Vampyr

Star Focus ~ John Wayne (That’s Right ~ “THE DUKE”)



Birth name: Marion Michael Morrison (AKA: “THE DUKE”)
Date of birth: May 26, 1907 (Winterset, Iowa)
Date of death: June 11, 1979 (Los Angeles, California)
Height: 6’4” and greater than life.

What is there to be said about this larger than life American icon? Is there another actor in Hollywood history whose name symbolizes the same things as John Wayne? Yes, we’ve had better actors; but he was a fine actor in his own right and his talent has always been unfairly underrated. Yes, we’ve had real war hero’s like Jimmy Stewart and Robert Montgomery; yet Wayne will forever be thought of as being one in real life, although never having been in a real war. John Wayne was a lot of things he was never given credit for and not some of the things he was portrayed as. That’s exactly what one should expect from this Hollywood star and true American icon……He was indeed larger than life, and remains so to this day.

Did he ever make movies!…….Lots of movies……Westerns, War, Crime, Drama, Comedy ~ Yes, these all represent his M.O.

He’s always on TV to this day. It’s almost impossible for a movie lover not to have seen a good number of his films. This we can be grateful for, as John Wayne will never be a lost star and his films lost mysteries of films missing through neglect, indifference and time.

Which are my favorites? Which aren’t you should ask? Then again I have only favorites when “The Duke” is involved.





Here are some of the many I could list:
~ King of the Pecos (1936)
~ Stagecoach (1939)
~ Long Voyage Home, The (1940)
~ Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
~ Spoilers, The (1942)
~ Lady Takes a Chance, A (1943)
~ Tall in the Saddle (1944)
~ They Were Expendable (1945)
~ Tycoon (1947)
~ Fort Apache (1948)
~ Red River (1948)
~ Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
~ She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
~ Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
~ Rio Grande (1950)
~ Quiet Man, The (1952)
~ Hondo (1953)
~ High and the Mighty, The (1954)
~ Sea Chase, The (1955)
~ Searchers, The (1956)
~ Rio Bravo (1959)
~ Horse Soldiers, The (1959)
~ Alamo, The (1960)
~ North to Alaska (1960)
~ Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The (1962)
~ How the West Was Won (1962)
~ Longest Day, The (1962)
~ McLintock! (1963)
~ In Harm's Way (1965)
~ Sons of Katie Elder, The (1965)
~ War Wagon, The (1967)
~ El Dorado (1967)
~ True Grit (1969)
~ Cowboys, The (1972)
~ Shootist, The (1976)





* Something to take note of: When you see stars like John Wayne, James Stewart , Cary Grant , Jean Arthur , Bette Davis , Joan Crawford etc., you realize an actor doesn’t need foul language and nude scenes to make a star. You are either great or your not.

* Perhaps someone can post something concerning Wayne on TV and radio?


Links:
John Wayne WebRing
John Wayne Birthplace
John Wayne Cancer Institute
John Wayne Audio Link
John Wayne and the FBI
Link #1
Link #2
Link #3
Link #4
Link #5
Link #6





Trivia:
Why was John Wayne called "The Duke"? ~ According to Wayne himself: "There've been a lot of stories about how I got to be called Duke. One was that I played the part of a duke in a school play, which I never did. Sometimes, they even said I was descended from royalty! It was all a lot of rubbish. Hell, the truth is that I was named after a dog!"

From the Laugh File:
Funny Isn't It?


Media Files:
Story of Taps
Pledge of Allegiance
Face the Flag, Son
America, Why I Love Her
Gunsmoke



I hope you enjoyed the this thread pilgrim.

BTW: Never apologize, Mister. It's a sign of weakness.

flixtime

Woohooo!!!!!! Yippeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! Yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!! and all the rest.........

Great call starting this thread Vampyr! You read my mind.

I don't even want to try and count how many hours of my life have been spent watching John Wayne movies. Let's see how many I can name off the top of my head:

The Shootist
The Cowboys (darn that Bruce Dern!)
Rooster Cogburn
True Grit
Fort Apache
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Rio Grande
Rio Lobo
Rio Bravo
El Dorado
The Alamo (uncut version coming soon on TCM; I'll update later)
Stagecoach
The Big Trail
Big Jake
The War Wagon
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Searchers
The Quiet Man
Red River (they really don't show this film enough on TV)
Big Jim McClain
The Conqueror ( wish he never worked on the film, he might have been around longer)
Flying Tigers
Flying Leathernecks
Sands of Iwo Jima
Back To Bataan
They Were Expendable
The Longest Day
The Horse Soldiers
The Sons of Katie Elder
The Green Berets
Cahill U.S. Marshall
The Commancheros
Chisum
How The West Was Won
The Undefeated
The Fighting Kentuckian (with Oliver Hardy)
Angel and the Badman

I don't even want to count how many I named, almost all of which I've seen many, many, many times. Wow, so much to say, and we can't forget his sidekicks: Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, etc.

