Category: John Wayne
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A True Actress Unlike Any Other – Kim Darby, A Genuine Star from the Days of John Wayne’s “True Grit”!
“There wasn’t any one single horrendous event,” Kim Darby was saying, thinking aloud. “And I never said to myself, all right, I’m going to drop out. It just sort of happened more naturally. I decided to stop running from here to there, and sit down with myself and do a little thinking. You know what…
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From John Wayne to John Cusack: A Lexington Film Festival Honors a Beloved Actress
A few years after she was in the ‘80s teen comedy “Better Off Dead,” Kim Darby caught some showings where the audience was reciting the movie word for word. “You know, like the ‘Rocky Horror Show,’” Darby said in a phone interview Monday. “I was doing a Q&A, and I was really taken aback. Everybody…
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The Unreleased Spectacle of a Western: Wayne’s ‘Hondo’ – Shot in 3-D but Not Released as Such
John Wayne managed to monopolize the western genre due to his consistent inventiveness. While Wayne starred in countless westerns, he was able to keep the genre interesting by keeping audiences on their toes. When Wayne disapproved of the way that western characters were interpreted in High Noon, he created Rio Bravo in response; when he…
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Revisiting ‘Rio Lobo’: Was Howard Hawks And John Wayne The Film’S Real Savior?
In 1970 the publicity machine was knocking itself dead, extolling Howard Hawks’s “Rio Lobo” even before it was finished. Much was made of Hawks being reunited with saddle pard John Wayne, with whom he made classics such as “Red River” and “Rio Bravo,” among other films. Journalist George Plimpton (who scored a cameo) did a…
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When John Wayne’s Peculiar Experience Inspired Carl Perkins’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes’
There is not a greater celebrity raconteur than Michael Caine. The 89-year-old movie star has lived the fullest of lives, appeared in a number of great films, and snatched up two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor — and he loves to talk about it. The son of blue-collar parents seems perpetually tickled by his…
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A Hilarious Fan Mail Mishap: John Wayne’s Encounter with Bullitt Praise
As one of the biggest stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood and one of the actors to shape the entire Western genre, it’s no surprise that John Wayne received an enormous amount of fan mail over the years. Fans of all ages reached out to the Western icon hoping for a reply from their…
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Unpacking ‘The Cowboys’: Why Bruce Dern Became the Villain John Wayne Fans Love to Hate
Better known in Hollywood circles as “the Duke,” Wayne’s career stretched from the silent era of the late 1920s through film-making’s Golden Age and into the early beginnings of the American New Wave cinema in the 1970s. He appeared in a total of 179 movies and television productions and was a top box-office draw for…
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The Duke’s Insights: John Wayne’s Take on the Western Genre in 1970
If anyone could talk about western movies and be looked upon as an expert, then look no further than “The Duke” himself, John Wayne. Wayne, in a 1970 interview at the Academy Awards, was asked if the western gets the recognition it deserves in Hollywood. “I think so, I think so,” John Wayne, who died…
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Ella Raines And John Wayne: Tensions Flare While Filming ‘Tall In The Saddle’
Actor John Wayne once lost his temper at co-star Ella Raines while shooting Tall in the Saddle. He was tired of repeatedly shooting the same scene because she couldn’t control the horse that she had to ride for a specific scene. As a result, Wayne started to lose his patience and finally blew up at…
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John Wayne’s Hilarious High School Prank and His Path to Acting Stardom
Actor John Wayne didn’t always have stardom on the brain, especially when he was in high school. He had several passions, involving himself in several areas, involving journalism, debate, and sports. However, Wayne was undeniably a prankster who found a way to embarrass an actor in a way that caused the audience to erupt into…