TCM Pick O’ The Day: Friday, January 16th
by John Nolte
7pm PST - War Wagon, The (1967) – A rancher and a hired gun join forces to take on the criminal who betrayed them both. Cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker Jr. Dir: Burt Kennedy C-101 mins, TV-PG
In the mid-60s, Kirk Douglas and John Wayne made a number of films together, none of them classics, but the chemistry between the laconic Wayne and intense Douglas always made for an interesting screen dynamic. Considering how far apart they were politically, one can only guess at the between-take chatter as the Vietnam War raged and the hippies took to the streets.
Wayne and Douglas were lifelong friends.
Douglas is a different kind of Hollywood Democrat. He hails from an era when “class” meant something.
Frequently, we conservatives are accused of not liking certain actors because of the actor’s politics. What an absurd charge.
Politics isn’t the problem with today’s leftist celeb-u-stars, it’s their striking lack of class. Too many are boorish and insulting, snobbish and condescending. And worst of all, they use their power to undermine the men and woman currently in harm’s way – something Hollywood didn’t even do during the war in Vietnam.
Last year I had the privilege of attending a screening of ‘Spartacus’ introduced by The Mighty Douglas himself. It was part of an event that included a dozen other films introduced by their stars or director. You could only choose one, but the opportunity to see Douglas in person made the choice easy. Douglas’s politics never entered my mind.
Kirk Douglas is a great actor, a good man and all class.
As far as today’s pick, The War Wagon is a fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek Western directed by Burt Kennedy, a smart, unpretentious screenwriter and storyteller who never allowed a scrap of fat into his work. For its time, The War Wagon’s not much – a drive-in programmer – but if there were more than a handful of films released this year that were better, send me the list.
The year was 1967. Duke was closing in on 60, Douglas on 50. Still, they’re both pure movie star. Neither hides their middle age and the film remains a reminder of when men used to make the movies.
And then there’s Bruce Cabot as the heavy, Keenan Wynn, Howard Keel and the always-all-kinds-of-awesome Bruce Dern doing the support work.
The World Is An Unjust Place Side Note: Kirk Douglas never won a performance Academy Award.
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18 Comments
Considering how far apart they were politically, one can only guess at the between-take chatter as the Vietnam War raged and the hippies took to the streets.
Which reminds me of this quote from the great, Katherine Hepburn…
“John Wayne is the hero of the ’30s and ’40s and most of the ’50s. Before the creeps came creeping in. Before, in the ’60s, the hero slid right down into the valley of the weak and the misunderstood. Before the women began dropping any pretense to virginity into the gutter. With a disregard for truth which is indeed pathetic. And unisex was born. The hair grew long and the pride grew short. And we were off to the anti-hero. John Wayne survived all this. Even into the ’70s… his acting capacity is powerful. He is a very, very good actor in the most highbrow sense of the word. You don’t catch him at it.”
I agree about Kirk Douglas. I wrote a book about him and Michael and was at the Hollywood Film Festival when he got an award. Classy, and I don’t disagree with his stance on putting Dalton Trumbo’s name on “Spartacus.”
Excellent post and pick, John!
And you’re right. I have no problem watching a film with liberals as long as they do have class and can act. Or at least aren’t so hellbent on stubbing for terrorists, Commies or insulting our Troops or what they fight for.
Stuff older, more classy liberals never even considered.
“Politics isn’t the problem with today’s leftist celeb-u-stars, it’s their striking lack of class. Too many are boorish and insulting, snobbish and condescending. And worst of all, they use their power to undermine the men and woman currently in harm’s way – something Hollywood didn’t even do during the war in Vietnam.”
Thank you, sir, for those wonderful words! I’ve been saying the same thing for years. The arrogance that because of their celebrity, we should follow their lead in politics, or anything, is astounding.
Wrote my first script for Kirk. He’s everything you say he is, and more. I used to sit in his living room admiring the art on the walls waiting for him to arrive and give me page notes. The first time he did, he entered wearing chinos and no shirt. We worked for a while, and then he walked me to my car. Which was leaking oil all over his driveway. He ignored the latter, clapped me on the back — hard — and we stood there as one of those old Star Tours busses drove past, the big kind that aren’t allowed anymore. You should have heard the screams inside that bus. Thirty middle-aged women seeing Kirk standing in his driveway with his shirt off.
