Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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From ‘Rio Bravo’ to Raw Truths: Angie Dickinson Opens Up on Fame, Friendship, and a Seven-Decade Career
“Fair to middling” is how Angie Dickinson is feeling this morning as she talks about “Rio Bravo,” the 1959 film that made her a star. “Somebody who says they’re great at 90, you can figure out that they lie a lot.” It’s a line that could have come straight from Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett’s…
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John Wayne – The Teeth Demand, The Duke’s Disapproval, and Geraldine Page’s Oscar-Worthy Rebellion
1953’s Hondo wasn’t John Wayne’s most successful film, but its legacy has endured thanks in part to the powerful acting and the slightly more sympathetic than usual portrayal of its Indigenous characters. Based on the Louis L’Amour story “The Gift of Cochise,” the film follows a burgeoning love affair between Wayne’s Hondo and a frontierswoman,…
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The Last Act of Forgiveness: Did Andy Griffith and Frances Bavier Mend Fences?
Andy Griffith and Frances Bavier were two legends of American television in the mid-20th century. Known for their iconic roles in The Andy Griffith Show, they left a mark on popular culture. However, behind the scenes, their relationship was marred by a real-life feud that contradicted their harmonious on-screen rapport just like the tension between…
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The Power of Love in Mayberry: How Andy Griffith Inspired Ron Howard’s Parenting
After spending eight seasons and eight years playing father and son, it’s no wonder that Andy Griffith and Ron Howard still felt a kinship toward one another, even after cameras stopped rolling on The Andy Griffith Show. In an article for the Los Angeles Times, Howard called Griffith “like a wonderful uncle to me.” Like…
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The Final Stand: John Wayne’s ‘Borrowed Time’ Struggle in Cahill US Marshal Shoot
Back in 1959, critics were already asking if John Wayne was too old to be playing gunslinger leads. Rio Bravo was released that year and the romantic age gap between the 51-year-old and his 27-year-old co-star Angie Dickinson received negative reactions in reviews. Nevertheless, the Hollywood star found ways to play older cowboys over the…
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John Wayne’s Alleged Daughter in ‘The Searchers’ Fan Theory
The Searchers is often regarded as one of the greatest westerns of all time, proving to be an essential film within the partnership between director John Ford and John Wayne. While Wayne and Ford essentially reinvented the modern Western genre with the work on the 1939 classic Stagecoach, The Searchers was a much more ambitious…
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John Wayne’s Rare Western Christmas Tale in ‘Three Godfathers’
It’s either the fact that he played a gruff, straight-talking sheriff in almost every film or the fact that each of his western outings seems to take place in the baking hot sun, but John Wayne really doesn’t seem a fan of Christmas. It’s just very difficult to see Ethan Edwards of The Searchers or…
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Christmas Delight: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Richard Jewell’ Takes Center Stage at Warner Bros.”
In the realm of “news that had the gall to break while I was at a press screening,” Warner Bros. has slotted Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell for December 13. The picture is another one of Eastwood’s lightning-fast projects, as it essentially didn’t exist (years of development notwithstanding) until April of this year. The drama, starring…
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Brush with Fate: John Wayne’s Near-Death Experience on the Set of a Disparaged Masterpiece
John Wayne had a serious close shave on Hellfighters, which his combative co-star called “the biggest piece of crap I’ve ever done”. Back in 1968, John Wayne starred in Hellfighters, an early disaster movie based on the life of Red Adair, about a group of oil well firefighters. The film, which celebrates its 55th anniversary…
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The Turbulent Shift in Westerns and Wayne’s Lone Resistance
John Wayne was just as tough off-screen as on and rejected an offer to work with another Hollywood legend after blasting his debut Western. John Wayne was the undisputed High Sheriff of American Western movies for thirty years. From his breakthrough star-making 1939’s Stagecoach he rode across the silver screen all the way to 1969’s…
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