John Wayne’s Six Masterpieces
by John NolteIn yesterday’s post about the third most popular movie star in America today, I referenced 6 John Wayne masterpieces and 12 classics. A few emails resulted asking which films that referred to, so here are the masterpieces ranked in order of masterpiecery.
These films don’t need anyone to defend them and thousands upon thousands of words have already been written about them. What you have here is a few paragraphs about each that focuses on what keeps me coming back time and again.
For the record, “The Searchers,” in my opinion, is the greatest movie ever made and though I don’t think John Wayne is our greatest actor (though, he’s in the top five), I do think his performance as Ethan Edwards is the finest ever captured on film.
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The Searchers (1956) – Director John Ford
Alcohol is the choice of most men, but Ethan Edwards (Wayne) chose vengeance and hate to drown his love for a woman he couldn’t have.
If you want to understand what drove Edwards, both before and after the massacre of his family, watch the first act again closely and you’ll see that he was desperately in love with his brother’s wife and she with him. This love between them is so pure that to act on it, to even speak of it, would betray it and so this fragile thing remains preserved through silence and dignity.
After she’s raped and butchered and his two young nieces kidnapped by the Comanche Chief Scar, Ethan rages against God (“Put an Amen to it!”) and sets out to find the girls. He might be able to save their lives but nothing can remove the indignities they’ve already suffered, and through their very presence they will forever remind him of what was done to his beloved … and that is too unbearable to imagine. For this reason, Ethan will kill the girls and hope that through committing such an unspeakable act his years-long quest to lose his pain through the surrender of his humanity will finally come to an end.
The Indians do half of Ethan’s job for him, leaving only Debbie, the youngest. Years pass and a relentless hunt that will come down to a single moment finally does when Debbie finds herself in Ethan’s grip. The ferocity to tear her in two has always been there, but does he have the will?
“Let’s go home, Debbie.”
The type of man required to rescue Debbie, these men who sacrificed much to build a civilization, aren’t welcome in it. There’s no place for them, and Ethan doesn’t enter the house because he understands this. Instead he turns and walks away, and the door closes leaving him outside with the pain and loneliness he will now carry forever due to his own sacrifice – the choice to retain his humanity.
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2. Stagecoach (1939) – Director John Ford
After nearly a decade of making quickie Westerns, director John Ford pulled Wayne out of poverty row, and in one breathtaking close-up, so dramatic the focus just barely hangs on, made him a star.
Actually, that’s a lie. The close-up didn’t make Wayne a star, nor did the action, the fights, the gunplay, or even legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt standing in for young Duke as he leaps into the middle of runaway horses to save the day and stop an out of control stagecoach.
What made Wayne a star were his quiet moments with Claire Trevor. No one on the stagecoach will talk to Dallas. They refuse to even eat with her, but the Ringo Kid (Wayne) doesn’t know about her past (or, does he?), and therefore doesn’t know not to treat her like a lady.
The kindness and tenderness Wayne summons to play these scenes, the decency he mines from Ringo’s innocence, the simplicity and quietness of it all … these moments are as touching as anything Chaplin or Keaton ever gave us.
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3. Red River (1948) – Director Howard Hawks
“Let’s take ‘em to Missouri.”
Wayne plays Tom Dunson, another hardened man driven to obsession. What’s remarkable about Wayne’s performance is how his presence looms even larger in the second half during the long periods he’s off screen. Wayne turns his character into a bona fide bogey man, utterly believable in a murderous, near-psychotic rage he’s determined to satisfy. Every time the men look over their shoulders, we do too fearing what’s hidden by the night.
As good as Wayne is, the smartest decision Hawks made was casting the immortal Montgomery Clift as Matt, Dunson’s surrogate son. This was not a film Wayne could carry into legend on his own, and a Jeffrey Hunter just wouldn’t have been up to it. The role required an actor with Wayne’s talent and screen presence, but of a different kind, and Clift’s magnetic and unique mix of beauty and masculinity was perfect.
