler who won half the estate of an older man, and the idea was that Eastwood would play the gambler and Wayne the older man. Eastwood was interested, but Wayne outright rejected the part. He didn’t like the script, but even more than that he didn’t like Clint Eastwood as a director and actor or how the script reflected the newer trends of the Western genre. After Eastwood tried again to pitch the film to Wayne, Wayne responded with a letter explaining his reasoning. In the letter, a major point of contention was how much Wayne hated Eastwood’s recent film High Plains Drifter.
High Plains Drifter was a 1973 Western that Eastwood starred in, and it was the first one he ever directed himself. It’s an incredibly dark and violent film that is often read as a critique of the old west, or at least a very cynical portrait of it. Wayne hated it, and thought it didn’t properly reflect the lives of, in his mind, noble pioneers who settled the west and expanded America’s borders. He saw The Hostiles as more in line with the spaghetti Westerns that made Eastwood famous. To him, the script was a cynical reinterpretation of the kinds of characters and stories Wayne’s most famous films often portrayed. Eastwood didn’t bother to respond to the letter.
Needless to say, The Hostiles was never made because of this. A version of Cohen’s script eventually got made into the 2009 tv movie The Gambler, The Girl and the Gunslinger but the world was never to see the two giants of the genre on screen together. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood just came up through different generations and different eras of Hollywood, and they both had very different ideas about the genre that made their careers. They’re icons, and will forever be the faces of both sides of the Western: its older traditions and its newer deconstructions.
Bruce Dern paid homage to Western past as ” Man Who Killed John Wayne ” – My Blog
Over the years, Bruce Dern has made quite a career in film. From acting to producing and just about every facet of the industry. One of his most notable roles, earlier in his career was when he killed John Wayne. That film, 1972’s The Cowboy, came up in his Goliath series.Dern’s series, Goliath features Billy Bob Thornton and others in a legal drama, unlike many others.
Throughout the series, the production crew has tried their best to incorporate some of the film legend’s old material into the show. A man who has worked with everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to John Wayne, Quentin Tarantino and more, has a lot to reflect on.
However, it was how they paid homage to that old John Wayne film that really surprised Dern. During the fourth and final season, Billy McBride has a dream in which Dern appears. Riding a horse and wearing a very familiar outfit.“But what they did that I didn’t know, they went back to Western Custom and got the 1972 exact costume I wore in The Cowboys when I killed John Wayne,” Bruce Dern said.
“They did stuff like that. I was totally surprised. I said, ‘S***, I’ve seen this stuff before.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, you wore it in The Cowboys when you killed John Wayne.’ Oh, my God.’” He continued, “Each day they’d come up with little things like that particularly for me. I really appreciated that. And that is Larry Trilling and big-time Billy Bob Thronton. He’s all about what was there before. I mean, we’re not inventing the wheel, so to speak. We’re trying to find new ways to communicate things. And I enjoyed the opportunity to do that.”Bruce Dern Made a Lot of Enemies Killing John WayneWhile the action was just part of a movie, The Cowboy had quite an influence on how many Western fans viewed Bruce Dern. Taking out The Duke is no small task. It comes with a lot of repercussions. Especially the way his character did it, shooting Wayne in the back after losing a fistfight…in front of a bunch of kids.
While the dramatics of the scene was a perfect example of those old classic Westerns, Dern never really shook the reputation with a certain generation of fans. However, while working with John Wayne, Dern received direct orders to disrespect Wayne on set.“But right at the start, he says to me, ‘I want you to do us a favor.’ He was including himself, [director] Mark Rydell, and the scriptwriters.” Dern explained that during the pep talk, “He [Wayne] gave me carte blanche to just treat him like a turd.” All so the kids acting on set as the cowboys would be scared of the bad guys.
Bruce Dern got into the role and listened to the orders that Wayne gave him. Now, the movie is a Western classic, and infamous in the minds and hearts of John Wayne fans everywhere.
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.”
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.