Happy Birthday To the Mighty John Wayne
by Big Hollywood—–
Once upon a time there were men. And one was born this very day in 1907.
The Duke talks a little politics in 1973:
“Hell yes, I’m a liberal. I listen to both sides before I make up my mind. Doesn’t that make you a liberal? Not in today’s terms, it doesn’t. These days, you have to be a fucking left-wing radical to be a liberal. Politically, though … I’ve mellowed.”
More quotes here.
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Happy Birthday! Wish you were still here.
When ye men were men and ye women were glad of it.
Happy Birthday Duke. Still watch your movies. Beats the hell out of the crap in the theaters.
They don't make 'em like you, anymore!
Happy birthday, Duke! You were one helluva man!
"Fill yer hands, you son of a – !"
Happy Birthday, Duke…
You know the Hollywood sucker punch that you are always talking about on BH? Wayne would have rather cut off his arm than do that to his audience. There was only one…
Even the liberals of the day didn't mess with The Duke!
Born 103 years ago. Definitely another age and another world.
"Once upon a time there were men…"
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Happy Birthday Duke! One of Hollywood's founding liberals, but back before the progressive scum sullied the label…
Happy Birthday Mr. Wayne!
Please reach down from Heaven and slap our current president up side the head.
Thank You!
Watched "Big Jake" in his honor.
Still the among the top ten most popular American movie stars!!!!
Does anyone really think any of the "stars" of today will still be on that list decades after they pass?
Happy Birthday Marion.
Viva la Duke!!!
Happy B-day, Duke!
I've got most of his movies. "The Shootist" was a fitting farewell. -sure do miss you and all the old gang from the time when women were treated with respect and men weren't ashamed to be men.
I wish I could say R.I.P. Hollyweird, Long live John Wayne! maybe-
haha.. isn't that 'Rooster Cogburn' [sp] in "True Grit"?
Great movie.
If ever a fifth American legend is contemplated for Mount Rushmore, John Wayne is the only possible contender. He was the embodiment of the American Spirit.
God rest his soul!
I have tremendous love for Wayne, but I think Martin Luther King would make it there before Wayne, and in any case I pray no-one ever tries (I know people have talked about Reagan) because G-d knows, the whole thing would probably crumble if they tried to blast any more off the mountain.
Tribute to John Wayne :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV8iJa_PoxA
Criterion dvd of Stagecoach available now!!
I, too, would hate to see the mountain blasted again; but I agree that MLK and the Duke both do the mountain proud!
I loved watching the Duke with Dean… not just on Dean's show, which was wonderful, but in that great film they did together "Rio Bravo".
Dean was able to make everyone look even better on his show. The mighty Orson Wells was actually FUNNY and masterful on his show… and he did a wonderful bit of Fallstaff on the show.
Martin Luther King was a plagarist, a serial adulterer and a communist.
Gotta love the Duke! From a time when real men were allowed in Hollywood!
Oh-ho, so he's a classical liberal in that case. Seeing a man as brash, smart and manly as Wayne makes me saddened how radicals have soiled that label. Now THOSE types are anything BUT liberating.
That aside, I'd love to hear Wayne say "fucking left-wing radical" in a dramatic "I'm calling you out" cowboy act. It would be as priceless as the G.E. episode with Reagan and Dean acting together.
FYI… Encore Westerns will be running a John Wayne Marathon this Sunday June 30th starting at 8pm ET/PT (with Red River) running through Memorial Day.
Red River
The Undefeated
Riders of Destiny
Blue Steel
The Lucky Texan
The Man from Utah
'Neath Arizona Skies
Randy Rides Alone
Sagebrush Trail
The Star Packer
The Trail Beyond
West of the Divide
Dawn Rider
The Desert Trail
The Lawless Frontier
Paradise Canyon
Texas Terror
In Old California
Dakota
North to Alaska
McLintock!
The Alamo
Correct me if I'm wrong here folks but I believe the voice "The Duke" is lip-sinking to in this clip was non other than Andy Williams.
He's been gone 31 years and he's ***still*** on people's short list for most favorite actor!
(in the voice of the Duke)…
Slap him? Hell, I'll kick him in the ass!
Duke
I just thought of you then Tom Cruise….He came up short……
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Big Guy !!
Love the Duke, of course. But the best thing about this clip: my dad the musician, who has a beautiful voice, used to sing this song to me when I was a little girl. Major flashbacks – and good ones.
99.99% sure it's Dean Martin. Part of the fun.