“Red River” has a flaw, a deus ex machina in the form of the lovely Joanna Dru, but the rest is 130 minutes of epic perfection all set to the real star of the film, Dimitri Tiomkin’s unforgettable score.
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4. The Quiet Man (1952) – Director John Ford
Ford had hoped to make this in 1947 after completing his religious mood piece, “The Fugitive,” with Henry Fonda. Unfortunately for him, “The Fugitive” flopped and Ford was forced to pay some bills before being allowed another passion project. Fortunately for us, what came of those five years of bill paying was Ford’s epic cavalry trilogy and a John Wayne, who at 45, was much better suited for the role of Sean Thornton, a haunted ex-prize fighter looking for the a quiet life in Ireland.
Enter the ravishing Maureen O’Hara as Mary Kate.
Like Monty Clift, the casting of Maureen O’Hara was as essential as Duke himself. Other than Patricia Neal, Gail Russell, Geraldine Page, Lauren Bacall and Angie Dickinson, Wayne tended to overpower his leading ladies, which was generally okay because they were subplot material. But in “The Quiet Man” war and Indians aren’t what motivates the action, it’s Sean’s overpowering passion for, and inability to dominate, a stubborn, smart, independent, proud and breathtakingly beautiful Irish girl.
Wayne co-starred with a number of wonderful actresses, including those listed above, but O’Hara was to Wayne what Olivia de Havilland was to Errol Flynn: every inch his equal. This wasn’t their first film together, but it was their first in color and O’Hara was unsurpassable in color.
Ford’s love of Ireland frames every shot and fills every character. His passion for his native land is only matched by Sean’s passion for Mary Kate and hers for him. There’s more sex in “The Quiet Man” than anything you’ll see on Cinemax After Dark, but the physical desire manifests only in the eyes of the players and the subtext of the dialogue, making it one of the sexiest movies ever made.
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5. Rio Bravo (1959) — Director Howard Hawks
Everyone in town wants to help Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne) guard his prisoner from a ruthless gang determined to kill those who get in the way of a jailbreak, and by “everyone” I mean innkeepers, old men, cow punchers and a lovely girl with a past and a thing for feathers. Howard Hawks and Wayne loathed “High Noon’s” (1952) depiction of a “cowardly” Sheriff begging those he’s charged with protecting for help. The response was “Rio Bravo,” a film where the Sheriff turns all but the most capable away:
If they are really good, I’ll take them. If not, I’ll just take care of them.
You won’t find John Chance begging a church full of farmers to do his job for him.
But “Rio Bravo” is not a John Wayne film, it’s a Howard Hawks film with just a logline for a plot wrapped in characters we can’t get enough of, even after 141 minutes. This is a Howard Hawks film because it’s about men of action and duty and bravery – and more importantly, the relationship between all three. It’s a Howard Hawks film because after the credits roll we don’t long for the gunfights and explosions, we just want to be locked in that jail again with Stumpy, Colorado, Chance and Borachon for one more song.
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6. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949) — Director John Ford
This is the second of Ford’s masterful cavalry trilogy, the best of the three, and the only one filmed in color.
Like 1948’s “Red River,” Wayne convincingly plays an older man here, Captain Nathan Brittles, a thirty-year man in the United States Cavalry on the verge of retirement.
Brittles is a widower counting down the few days (he marks them off a calendar) he has left before facing a world without a place for him. He will soon be sentenced to a life without purpose and without the family that is the Cavalry. Because Ford and his players are so effective at making us fall in love with the life, not one syllable of exposition is needed to explain what Brittles feels. We’re going miss to Sgt. Quincannon’s (Victor McLaglen) Captain Darlin’s every bit as much as he is.
Duty, tradition, and mortality are all themes beautifully explored through larger-than-life characters and Ford’s unique ability to capture the unparalleled majesty of Monument Valley, Utah – a setting as integral to the drama as the story itself. A scene supposedly shot on the fly in the heart of the Valley during a thunder and lightning storm ranks right along with an Ingrid Bergman close up as one of the most beautiful images ever captured on film.
