Tag: John Ford
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Unveiling Clint Eastwood’s Cinematic Twist: His Favorite John Ford Movie Defies Western Norms
While Clint Eastwood’s most-loved John Ford movie might not be a Western, it is still no surprise that this classic topped the list of the director’s favorites. Ford was a legend in the Western genre, and Eastwood even called the filmmaker one of his favorite directors. Eastwood became a major mainstream star shortly after Ford’s…
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Mayfair’s Grand Premiere: Unveiling the Battle-Infused Romance of John Wayne in ‘Rio Grande’
John Ford’s continuing war with the Red Man and his romance with the United States Cavalry, a basic strategy which has paid off several times previously, show few signs of wear and tear in “Rio Grande.” For Mr. Ford’s vendetta against the Apaches and his predilection for the wide open spaces of the post-Civil War…
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The Day Duke Prevailed: John Wayne’s Tears Halt John Ford’s Insults in a Hollywood Showdown
This week marks the 78th anniversary of the release of 1945’s They Were Expendable, a film set during the Battle of the Philippines which took place just a couple of years prior. The film’s cinematic debut was pushed back to late December 1945 since the Japanese had surrendered earlier that year. Yet despite good reviews,…
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A Western with Anti-War Resonance: ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ Echoes the Legacy of John Ford’s ‘The Searchers’
In the history of Hollywood, no figure was quite as reflective of their image, star persona, and stature in the industry as Clint Eastwood. While he is a tried and true action movie star, frequently playing gun-toting outlaws who defy the orders of society, Eastwood has aspired to deconstruct the archetypes of cops and cowboys…
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Fort Apache: The Movie That Breathed New Life into John Wayne’s Waning Stardom
John Wayne might’ve been full of macho swagger on the big screen, but off-screen he was given to fretting. A large portion of the blame for this could be placed at John Ford’s doorstep. The A-list Hollywood filmmaker was nearly instrumental in making Wayne a full-fledged movie star, but he’d made the actor earn it…
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Spielberg’s Cinematic Ritual: Unlocking the Enigma of John Wayne and John Ford Inspirations
The Indiana Jones franchise famously began as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas sought to pay tribute to the serials that inspired them in their respective youths, including Zorro, Buck Rogers, and Flash Gordon, to name three. Spielberg was also driven by his admiration for the James Bond movies, but a classic western from two genre…
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John Wayne: Hidden Secrets of The Searchers That Struck Fear in John Ford’s Heart
John Wayne and John Ford collaborated on some of the Hollywood Golden Age’s best-loved Westerns from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to Rio Grande. But perhaps their most famous was 1956’s The Searchers, in which Duke played a Civil War veteran spending years searching for his abducted niece played by Natalie Wood. Still a student…
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The Wild West of Filmmaking: Unmasking the Turbulent Making of How the West Was Won
Back in 1962, MGM released its biggest Western yet, helmed by three directors in Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall. How the West Was Won had an ensemble cast of no less than 24 stars in a lengthy blockbuster of five parts, set over 50 years, and captured on three-lens Cinerama for projection on…
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John Wayne’S Rise To Stardom And Seamless Transition To Producer In The 1950S
In 1950 John Wayne was the number one box office draw according to the annual “Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll”—a feat he would again achieve in 1951. It was a good decade to be John Wayne: from 1950 to 1959 there were only two years where Duke didn’t land in the top three of…
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Mogambo’s Unseen Battle: John Wayne’s Defiant Stance Against an ‘Idiot’ in Hollywood
Very few actors in Hollywood history can compare to the might of John Wayne, a performer who was as much a cultural icon as he was a star of the silver screen. Making the western genre shine throughout the 20th century alongside such names as Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper and James Stewart, Wayne remains a…