Sometimes I feel Wayne's career has been taken for granted/not fully appreciated/not given the respect it deserves, due in part to his overexposure on TBS, TNT, etc., (I know my comment is kind of an oxymoron (like the Yogi Berra saying "no one goes to that restaurant anymore because it's too crowded"), but does anyone feel the same way?).

And don't forget the long version of The Alamo is coming soon on TCM!

Haven't had a chance to check all the links yet Vampyr, but I will. Thanks again.

Vampyr

I advise you get the DVD. You can get The Alamo and The Kentuckian together for just $14.04 at DDD. BB and The Wiz sell the two pack for $14.99. If you just want The Alamo, it's $9.36 at DDD and $9.99 at BB and The Wiz.


My pleasure pilgrim.

das Monkey

So often it's a cop-out to automatically refer to someone as a king or a giant in his field, but the Duke is just that. You're right that he's been over-exposed, but it doesn't change how great he really was. It always saddens me when I think about a certain style of acting (and movie-making) that we may never see again. Thankfully, his legacy is enormous, and I never tire of watching so many of his films.

Side note: does anyone (by some freakish chance) have the song or remember the lyrics to the TBS song about the Duke? They used to play it whenever they'd do a 21 Days of the Duke marathon.

das

flixtime

I am interested in purchasing the film but have been holding off on the DVD because, from what I've gathered, it is the "short version (162 minutes)" of the film. I'm hoping that they release a Special Edition with the "longer version (203 minutes)" which is coming up on TCM.

Here is the TCM listing in brief:
The Alamo (1960) - starring John Wayne and Richard Widmark - 203 minutes, letterbox
Saturday, October 5th, 2:30pm

My favorite scene in the film is when Bowie & Crockett (Widmark & Wayne) almost leave the Alamo but decide not to after Travis' (Laurence Harvey) speech - very touching.

Dimension X

I'll post more later. I just wanted to say that some of those audio links came from this album:
America, Why I Love Her

WOW! Here's the
whole album on the web! Enjoy.

ToddSm66

One of my favorites for sure. Seems like John Wayne was always at his best under John Ford. I'm probably in the minority, but I actually prefer more of his non-Western roles in most cases. The Quiet Man is easily one of my favorite movies ever - quite possibly in my top 10. Donovan's Reef and North to Alaska are a pair of my favorite comedies. North to Alaska is greatly under-rated, imo...makes me laugh everytime I watch it. Hopefully I will be able to own it on DVD one of these days.

El Dorado and Rio Bravo are basically the same movie, but I tend to like El Dorado just a bit more. I think Robert Mitchum and James Caan make the difference for me.

My top 10 John Wayne films:

1. The Quiet Man
2. Stagecoach
3. Donovan's Reef
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
5. El Dorado/Rio Bravo
6. The Searchers
7. North to Alaska
8. True Grit
9. The Horse Soldiers
10. Red River

The Sons of Katie Elder, Reap the Wild Wind, The Alamo, The Shootist, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Undefeated are a few other favorites.

Still have quite a few of his films left on my "to-see" list that I'm looking forward to.

Rand

The dvd of The Alamo is the commonly seen shorter version, not the orginally released road show version. I have the ld box set with the road show version and it is an improvement over the commonly seen one (about 35 minutes longer if I remember correctly). I have the dvd because I wanted an anamorphic transfer. Why MGM chose to release the short version when they have the road show (my ld box set is by MGM) really puzzles me. If a SE is released on dvd with the road show version I'll buy that too, The Alamo is one of my favorite films.

I'm going to limit myself to the traditional top ten films here in no particular order:

The Searchers
Red River
Stagecoach
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Quiet Man
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
True Grit
The Sands of Iwo Jima
The Long Voyage Home
Donovan's Reef

Whoops, looks like I left out The Alamo, not to mention Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Ok, I'm expanding to 13, but that's it!

jim_cook87

I find it extremely difficult to list my favorite John Wayne movies, as once I start I just can't stop. Though, I've always found it VERY easy to say 'Big Jake' is my favorite. If this were on DVD I could have it and nothing else in my collection and be entertained (OK, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but I do know I've worn out more VHS copies of that movie than any other...)

After 'Big Jake' favorites that come to mind immediately are:

The Longest Day
War Wagon
The Shootist
Rio Lobo
Chisum
True Grit
Rooster Cogburn
Hellfighter
Sons of Katie Elder
Donovan's Reef
The Fighting Seabees
Sands of Iwo Jima
Angel and the Badman
They Were Expendable
The Quiet Man
Stagecoach
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

See I can't stop...

Vampyr

I had no idea that my Alamo DVD was a short version

Dimension X

Like the rest of you, if I tried to list my favorite John Wayne movies, the list would just keep going. So I won't even try.