UPDATE: The twelve not quite masterpieces, but still classics (in no particular order): 3 Godfathers, The Shootist, Long Voyage Home, Shepherd of the Hills, They Were Expendable, Angel and the Badman, Wake of the Red Witch, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Hondo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, True Grit, El Dorado…
Because Wayne didn’t star in “How the West Was Won” or “The Longest Day,” they weren’t considered.
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130 Comments
My personal favorite didn't even make the list… Sands of Iwo Jima.
Can't argue with any of the picks, but I think 'The Shootist' is a remarkable film. A heavyweight cast supporting Wayne in a well written role.
"Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"
True Grit, greatest Duke moment ever. It wasn't just a lifetime tribute, he deserved the Oscar for that performance.
the shootist.
people credit clint eastwood and unforgiven with deconstructing the western. i think the duke got there first.
All great movies with a great man and a hero to me when I was a boy. Wayne was in top form in Fort Apache and Henry Fonda and Ward Bond were also outstanding. As a boy, I dreamed of being a trooper in the 5th Cavalry with Ward Bond as my sergeant major and Captain Nathan Brittles as my CO. Upon retirement from the army, I would move to Ireland and marry Maureen O'Hara.
I would've had The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on there somewhere. Although it might not be entirely accurate to call it a John Wayne masterpiece, since the film is every bit as much Jimmy Stewart's as it is Wayne's. It's a simple wild west "legend" made a classic by the dynamic performance between those two.
I've always loved the "sword fight" scene between Matt and Cherry in Red River.
One of the Wayne films that I love but, will never make this list. "In Harm's Way". with Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith, and, Paula Prentiess at her sexiest!
'The Quiet Man' is required watching in my home every single St. Patrick's Day, and any other time I stumble on it It is pure joy for me. I never saw the depth of 'The Searchers', but I haven't watched it in years–I'll keep an eye open for it and watch it again with your comments in mind.
I once had the pleasure of waving to John Wayne while I was kayaking around Balboa. He was sitting outside drinking coffee. My friend and I yelled that we loved him (we were all of 9 or 10) and he stood up, waved, and said "Same to you girls–now you be careful out there". The world is a lesser place without him.
any love out there for True Grit?
How can you leave "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" off this list? John Wayne as the flawed hero who let his true love(Vera Miles) slip away into the hands of the eastern lawyer (James Stewart). Directed by John Ford. If not Wayne's best western, then his second best to "The Searchers".
Vera Miles has an interesting relationship with Wayne on film. In "The Searchers" she's Jeffrey Hunters girl, so he considers them both kids. In "Valance" he loves her but gives her up, but then FINALLY in "Hellfighters" she's married to him.
Persistent guy, The Duke.
I'd only change the order and dig one out of your update: 1] Quiet Man, 2] The Searchers, 3] Stagecoach, 4] The Shootist, 5] Red River, and 6] She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. That's not a small quibble to me either. Though I love Rio Bravo I don't think it is in the same league with the rest of your top six, and it certainly isn't anywhere close to The Shootist, IMHO. I also love In Harm's Way and Sands of Iwo Jima, and think they are better than Rio Bravo… but that's just me, I'm guessing. And, well, you know what opinions are like. LOL!
I can't believe you left off three of my faves: The Cowboys, Big Jake, Sons of Katie Elder, Chisum, Island in the Sky, and the funniest movie ever: McLintock! And True Grit should be the seventh of the masterpieces.
D'oh! Six! Not three. I added as I was typing…
John Wayne is awesome! He's a man's man. At least what you can aspire to be.
I'll second the comment on "In Harm's Way". Maybe not a classic, but Wayne's relationship with Patricia O'Neal is great, and Kirk Douglas is very good in the film as well. I have to agree with the list, especially nice to see my favorite John Wayne film The Quiet Man listed.
Another 'non-classic' that I just can't help watching when it is on is "The Sons of Katie Elder".
Can't quibble with any of the choices here but my personal favorite is "They Were Expendable" There are some exquisite moments in that film and some of the finest ensemble acting I've ever seen. BTW Donna Reed gives a lovely performance and more than matches up with Wayne.