[...] is the original post: Happy Birthday To the Mighty John Wayne This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
Check out # 7
Dear Heart/The Shadow Of Your Smile [2 on 1]
Mar 1999
(1) It Had To Be You (2) I Can't Stop Loving You (3)Till I'm All Smiles (4) Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) (5) You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You (6) My Carousel (7) Everybody Loves Somebody (8)The Shadow Of Your Smile (Love Theme From 'The Sandpiper') (9) That Old Feeling (10) Meditation (11)Try To Remember (12) Michelle (13) Somewhere (14) The Summer Of Our Love (15)Peg O' My Heart (16) How Insensitive (17) Yesterday (18) Bye Bye Blues (19) A Taste Of Honey
And yet…King took true risks and put his life on the line in the real world…as opposed to someone who only pretended to be a hero (however inspiringly and successfully) on celluloid.
Id rather entertain the idea that one day, Wayne will be waiting for the Obamanation on The Other Side, ready to do far worse than just slap him…
Sorry. Don't think they'll be in the same locales.
Would you please ask him to shut down the oil well while he's here?
Most of the "stars" of today are not even on "that list" in our house now!
That's a HOOT, LOL.
"He came up short…."
/snort/
Good point.
Haven't seen you around lately.
Welcome back.
In case you've BEEN around, and I've just missed you….
Nice to see ya'.
Listen again. It's Ol' Blue Eyes!
Is it me, or does the Duke sound like Sinatra?
: )
Fair enough and I've almost certainly heard Ed croon it, but I have always associated it with Dean. It was as he mentioned the theme song for his show. However, RobertB's got us. It's Frank.
The day I meet a Texan who ain't drunk out of a muddy hoofprint, I'll buy him a drink!
No offence to Texans meant!
I just watched Red River a few days ago. Wayne should have won an Oscar for that – damn he was good! I can't think of any actor now who has his sheer presence on screen.
A unique screen presence!
I'll watch THEY WERE EXPENDABLE tomorrow!
[...] Read it. And watch the video. [...]
When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be just like John Wayne.
I hated my abusive stepdad and my Grandfathers were all dead. John Wayne was actually my role model.
When I met my wife I had her watch "the Quiet Man" with me because I felt it would help her understand who I thought I was…
God rest your soul John. You are STILL "The Man".
I've been around, just haven't had all that much to say.
Love John Wayne? Then you'll love this podcast at:http://www.cashbeechcroft.podomatic.com
From a rising star in the TEA PARTY movement.
Sadly he would be on the Hollywood blacklist today and unable to find work.
It would be nice to have a MAN in the Whitehouse.
Yes Sir it would!
Hell I'd happily take a real Woman in the WH, as long as she is conservative!
Happy Birthday, Duke!
I'm afraid the RNC will give us another McCain.
Jimmy Buffett wrote some lyrics, which for me, says it all:
“Now on the day that John Wayne died …
I think of "Red River" or "Liberty Valance"
Can't believe the old man's gone
But now he's incommunicado
Leavin' such a hole in a world that believed
That a life with such bravado
Was takin' the right way home”
John Wayne’s an Icon, but for him, Icon isn’t enough.
They also appeared together in "The Sons of Katie Elder."
Happy birthday, Duke!
One of the best all time inside movie jokes is in "McClintock!" when a young Stephanie Powers was singing with an equally young Jerry Van Dyke and the Duke states how she has a voice "like her father." I had to explain the whole "Singing Sandy Saunders" bit to my wife before she got the joke.
Can you see the Duke walking three steps behind the missus and minding the babies, as that icon of American manhood, Brad Pitt does? I sure cant.
TCM ran one all day yesterday.
Unfortunately, I still haven't seen that film. Hell, I'm way behind on the Duke's films.
It's Sinatra.
Which is why Dino starts in with the "dooby dooby doo"… Dean often would stick it to Frank on his show.
Marion Michael Morrison- the first '3M'…
Known now by his stage name of John Wayne. The former USC football star who found new life in talking pictures as 'Sandy the Singing Cowboy'. Kind of the Chuck Norris of his time, he labored mightily in these two-reelers cranking out dozens of them. He had a career, he was known. Then John Ford tapped him for 'Stagecoach'. The 32 year old Wayne stole every scene he was in from the veteran cast, and Ford knew he had a skyrocket on his hands.
That started a long spell of high quality films. Our favorites:
They Were Expendable
Rio Bravo
Highway in the Sky
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Alamo (give it another try- it's WAY better than the revisonist attempts)
Red River
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Fort Apache
sure, there are plenty of others- but not a bad start…
I picture him more as having a polite, but forceful conversation with the writers, and having the script changed.
I don't think so. I think he was big enough star the dollar signs in the financiers would be enough to over look it.
That seems to be the problem with the black list, it prevents those on the right from obtaining that kind of celebrity that over rides every thing else.
Before flight. Before cars were more than toys for the uber rich. Before most people had phones. And the Civil War was only about 55 years in the past.
Classical liberalism. That's why I refer to the current crop of crap as modern liberals. They don't deserve to be in the same class as classical liberals.
I vote for Patton, because if he could, he probably would.
Don't worry, I heard the president on the news yesterday saying he would not rest till it's plugged, cleaned up, and the coast line restored.
Of course then the White House said he's skipping Memorial Day at Arlington to go on vacation.
