The one quote so many people think about strangely, however, the Duke never actually said his most famous catchphrase: “Get off your horse and drink your milk!” which was supposed to be in the 1972 film The Cowboys. Yet many people watched the film all the way through and studied every scene in minute detail to try and track down the elusive line! However, no-one has ever found it, because it isn’t there!
Yet there are plenty of one liners he came out with plenty dry one-liners in his films, including, “Don’t say it’s a fine morning, or I’ll shoot ya,” in the 1965 war epic, In Harm’s Way, or, “Young fella, if you’re looking for trouble, I’ll accommodate ya,” in True Grit.
Yet the film which had him so badly miscast has to be the Conqueror which is known as an RKO radioactive picture and being a spectacular flop too; it caused the demise RKO radio pictures and over the next 30 years, 91 of the 220 cast and crew members developed cancer. John Wayne regretted playing Temujin so much that he visibly shuddered whenever anyone mentioned the film’s name. He once remarked that the moral of the film was “not to make an ass of yourself trying to play parts you’re not suited for.”
Here is the Duke sporting what appears to be a dead weasel under his nose and no one really looked like Mongolians.
Though admittedly he did have some pretty bad material from his throwing a wobbly spear at someone, but the dialogue is something that went beyond endurance with such lines as this.
See to the sharing of the booty. (So would that have been a booty call?)
She is a woman – much woman. Should her perfidy be less than that of other women? (She was also a ginge – yes, it is a booty call!)
There is also a suspicion he was a bit pissed or needed to be as this is how he sounded when he did a line.
“Yew’re beauty-full in yew’re wrath.”
Come and take me, mongrels – if you dare. While I have fingers to grasp a sword, and eyes to see your cowardly faces, your treacherous heads will not be safe on your shoulders. For I am Temujin, the Conqueror. No prison can hold me, no army defeat me.
Though dwelling on the Duke’s worst work is a bit unfair, it is the one I remember mostly due to the sheer horror of how bad it was. Still at least he did fight a more convincing enemy in Wake of the Red Witch in which he showed how to treat an Octopus and he did his own stunts. Though the real pity is the best quote was by the villian with “ I’m not one of those ‘eye for an eye’ men. No! I always take two eyes. “. Darn it, the Duke should have had that line.
Which may have been a bit full on but then it takes a Korean to show how to really sort out an Octopus.
Though a curious footnote on Wake of the Red Witch was that the rubber octopus was stolenn by the infamous Ed Wood of Plan 9 from outspace fame, who had Bela Lugosi fight the octopus in Bride of the Monster, as they forgot to get the motor the elderly Lugosi had to wrap himself in it for the fight.
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