I like In Harm's Way — but it's no classic. It's a well-acted soaper beautifully filmed.
"Quiet Man" will be a day one Blu-ray purchase for me.
Just hope they restore it. Unless I missed this being done, the best print I've seen out there looks awful — washed out and blurry.
if i've learned anything from turner's classic movies, it's that even the greatest cranked out a few losers. McQ, that bible epic where he played a centurion at the crucifixion, and the best of all… the conqueror.
still, even a bad john wayne movie is pretty good. am going to the video store this weekend, was it "reap the wild wind" of "wake of the red witch" where he fights the octopus?
I think I would have put have put "The Shootist" somewhere in that top six, but boy is it tough to pick from so many good choices. I think I might have also put "The Cowboys" in there somewhere too. I am surprised it didn't even make your 12 classics list. With Roscoe Lee Brown, et al., it was a great story with some exceptional acting and some great lines. Talk about a coming of age movie. Not only for the young cowboys, but for the old man too.
Yeah, that "Collector's Edition" DVD isn't as good as versions I've seen on PBS stations during pledge drives. But that's why we come up with new technologies like Blu-ray, right? If they restore "Casablanca" for Blu-ray, they dang well better do the same for "Quiet Man."
I really love The Cowboys. It was his greatest film. He died half-way through. Roscoe Lee Browne helped it immensely. John, with such a huge body of work, perhaps you should have done atop 15.
Dude- I'd definitely expand that to "eight masterpieces" — adding the Shootist and True Grit. To be honest, I'd like to add McLintock! as well — (you know you laughed your ass off through the whole thing) but I'll be good. The Shootist did for the iconic "John Wayne" character what both Pale Rider and Unforgiven did for the iconic "Clint Eastwood" character and what The Dark Knight Returns did for the Batman mythos: gave the legends an element of time, a Twilight of the Gods. Just as Robin Hood has his final blind bowshot to mark the spot of his grave, as King Arthur falls at the Battle of Camlann, the "John Wayne" legend ends on his own terms, pistol in hand, enemy in front, boots firmly on. No straw death for this legend.
True Grit was another facet of the "John Wayne" legend, but told masterfully and with the best line ever put on film: "Fill your hands you sonuvabitch!" God, I love that movie.
I've never seen any of these, but I recently found out (though not through my parents) that I may have been named after a character in The Quiet Man.
I know my mom was a huge John Wayne fan. She cried the day he died.
Dude- I'd definitely expand that to "eight masterpieces" — adding the Shootist and True Grit. To be honest, I'd like to add McLintock! as well — (you know you laughed your ass off through the whole thing) but I'll be good. The Shootist did for the iconic "John Wayne" character what both Pale Rider and Unforgiven did for the iconic "Clint Eastwood" character and what The Dark Knight Returns did for the Batman mythos: gave the legends an element of time, a Twilight of the Gods. Just as Robin Hood has his final blind bowshot to mark the spot of his grave, as King Arthur falls at the Battle of Camlann, the "John Wayne" legend ends on his own terms, pistol in hand, enemy in front, boots firmly on. No straw death for this legend.
The previous Wayne thread slammed the 'liberal slander' of John Wayne as a racist based largely on "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and the 70's Playboy article and his well-known conservatism. I was raised pretty darn liberally, and I vaguely remember my mom commenting on the aforementioned, but I was plunked nonetheless in front of "The Quiet Man," "True Grit" and others (The Shootist had that guy from Happy Days in it!) as a kid in the it's-only-on-tv-once-a-year-so-you'll-damn-well-watch-it days. John Wayne was a larger than life figure…his politics never mattered–he was an amazing talent and I was raised to appreciate him. I'd wager that in this age of TCM marathons, dvd, Netfilx, even *gasp* film schools, the old meme of Wayne-as-racist had pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. Anyone who's actually watched his films can appreciate his amazing talent, and the most cursory trip to wikipedia will dispel most of the myths. Stagecoach, Liberty Valance and the Shootist remain my faves in his oeuvre. Like the Beatles, he's a 'comfort' presence to me and I'd bet many others–a reminder of that warmth you kenw as kid-being young, safe and able to revel utterly in an experience without any parsing or explanation. Pure joy.