The Shootist was one of his best movies in my opinion. I think it was his most realistic western. It had the same feel that Eastwood was working on in movies like High Plains Drifter and The Pale Rider.
All excellent movies.
The only reason I wouldn't want MLK on it is because he wasn't president. And that's nothing against the great man, only that its a presidential monument.
Perhaps Reagan? Taking down the USSR with out firing a shot is pretty damn impressive.
That and he managed to convince America that "All men are created equal" actually means all men are created equal.
No small accomplishment in my opinion.
Good one, thanks for the link.
My condolences on the birthday of your late role model.
By all accounts, he was a decent, honorable man.
What do you think the odds are they'll serve McCain himself again?
He probably doesn't want Angeline to bitch slap him in public.
The sideshow has moved into the Big tent. Brown has turned out to be a skunk with a yellow stripe. Recycling that two-headed snake wouldn't surprise me.
john wayne a great american.true epitome of a cowboy unlike broke butt mountain.
A real American…
OTOH
Obama is the first American President who has directly criticized his own country while overseas. It's an insult to every American. Why are so many willing to praise this Marxist as he shames everything America stands for?
Obama Apologizes to France for "American Arrogance" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLZer0P9l1M
Remember These "Arrogant Americans" http://usataxpayer.org/?0043675932
And not just in stature, if you know what I mean (and I think you do).
Obviously your wife understood, and liked. Congrats.
I think that was one of those non-sexual "double entendre"s…and pretty good…IMHO
SIMPLY THE BEST!
No metro-sexual B.S. in that clip…Happy Birthday Duke You're Missed.
My woman and I got married on this day 20 years ago. God Bless ya Honey, and you too Duke.
John Wayne, Mareen O'Hara, the Quiet Man, now that's a movie !
That. Is a superb point. For some reason that teeny weeny prez criteria always escapes me.
It's been a long time since I looked at the monument's history, but I think it started out as a private project. And if so, then it would be the original architect's choice.
By the way, if you're interested in history, you should check out the guy that created it. I think he's passed away now, but he spent some 2, 3 or 4 decades working on another one to Crazy Horse(?) that's like 100 times bigger. I think his sons are still working on it.
I think you're right–I saw a good doc on it some years back. Both monuments are on my list of Giant Stuff in Stone to see. (I have already seen the Sphinx so I'm off to a good start
And apparently they have buffalo around as well. For some reason I'm having trouble convincing friends & family to go…)
That is an impressive start. Can I ask you a question about the Sphinx, seeing as you actually saw it, all I've seen are pictures.
I saw or read something some where where some one was pushing the idea the Sphinx is actually a lot older than Egypt. And one possible piece of evidence is that the Sphinx's head is supposedly smaller in proportion to the body. As if another culture actually built it and the Egyptians carved the original head down to its current mode to suit their own cultural preference.
Having seen it, does it seem plausible?
GREAT movie. you absolutely have to see it.
Not really…although the poor thing is now a hodgepodge of desperate attempts to keep it from falling apart, and you can definitely see the ongoing modern repair work. You have to remember that for centuries it was buried nearly up to the neck, so in my mind, yeah, the top would show more erosion than the bulk of the body. But from what I have learned (although hardly an expert) the Sphinx seems to fit in the timeline that the Egyptian's own histories say it does. (and we often forget how freakin' old Egypt actually is–it took them a few millenia to get those pyramid things down, so it doesn't seem odd that the Sphinx reflects a different construction style than some 'newer' ancient monuments)
Some writer, I think it was Gary Wills, said that John Wayne didn't do well with female audiences — well, that's not true for this female! John Wayne remains a great icon and a great role model. As my grandfather used to say, God rest his soul.
I recall hearing something about Mr. Wayne wanting to do a movie with the young Eastwood until he saw HPD. I think he said, as it portrays every character in such a negative (greedy) light, that he thought it was unAmerican or unpatriotic (can't remember exactly). Ironic, eh?
You know, reading your reply just made me realize what I like about that style of western.
Every body does have evil within them, we're all sinners. And that's the story they tell, at least as I think, the internal struggle, played out against the back drop of the old west, where no doubt, it played out in real life quite harshly.
Look at Josey Whales, before the opening credits are over he's gone from happy family farmer to vengeful angel of death. And then story is the redemption.
Compare that with the Shootist.
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them."
Yep, Mr. Wayne was a real 'values' man who picked and chose his roles carefully, often making a movie after having enjoyed the literary work it was based on.
What's great about JW was that he found redemption and closure. HPD (yes, I have it, too) is only about revenge and the destruction left in its wake.
I may have HPD confused with another movie. Is that the one where Eastwood's character seems to go nuts and makes the town rename itself Purgatory before the final shoot out? If so, agreed my bad.
And if I remember correctly, Wayne didn't always have the luxury of picking and choosing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtkPYICLEcw
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