John Wayne
Casting John Wayne In Red River Saved Howard Hawks From A Behind-The-Scenes Crisis
By 1948, Howard Hawks had made just about every type of film over his then 22-year career when he decided to take on the most American of movie genres: the Western. Though he’d made plenty of films about rough and/or ruthless men (e.g. “Scarface,” “Only Angels Have Wings” and “The Big Sleep”), the closest he’d come to making a true oater was with 1934’s “Barbary Coast,” which plays like more of a period crime film set in mid-1850s San Francisco. “Red River,” written by Borden Chase and Charles Schnee (based on Chase’s serialized novel “The Chisholm Trail”), would be the real deal.
And it almost fell apart before Hawks shot a frame of film.
While the story about Tom Dunson, a determined rancher who turns into a horse-riding Captain Ahab during a harrowing cattle drive from Texas to Missouri, was crammed with action and intrigue, it proved tonally problematic for Hawks’ star. Gary Cooper had made several films with Hawks and many Westerns prior to “Red River,” but he balked at portraying a cowboy who kills in cold blood and pledges to murder his own adopted son. Meanwhile, Cary Grant, who Hawks favored for the role of hired gun Cherry Valance, refused to sign on unless his part in the drama was expanded.
With the production start date approaching, Hawks realized he had to move on from the two A-listers. The next logical move for a filmmaker of his stature was to approach the leading man who’d helped transform the genre with John Ford in “Stagecoach.” John Wayne was available. Barely. But he was not a fan of Hawks’ approach to the movie, and requested a number of changes before committing.
John Wayne doubled the budget of Red River
United ArtistsAccording to Maurice Zolotow’s biography “John Wayne: Shooting Star,” Hawks had unusual ambitions for “Red River.” One of his most interesting ideas was to surround the principal characters with real-life cowboys. This approach had much in common with the Italian neorealist classics being cranked out by the likes of Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica and Luchino Visconti, and it held absolutely zero appeal for Wayne.
The first hurdle to clear was fitting Wayne’s salary into the movie’s $1.5 million budget. Per Zolotow, the Duke told Hawks and producer Charlie Feldman they’d have to hit up United Artists for more money if they hoped to make a quality Western on his terms:
“They had a budget of just under a million and a half. My own salary was a hundred and fifty thousand and a percentage. I told them, if they can’t get United Artists to spend at least two million five, they would never make this picture – they were thinkin’ in terms of a blockbuster, you see. Actually ‘Red River’ cost three million and it grossed about ten.”
Then Wayne addressed Hawks desire to cast amateurs. The star knew his way around making Westerns, and told them this was totally unfeasible:
“The next thing I said after I straightened them out on the budget was about these Arizona cowboys. No dice. Absolutely no amateurs. I told them flat out, I don’t go in on this deal unless you get some professional western actors and a dozen trained western stuntmen.”
Wayne and Hawks hit it off (and make more hits together)
United ArtistsWayne might’ve gotten his way, but, surprisingly, he was okay with Dunson getting booted from the drive by his son, Matt (a young Montgomery Clift, who was one of the first method actors to break through in Hollywood). Though he did have ideas on how his ousting should play, the Duke didn’t flinch from playing Dunson as a bit of a madman. This is a preview of the racist Ethan Edwards in Ford’s “The Searchers,” and it’s a little terrifying at times.
Alongside “Fort Apache” and “3 Godfathers,” “Red River” helped to make 1948 a phenomenal year for Wayne. People began taking him seriously as an actor, which paid off the following year with his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (in “Sands of Iwo Jima,” though he was far more impressive in that year’s “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”).
As for Hawks, he was on firm footing as a director of Westerns and Wayne. He’d go on to make three more oaters with the Duke (including the all-timer “Rio Bravo”), and the utterly goofy safari adventure “Hatari!” But they’d never again make anything quite as antiheroic as “Red River.” From this point forward, when the Duke wanted to futz with his persona, he mostly went to Ford.
John Wayne
The Legend Lives On: John Wayne is Still Alive!
John Wayne
Why John Wayne Turned Down the Chance to Work With Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood and John Wayne are the two biggest legends in the history of Western movies, however, they never worked together. The duo did have the opportunity to work together once in the 1970s. Here’s why the film never came to fruition.
How John Wayne responded when Clint Eastwood tried to work with him
Firstly, a little background. According to the book John Wayne: The Life and Legend, it all starts with Larry Cohen. Though Cohen is not a widely known director like Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino, he’s a huge name to fans of B movies. He directed famous B movies like The Stuff, Q: The Winged Serpent, It’s Alive, and God Told Me To. He also wrote a script called The Hostiles shortly after Eastwood released his classic High Plains Drifter.
The Hostiles was about a gambler who wins half of an estate of an older man. The gambler and the older man have to work together despite the fact that they don’t like each other. Eastwood optioned the screenplay with the intent of playing the gambler alongside Wayne as the older man.
Eastwood sent a copy of the script of The Hostiles to Wayne. Although Eastwood felt the script was imperfect, he saw its potential. However, Wayne was not interested. Eastwood pitched the film to Wayne a second time and Wayne responded with a letter. Wayne’s letter complained about High Plains Drifter. Wayne was offended by the film and its portrayal of the Old West as a cruel, violent place.
John Wayne
Ann-Margret Refused to Call John Wayne ‘Duke’ While Introducing 1 of His Movies
Ann-Margret once starred in one of John Wayne’s lesser-known movies. However, she refused to call him by his popular moniker Duke. Here’s a look at the film they made together — and why she declined to call him by a nickname.
The one time Ann-Margret and John Wayne made a movie together
Ann-Margret is probably most known for her work in musicals, specifically Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, and The Who’s Tommy. However, she also dabbled in the Western genre. She starred alongside Wayne in the mostly forgotten movie The Train Robbers.
Wayne was also known as The Duke or just Duke. According to USA Today, the nickname was derived from his childhood dog. It stuck with him for many years. It continues to be used today — even on the box covers of the DVDs for his movies.
John Wayne | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
During an interview with Interview Magazine, Ann-Margret explained why she didn’t refer to the Rio Bravo star by this famous name. “When I came to this country, first of all, mother and I didn’t know English,” she said. “I would curtsey, then say, ‘Thank you,’ and then when I was leaving, curtsey. For example, we went to Dallas to introduce a film I did with John Wayne. And I never called him Duke. I just couldn’t. That’s the way I was raised. When you meet someone, you say either Mr. or Mrs. or Miss. You stand up.”
Ann-Margret revealed she treated other famous people in much the same way. For example, she worked with director George Sidney on Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas. She always called him Mr. Sidney.
What Ann-Margret thought about John Wayne
Ann-Margret refused to use Wayne’s most famous moniker. However, she had a positive view of the actor. During an interview with Fox News, she was asked what she expected when she met Wayne. “Oh, I didn’t know what to expect,” she revealed. “But when he hugged me, it’s like the world was hugging me. He was so big and wide with that booming voice.
“We were shooting in Durango, Mexico and my parents came down to visit me,” she added. “He was so great with my parents. So absolutely welcoming and gentle with them. And anybody who was great to my parents was on a throne in my eyes.”
How the world reacted to ‘The Train Robbers’
Wayne starred in many classic Westerns, including The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. However, The Train Robbers is mostly forgotten. It didn’t gain a cult following like Once Upon a Time in the West or Dead Man. It wasn’t a critical success either, garnering a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Ann-Margret had some fond memories of making the film — even if she refused to call Wayne by his famous nickname.
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