By the way, Senor Nolte, as the owner of a new iPhone, how about a Big Hollywood App?
“Talk low, talk slow and don't say too much.”
John Wayne
Too bad some of our politicians don't take his advice…..(I personally love "The Man who shot Liberty Valance".
John Wayne busted out in that movie as a real western hero, but I think James Stewart was awesome as well.
There were a lot of famous and nearly famous actors in that movie.
John Wayne … Tom Doniphon
James Stewart… Ransom Stoddard
Vera Miles… Hallie Stoddard
Lee Marvin… Liberty Valance
Edmond O'Brien… Dutton Peabody
Andy Devine… Marshal Link Appleyard
Ken Murray… Doc Willoughby
John Carradine… Maj. Cassius Starbuckle
Jeanette Nolan… Nora Ericson
John Qualen… Peter Ericson
Willis Bouchey… Jason Tully – Conductor
Carleton Young… Maxwell Scott
Woody Strode… Pompey
Denver Pyle… Amos Carruthers
Strother Martin
Awesome! I'm warming up the DVD player right now!
Best ever–The Quiet Man, "Here's a stick to beat the lovely lady." and then it's Big Jake and, "I thought you were dead." I grew up with stories of John Wayne using my Grandpa as an extra along with his cattle in Monument Valley. John Wayne forever! He represents the best of the American spirit. To this day, my mother, sister and I will have John Wayne marathons where we watch The Quiet Man, Big Jake, and Mclintock.
True, superb performance as a gunfighter dying of cancer, who wants to go out on his own terms. Appropriate enough for the Duke playing out his string as well. IMHO his best performance.
Edmond O'Brien as Dutton Peabody. This journalists favorite on-screen rendition of a journalist. Ever. I think he stole the movie out from under Stewart, Marvin and Wayne.
I think it's a masterpiece. The one Western that made me fall in love with Westerns.
Great Picks all. John Wayne is always a pleasure to watch on film. He was a terrific actor for a large man. Today, his talent would be wasted on cheesy "Rock" or Arnold type movies – the big guy kicking ass – if he would even work at all. Can you imaging Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt or George Clooney facing down a Liberty Valence or Scar or Victor McLaglen? I just don't see that type of movie working today.
They would have to kick them in the nuts or shoot them in the back – or wait for the "Rock" to rescue them!
I agree The Cowboys is a wonderful film full of everything that makes a film great. Humor, pathos, evolving characters and a tough old fart that pulls it all together. But, The Quiet Man is my favorite film by the Duke and The Searchers is a close second.
Its becoming "The Ten Commandments" of St. Paddy's Day. And that's all right with me.
Lee Van Cleef … (Valance Gang)… near near famous?
I mentioned elsewhere the lyrical dialog of "True Grit', and how much I love it. Most of today's kiddie boys can't wrap their mind and speech around it and have it be believable; people would laugh, now.
Just to skewer someone for example, think about Hugh Jackman saying, "Fill yer hand, you so b!" One third of the audience would start panting, one third would snicker, and one third would be saying, "Fill with what?"
Duke deserved that Oscar. You knew EXACTLY what he meant, and you sat forward on your seat to watch.
Don't forget Lee Van Cleef, Liberty Valance' other sidekck along with Strother Martin.
Favorite movie: 'The Shootist'
Favorite quote: "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."
I'd include 'Rio Grande' in the top 6 instead of 'Rio Bravo'
"Rio Bravo'? You gotta be kidding!
And you missed "They Were Expendable" — one of finest movies ever made about WWII.
Someone should make a list of cool "Lee Van Cleef" facts.
This thread and the last reminds me of Dirty Harry's place. Lets have more of that around here.
Thank you. I mentioned that one yesterday and was surprised to see that nobody else seemed to think it was that good. I also added "The Big Trail" because it established Wayne's western persona (even though "Stagecoach" made him famous).
