John Wayne
‘The Shootist’ Director Accused John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart of ‘Not Trying Hard Enough’ on Set
Actors John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart co-starred in The Shootist. The performances earned praises from audiences and critics, but director Don Siegel didn’t have the easiest time working with them. He accused Wayne and Stewart of “not trying hard enough” on the set of The Shootist. However, the Western star had a famous comeback that came from a John Ford quote.
John Wayne convinced Jimmy Stewart to join ‘The Shootist’ in a cameo role
L-R: John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
According to IMDb, Wayne convinced Stewart to join The Shootist for a small cameo role as Dr. Hostetler. The 1976 Western movie follows the notorious shootist named J.B. Books (Wayne), who arrives in Carson City, Nevada. However, after a visit with the local doctor, he discovers that he has cancer and a short time left to live.
As a result, J.B. makes the decision to stay at a nearby boarding house run by Bond Rogers (Lauren Becall) and her son, Gillom (Ron Howard). However, he soon realizes that he isn’t welcome there. Nevertheless, he seeks to die as painless a death as possible with the maximum amount of dignity left intact. J.B. establishes an unexpected bond with his widowed host and her son.
‘The Shootist’ director Don Siegel accused John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart of ‘not trying hard enough’
Wayne specifically requested that Stewart join The Shootist, which was a welcome reunion between the actors. They previously co-starred in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and How the West Was Won, but The Shootist would present its own challenges.
“He [Stewart] and Wayne muffed their lines so often in the main scene between them that director Don Siegel accused them of not trying hard enough,” IMDb wrote. “Wayne’s reply was a variation on an old John Ford line, advising the director, ‘If you’d like the scene done better, you’d better get a couple of better actors.’”
Wayne later told his friends that Stewart knew his lines on The Shootist. However, the issue was that he couldn’t hear his cues. As a result, Stewart messed up some of the scenes which caused Wayne to fumble his own lines.
Wayne frequently received criticisms on his performances over the course of his career. Many critics claimed that he couldn’t “act” and simply played the same character in every movie. Nevertheless, he finally won his Oscar for True Grit. Meanwhile, Stewart was praised for many performances, winning his only Oscar for 1940’s The Philadelphia Story.
The Western actor earned Oscar buzz for his final performance
The performance Wayne gave in The Shootist would be the final one of his career. However, it wasn’t by choice. The actor died from stomach cancer on June 11, 1979, which was only three years after the release of Siegel’s movie.
The film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction, but it lost out to All the President’s Men. However, Wayne earned a lot of Oscar talk for his performance as J.B. in The Shootist. It was a deeply personal role for the actor, which brought some of his realities onto the silver screen.
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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