John Wayne and John Ford collaborated on my classic Westerns but the one that made Duke a star was 1939’s Stagecoach, which celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. The 1880-set story followed a group of strangers riding through dangerous Apache territory, in a movie Orson Welles believed to be textbook filmmaking. In fact, he watched … Read more
Back in 1969, John Wayne starred in True Grit as one-eyed US Marshal Rooster Cogburn, winning him the Best Actor Oscar the following year. A few years later, Duke would star in the sequel opposite Katharine Hepburn – but it was far from an easy shoot. Wayne had been seriously ill at the beginning of … Read more
Back in 1963, John Wayne was shooting Circus World (known as The Magnificent Showman in UK) with Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth. Duke starred as Wild West circus star Matt Masters in the movie that received mixed reviews and would ultimately be a financial disappointment. Fans will remember there’s a climatic circus fire scene in … Read more
Back in September 1964, John Wayne was set to re-team with Rio Bravo director Howard Hawks and co-star Dean Martin in The Sons of Katie Elder, which marks its 59th anniversary this week. The Western saw four brothers, with Duke playing the eldest, return home to their mother’s funeral before avenging their father’s murder and … Read more
It was 72 years ago this week that The Quiet Man hits cinemas. John Wayne, who later starred in a D-Day movie, teamed up with director collaborator John Ford once again for the Oscar-winning classic. Considered by the filmmaker to be his sexist movie, the plot saw Duke’s retired boxer Sean Thornton making a pilgrimage … Read more
John Wayne didn’t serve in World War II, but Duke sought to make up for it by starring in many patriotic military movies for the rest of his life, including one set during D-Day. One of these shot shortly after the conflict was 1949’s Sands of Iwo Jima; a film that followed a group of … Read more
John Wayne was famous for his tough guy image on and off screen, mostly being known for playing cowboys and military men. By the early 1960s, Duke was in his fifties, struggling with health problems yet continuing to insist on not only doing his own stunts but also playing characters – including historical figures – … Read more
By the 1970s, John Wayne – who would have been 117 today – was coming towards the end of his career as a Hollywood star. In 1973, aged 65-years-old, he had been living with one lung for the best part of 10 years and was suffering from emphysema on the remaining one. That year he … Read more
It’s John Wayne’s birthday today. Few Hollywood stars had such a major and lasting impact, with his famous walk, drawl and silhouette still easily recognisable – even if he never actually said, “Get off your horse and drink your milk.” Way back in 1929, he had a small uncredited role in the American Football film … Read more
John Wayne had already remade 1959’s Rio Bravo, a film about a sheriff defending his office from outlaws, in 1966’s El Dorado. Yet Howard Hawks, who directed both films, wanted to make it a third time in 1970’s Rio Lobo. When the filmmaker first approached Duke about the idea, the Hollywood star replied: “Do I … Read more
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