"True Grit" has gotten several mentions in the "classics' (but not "masterpiece" category but nothing about "Rooster Cogburn". I love that film and think it's at least as good as True Grit if not better. Katherine Hepburn is the only actress to match John Wayne in screen presence aside from Maureen O'Hara. Too bad they didn't make another film or two together.
Another little tidbit, Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin were also together in a Twilight Zone episode. The one were Lee Marvin goes up to the grave at night and accidentally stabs his coat (or did he? Oooh!), and dies of a heart attack. Not sure which came first, Liberty Valance or Twilight zone? Maybe John Ford saw the Twilight Zone episode and thought the three made a good screen trio.
(IMDB) "The Twilight Zone" The Grave (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
You can see I have too much time on my hands. I’m going to bed. Goodnight.
"The Quiet Man" and "Rio Bravo" are my favorites because of the memories I have of watching them with my Mom.
I remember back before video recorders and the availability of movies on tape how it was like finding treasure to run across all these wonderful movies on broadcast TV.
Finally, I would add "Hatari" just for fun. Red Buttons scrappy little character was a great compliment to Wayne.
John Nolte, you are a cruel, cruel man! Don't you realize I have basketball to watch this weekend! (I knew I should have gotten a TV with picture-in-picture.)
I agree. Ya beat me to the draw, pilgrim.
I think the Tom Doniphon characer from Liberty Valance is Wayne's greatest role.
It's all his characters rolled into one, really. The steak scene with Lee Marvin is fabulous.
I wish the ghost of Tom Doniphon would pop up next to Obama at times.
"You're a tenderfoot." Hey, pilgrim, your forgot your pop-gun."
Speaking of Lee Marivn, I live in SF and radio host Lee Rodgers told a great story about Marvin.
After his afternoon radio shift in Chicago many years ago, Rogers went to a bar for a drink.
A few minutes later, in walked Lee Marvin for is afternoon highball. He was nice, talked to the bartender and all.
After a while, two young yahoos walked in and started giving Marvin a hard time.
"Big tough movie star, aren't you, huh? You;re not that tough," etc…
After a while, Marvin had enough and decked the two with one puch apiece.
After looking at the damage he'd done, bloody noses and such, Marvin sat down with his drink
and said to the two in that great voice of his, "Please don't bother me anymore."
Wyane, Marvin, McQueen, Bogart: They don't make 'em like that anymore.
Now we have what, what's-his-name yelling at a grip that got in his light?
I'm glad to see others mentioning McClintock! and Hatari, two very good comedies. Wayne doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for his comedic work.
And I'd love to see more love given for Victor McLaglen, who never gets the attention he deserves. The Quiet Man would not be movie it is without him in it (and his performance is all the more impressive when you realize that he was nearly 20 years older than the Duke — can anyone imagine the fight without those two actors?).
It's pretty ridiculous to brand as racist a man who married only hispanic girls. In fact, being a Texan myself, I can tell you that if you are looking for a traditional, conservative, family-oriented Christian wife, hispanic women average out better than today's crop of spoiled, liberal white girls easily.
MY FAVORITE! Fill YOUR HANDS YOU SONOFABEEEEOTCH.
Truly a masterpiece. I also love the way he says: Corn Dodger? Saw it in the theater when I was 10 years old. Inthralled then. Intralled now.
Bingo greatest Duke moment ever. I'll go ya one more, one of thne greatest screen moments ever.
I'd agree, but 'peoples' minds exclaim absolute truths that should be labeled with a shelf life of 20 years. Older than that they tend to forget, or feel it is not as cool.
Chisum? I LOVE Chisum! "no matter where people go, sooner or later there's the law. And sooner or later they find God's already been there. " And "Rooster Cogburn is awesome, if only for the interaction between Wayn and Hepburn.
"Chisum," "Rio Bravo," and "Yellow Ribbon" were annual staples many years ago at camp, and I've loved them ever since. "Quiet Man" is also on my video shelf, along with "Rio Lobo" and "McClintock!" because John Wayne is just so wonderful in my eyes.