Aside from regular feature films, he also made movie serials (The Shadow of the Eagle (1932), The Hurricane Express (1932) , The Three Musketeers (1933)). He appeared in memorable episodes of "I Love Lucy" (1955), "The Lucy Show" (1966), and "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962). His radio work consisted of radio adaptations of his movies for shows like The Lux Radio Theatre. The radio adaptations of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Red River are readily available in bookstores and are well worth a listen.

Vampyr - Sorry I couldn't find any John Wayne radio shows on the net. If anyone else has any luck, please post the links.

BTW: You should read DVDTalk.com sometime. It was posted all over there that The Alamo DVD was the short version.

Of course, I didn't see any of the posts until I had already bought it.

Vampyr

How did the "toy" work?????? Can you use it to tape the full version of The Alamo on TCM?

Dimension X

I don't know what kind of quality you'd get trying to record a 203 minute movie on one disc. Since it's a roadshow version, I'm guessing it has an intermission that I can take advantage of to switch discs. Maybe someone who has seen the longer version can confirm that there is an intermission somewhere near the middle of the film.

Vampyr

How did it work last night with Glenn Miller?

wakwak007

I'm waiting on "Big Jake," to make it to DVD; that was always my favorite.

Vampyr

Good choice

I'd buy that in a second if it comes out on DVD.

das Monkey

I keep returning to this thread thinking I'm ready to post a favorite, and it's just not going to happen.

If I have to narrow anything down, I'll say that I loved his collaborations with Ford. While Donovan's Reef isn't my favorite (not my least either), the others would likely dominate any list I tried to make.

das

B.A.

I completely agree with you, especially in regards to the Quiet Man and Donovan's Reef (I always loved Lee Marvin and the train set). Of course I loved his westerns, too. I don't care what people say, when I think of a cowboy, it's John Wayne, not Clint in a spaghetti western, etc. My father raised me on him and I probably have seen more of his movies than any other actor/actress. Vampyr, this is your best thread, bar none.

Top Ten (this is too hard so don't cement 2-10 in stone.):
1. The Quiet Man - a masterpiece
2. Donovan's Reef
3. McClintock
4. True Grit ( and Rooster Cogburn)
5. El Dorado
6. Big Jake
7. Chisum
8. Sands of Iwo Jima
9. The Fighting Seabees
10. The Cowboys - still makes me cry, because this is the first movie I ever remember the Duke dying - the Duke isn't supposed to die in movies! ( I hated Bruce Dern until I saw The 'Burbs)

I also love everything else he did, I even liked the Green Berets growing up until I realized what a crock of sh*t the ending was ("you're what this is all about") several years ago in school. John Wayne was the quintessential American actor, and basically still is...everyone has mentioned how much he is still on the tube.

Rand

Dimension X, Yes there is an intermission in the road show version of The Alamo.

I'd also love to have a dvd of Big Jake, it was never even released on ld.

Vampyr

Well.....Even though I own the DVD, it looks like I'll be taping The Alamo

Dimension X

Thanks for the confirmation. I guess I know what I'll be doing Saturday, October 5th at 2:30pm.

Rand

Oh, and speaking of The Alamo, that's my favorite Dimitri Tiomkin score. I have the soundtrack cd as well, love the music!

It's also one of the more interesting films production wise. It was a John Wayne film all the way. One of the most expensive ever for it's time. When Wayne couldn't get enough backing to raise the amount of money he needed to make the film he wanted he sank pretty much his entire fortune into it.

Scot1458

I admit I was a litter weary of comming in here. Due to Wayne's ideology and his "pro-American" message in most of his films, I thought he would be slaughtered here. Nice to see I was wrong.

Dimension X I can't recall any Wayne OTR shows that I own. I know Gen. Stewart was all over the place, it seems Wayne shows are lost, or he never utlized radio.

My favorite? Way to hard to pick, but I would have to rate THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALLANCE as one of my favorites.


Hey, what's the deal with Hondo? How come that film has essentially dissapeared?

Falc04

Rand...BIG JAKE was realeased on LD. It was in the letterbox format, which is essential for viewing that film.

I too wish FOX would start releasing some of Duke's films to DVD.

Also, would love to see MGM release THREE GODFATHERS...one of his under-rated classics!

flixtime

Yeah, I've only seen it once in my life and can't even remember the last time I saw it listed for TV viewing. I have watched all (not really saying much since it was only on for a year) of the episodes of the old Hondo TV show though:

Hondo TV series link at IMDb.com

Like many of you have already mentioned doing a Wayne Top 10 is very difficult given his large body of work, but here goes mine - in no particular order - for now (although it would probably change if you asked me again in a week):

The Cowboys
Big Jake (I like the interaction between Wayne, his son Patrick, and Robert Mitchum's son)
The War Wagon with Kirk Douglas
The Sons of Katie Elder
The Comancheros
The Alamo (I like Richard Widmark too, I've always thought that he comes off as very "likeable" on screen)
The Searchers
Rio Grande
Sands of Iwo Jima
Red River