Kirk turned to me, and winked. Enjoying the moment. He didn’t need to say anything. But yes. He still had it. And, I’m thinking, still does.
Continuing a theme from DHP, music in today’s films lacks the gravitas of their ancestors. Reading this post, I have the “War Wagon” opening theme driving through my head. Just the sight of Bandolero on the TV Guide channel and I’m humming that tune for days.
Great scene in this film:
Two guys try to take out John and Kirk in one scene. Kirk: Each takes a bullet for his trouble. “Mine hit the ground first.” Duke: “Mine was taller.”
I still chuckle at that one.
A great weekend book is Burt Kennedy’s “Hollywood Trail Boss.” Chock full of behind the scenes Hollywood tales and anecdotes. You feel like you’re sipping a beer and shooting the breeze with the old fellow while reading it.
Being married to a successful songwriter and living in Hollywood for many years acquainted me with the private sides of many big stars. Not a terribly pleasant experience, because class was the missing equation in their personalities, their behavior and their sense of responsibility to anything but themselves.
Andrew Breitbart’s Big Hollywood, John Nolte and it’s contributors are bringing back to Hollywood a sense of class and reminding us of what a town it was before the corrosive influence of the ’60’s generation.
MB Snow
sroblog.com
Yes, Douglas has class – I think in rephrasing why whatever his politics he isn’t obnoxious about his beliefs – Paul Newman had class – in the current issue of the Huntington (WV) Quarterly, is an article about Newman when he came to Huntington in 1966 to pick up some Appalachian dialect for his upcoming movie Cool Hand Luke.
He stayed for a time in a local hotel but was also a house guest of a local Huntington person who was mutual friends with Sargent Shriver. Newman was a guy most of us would want to hang out with regardless of his politics and even if he weren’t famous. He was unpretentious.
I think Jay Leno has class – I do not know Leno’s politics and even if I did he isn’t overt with his political likes and dislikes on his show.
He lampoons everyone left and right. I think what is irritating to most of us is the “in your face” attitudes the offenders use. Occasionally if their base is not to their way of thinking they pay, like the Dixie Chicks. It doesn’t seem to happen enough.
I cannot understand why these offending celebrities wish to be so overt with their beliefs and anger a significant portion of their potential audience – perhaps it is their perceived feeling of self-importance that angers so many of us.
Gregory Peck, a long time liberal, had class. I suppose that it would be easy today to create a “class” and “classless” list of the current “celebrities”. Too easy; like shooting fish ain a barrel.
Of the three movies John Wayne and Kirk Douglas made together, this is my favorite. The interesting thing is that all three movies came out in consecutive years: In Harm’s Way (1965), Cast A Giant Shadow (1966) & The War Wagon (1967).
In The War Wagon, they made a helluva duo, and with actors like Keenan Wynn, Robert Walker (Jr.), Bruce Cabot and Howard Keel in the supporting cast, how can you go wrong?
I agree this is a fun movie. Are the name links above supposed to go anywhere? When I click on John Wayne or Kirk Douglas I get to a Big Hollywood page that has no content.
Just watched “In Harms Way” a few nights ago
This the first film I remember seeing in a theater. I was six years old and our family was on vacation in Canada. We came in late, missed the first ten minutes or so, so we waited until it showed again to see what we missed.
Have enjoyed it many time since.
Today’s Hollywood has lost its sheen. Class as a personal attribute has all but disintigrated, and we are all at a loss for it. The Hollywood left does appear angry most of the time when they are not being paid for what they are saying, and anger is a non-starter for any reasonable discourse. I’ve seen War Wagon several times and never tire of its depiction of comraderie (although melded with competitiveness.) One other class person I simply must mention, although definitely not on the left, is Charlton Heston. I never miss an interview with the man in the hope that I may be influenced further by his demeanor and thoughtfullness.
Sorry John, I gotta call “In Harm’s Way”, a Classic. Every time I see it I see something new.
Kirk Douglas in pain over a trampy wife. How he takes charge when it’s time to fight, Burgess Meredith (Who may have been too “Young” for his role) Paula Prentiss, Tall and too sexy for words! Patricia Neal, who got Wayne in “Operation Pacific” as well. And then There is John Wayne. “The Rock” (long before there was a wrestler by the same name)
I LOVE “In Harm’s Way”! E
Kirk Douglas was the only guy to say anything bad about Audie Murphy. I always held that against him.
What did he say about Audie?
What did he say about Audie?
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