I find it amazing that he (almost) always acts HIMSELF, and yet he *is* the character. Or the character is him, I've never been able to decide… But he's real, he's believable, and he's still bigger than life…
I miss him!
Oh! I forgot "Hondo". Not one of the great Wayne Films, But it does deserve a mention. When Mr. Wayne tells Geraldine Page about how he could find her in the dark by the way she smells! The woman was in for the best lovin' of her life!
I won't pretend it's a classic, but I love Hatari! (Exclamation point part of title.) Donovan's Reef from that period is tremendous fun as well. By the way, Turner Classic Movies turned me on to Wake of the Red Witch, which contains a great Wayne performance.
The Shootist is among Duke's best. My favorite of all his films is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a bittersweet masterpiece about the closing of the frontier.
Can't disagree with any on the list, but if I extended it I'd add HONDO, TH COWBOYS and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE.
One of my favorite of his lesser films is The Comancheros. I love the Elmer Bernstein opening theme. Also, it had some great actors including Lee Marvin and Stuart Whitman. Also, it includes the lovely Ina Balin and Joan O’Brien. Of course, the history is a mess. Set in the days of the Republic of Texas but using weapons and costumes from the 1880s. I have a Laser Disc version with commentary by Stuart Whitman but the recent DVDs do not have any commentary.
Hmm, are we ranking this in terms of the movie itself? Then I completely agree with your top three, although my next three would be
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
5. They Were Expendable and then
6. Rio Bravo
and then I'd give 7th place to The Quiet Man and not that you asked, but 8th to The Long Voyage Home and then 9th to She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Which doesn't mean those three aren't great, great movies, just that I guess I think there are a few more masterpieces on Wayne's filmography than you do, which startles the hell out of me. It's also possible that seeing Long Voyage Home fairly recently gives it more prominence in my mind. The beauty of that movie just put me in traction.
American Dog said what I was thinking. I totally appreciate John's picks (I think we had this same discussion more than once back at Dirty Harry's Place) but the point is that John Wayne is something unique in movie history.
There was that old, tired slander that John Wayne only played 'John Wayne'. The movies that Nolte highlighted shows his range, but the truth is HE is often the attraction to the movie. He is like the Grand Canyon or the Empire State Building: Yeah, the scenery is pretty, or the city is impressive, but there's something at the center that surpasses it all that you can't look away from. That's why even those comedies or action flicks that might have limped along with somebody else starring can be called classic.
This might seem silly, I guess it really is, but I watch TV with my four-year-old daughter. We watch everything from Disney and Nick to (her favorite) "Wester-ins". Her favorite (small) screen presence, by far, is the Duke. I attribute it to a charisma that no one, not Hannah or Dora or Curious George, can match in her young mind.
When I was younger and ignorant of the politics that infect everything I could never understand how anyone could not, at the very least, respect Wayne. Maybe I lost some innocence, but I'm glad that's cleared up. Now I know. The only way somebody could not at least acknowledge the Dukes greatness as an actor is if they're a liar or suffering from brain damage.
I should clarify by saying that the appreciation that my little daughter has for Wayne is completely attributable to the X-factor that makes him unique and not any special perceptiveness on her part. She thinks her Daddy, all 5'8", 150 lbs. of him, and the Duke are roughly about the same size, giants among mere mortals!
I was surprised Rooster didn't make the list… I actually enjoyed it MORE than True Grit.
I agree. IHW is a very good film.
I love how it was used (along with Sands of Iwo Jima) in Wonder Years.
Does anyone remember "The High aAnd The Mighty". One of my favorites, and the music score was awesome.
The Comancheros!!! Long ago in another century I spent four straight months on an AKA (troop transport) with a few hundred other Marines, and the boys in blue who steered the ship, while Lyndon Baines was deciding wither or not to start the war before or after Christmas (you can guess the year). The Comancheros was the only movie, shown every clear night. By the end of the first two two weeks the audience was speaking the dialogue along with the actors. Stuart Whitman could not hold a candle (or gun) to the likes of Wayne and Marvin (another Marine)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23021987@N06/2801452...
