Category: Western
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John Wayne’s Unfulfilled Dream to Bring ‘Gunsmoke’ Star James Arness to ‘The Alamo’
When John Wayne stepped behind the camera to film his passion project “The Alamo,” there was one actor he wanted to star alongside him – James Arness. But the “Gunsmoke” star never appeared in the movie for this very peculiar reason. According to IMDb, Wayne wanted to cast Arness as Texas founding father Sam Houston…
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Where in the West is James Arness? The Intriguing Saga of ‘Gunsmoke’s’ Legendary Sheriff
It’s time to get out of Dodge and visit some paths tread decades ago. Mount your horses and prepare for a wild ride revisiting the cast of Gunsmoke. Some call this sweeping western America’s very own Iliad and the Odyssey. For years, Saturday evenings belonged entirely to Gunsmoke. At the forefront of this massive program…
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Dust, Grit, and Innovation – John Wayne’s ‘Fight Dirty’ Legacy in the Transformation of Action Scenes
John Wayne’s “fight dirty” approach to his action scenes helped shape that movie fights were filmed. Wayne spent many years starring in so-called “Poverty Row” Westerns during the ’30s, where he honed his acting style and screen persona. This period also saw him appear in Haunted Gold, the closest thing to a horror movie Wayne…
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Clint Eastwood, 93, returns to the set for Juror No. 2—a cinematic marvel after 2021’s Cry Macho
On Wednesday, the director was seen filming his next movie, Juror No. 2, in Savannah, Georgia, with actors Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette. Eastwood, 93, smiled behind the scenes while working with his crew members on set. Juror No. 2 will mark the Oscar winner’s first film since 2021’s Cry Macho. While Eastwood starred in…
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John Wayne’S Last 15 Years Marked By Battles Against Illness—A Poignant Hollywood Tale
The Academy Award winner, for his role in True Grit (1969), was born as Marion Robert Morrison, in Iowa, in 1907. Appearing in nearly 250 film productions, John Wayne was a superstar of his time. While his acting career went from strength to strength, his health deteriorated throughout the years. In September 1964, at the…
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Despite A Torn Ligament And Three Broken Ribs, John Wayne Pushes Through The Pain, Determined Not To Let His Fans Down
John Wayne’s career in Hollywood and the Golden Age of Cinema continues to fascinate and excite fans and critics the world over, with his films regularly replayed over and over again. Thanks to a staggering collection of more than 170 films and TV show appearances, Wayne fans are able to get their fix. Among the…
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Going against John Wayne’s ideology: The Untold Story of How Henry Fonda Became a Vicious Force in Leone’s Cinematic Western Odyssey
Yes, we’re talking about Henry Fonda as Frank. For over three decades leading up to Once Upon A Time In The West, Henry Fonda had been playing the strong, stately American hero on screen. In John Ford’s My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, and Drums Along The Mohawk, he played stern, stoic, but nevertheless principled Western…
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John Wayne’s Silent Reckoning: The Ripple Effect on ‘Lonesome Dove’ and Larry McMurtry’s Creative Reimagination
Lonesome Dove is a grand Western epic that follows two retired Texas Rangers embarking on a cattle drive from the Mexican border in Texas all the way to the Canadian border in Montana. None of this would have happened though if John Wayne had wanted to make the movie. The Original ‘Lonesome Dove’ Script Was…
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Delving into the Depths of John Wayne’s Performance in ‘Red River’ – A Howard Hawks Masterstroke
What Makes John Wayne’s Performance So Powerful in ‘Red River’? The complexity of John Wayne’s performance as Dunson echoes Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which was actually released in the same year (it was a good time to be a Western fan). With the gradual reversal of his role from protagonist…
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The Dark Side of Stardom: John Wayne’s Surprising Admission about Jet Pilot’s Failings
John Wayne had fronted dozens of b-movie Westerns before the success of 1939’s Stagecoach elevated him to stardom. He would go on to front many more Westerns, including Red River, True Grit, The Searchers and the unofficial Rio Bravo trilogy. The enduring cinematic image of Wayne is that of a cowboy, but he made films…