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Also in 1961 The Sands of Iwo Jima was the first film a graduating Marine boot platoon was allowed to see, marched in formation to MCRD auditorium the night before graduation; "this is what we are kid, now live up to the tradition".
What Hucbald said. Confirmed by my personal experience of 28 yrs married to a wonderful Hispanic Daughter of Texas.
Fort Apache deserves more cred on this list. John Wayne's character gives the film its entire purpose and meaning. He defines, for the audience, the meaning of the word "honor" in the last five minutes by how he accords honor to the man he previously detested.
Yup, my wife is Mexican, as well — and along with being the love of my life comes the fringe benefit of the all-kinds-of-awesome cooking.
Not a big fan of ROOSTER, which is just a remake of AFRICAN QUEEN. Can't touch TRUE GRIT.
Aaa yes! Rio Bravo; what an amazing scene when Deano (Dude), laying on the bed with his cowboy hat tilted over his eyes starts in with "The sun is sinking in the west…". Cue Ricky Nelson (Colorado) with the guitar and Walter Brennan on the harmonica. I get chills every time I watch that scene.
Can't quibble too much with this list; all great choices. In Harm's Way is a guilty pleasure; I know it isn't one of his best, but I'm drawn to the theme of duty, even in the face of great odds against you. Same with They Were Expendable. And, as a kid, I saw The Cowboys with my Dad (now deceased) at the theater, so that is also one of my faves
Slight quibble – Scar was a Comanche, not an Apache. Texas, not Arizona, yannow.
Who did Ina Balin voice? How could you forget her? The Duke even gives the clueless Whitman relationship advice!
And as far as the True Grit series goes, I liked the second one better – Kate Hepburn was the Duke's equal too.
The song is called, "My Rifle, My Pony and Me". Sweet Sound! When Howard Hawk wanted to remake the film (Called El Dorado) with Robert Mitchum and a young James Caan. During Pre-Production, the Duke noticed that her had done the story as "Rio Bravo" a few years earlier. So this time he asked to play the drunk. The answer was a resounding NO!
What a diffrent film that would have made!
In Harm's way, a Guilty Pleasure?
Sorry brother. That film is pure pleasure! There are NO Guilty Pleasures! Either you like the film or you don't. To hell with what others say.
In Harm's way, a Guilty Pleasure?
Sorry brother. That film is pure pleasure! There are NO Guilty Pleasures! Either you like the film or you don't. To hell with what others say.
It has to be included because not only was the character dying, John Wayne knew this was his last film.
"She draws him like a gun"
Glenn Cambel referring to the lawyer.
"She draws him like a gun"
Glenn Cambel referring to the lawyer.
The Actor was GLENN CAMPBELL.
Now name the character name he was referencing.
Just reading this page brings a tear to my eye and makes me feel good about things. Thank you all
Lawyer Doggett
Lawyer Daggett.
J. Nobel Dagget, ESQ .
You got it! Thanks!
Tomato, toMato
Yeah, I got that feeling too, a good kind. I do like all the variety that this blog offers though.
Really? I never made that connection. I get the Double Indemnity and Body Heat connection but missed that one.
Oh yeah, Rio Bravo and El Dorado were practically the same movie.
Another great line(s) from the Big Jake is where John Wayne repeats the line Richard Boone said jsut a few moments before>
"And now *you* understand. Anything goes wrong, anything at all… your fault, my fault, nobody's fault… it won't matter – I'm gonna blow your head off. No matter what else happens, no matter who gets killed I'm gonna blow your head off."
Talk about stupid, Lee Marvin was one big guy. He also looked like the type that would not put up with too much s**t
I well remember John Wayne and his Wake of the Red Witch boat mored off Bayshores in Newport. I met him at the old OC airport when he was having coffee and looking for a Sacramento Approach Plate. I had met him years earlier, in Bayshores, and he had no reason but remembered and called me by name. A great uy and personal hero.
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