Tag: John Wayne
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From B-Movies to the Open Sea: John Wayne’s Journey from Poverty Row to ‘The Long Voyage Home’
John Wayne had finally broken free of Poverty Row B-flicks as the lead of John Ford’s classic Western “Stagecoach” when he jockeyed for the lead in the filmmakers 1940 seafaring drama “The Long Voyage Home.” Like “Stagecoach,” this World War II-set yarn about a tramp steamer wending its way from the West Indies to Baltimore…
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Duke’s Right-Hand Men: Ranking John Wayne’s Top 10 Male Co-Stars in Film History
This article lists my favourite top 10 actors who have appeared opposite John Wayne, in ascending order. All of these actors have, at one time or another, appeared second in the cast list after John Wayne. Dan Dailey | The Wings of Eagles (1957) In The Wings of Eagles, Dan Dailey, as ‘Jughead’ Carson, plays…
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John Wayne’s Candid Take on Kirk Douglas and a Memorable Veranda Confession
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Kirk Douglas established himself as a genuinely titanic force in American cinema. With a chin sharper than a chef’s knife and eyes that blinded those who dared to look deep into them, Douglas transcended the very role of the movie star and became a force of artistic nature in the…
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Dust and Homage: Spielberg’s Artistry Mirrors John Wayne’s Classic in Unexpected Ways
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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True Grit’s Resonance: John Wayne’s Defining Performance and Unforgettable ‘Best Scene’
Throughout the 20th century, John Wayne burned himself into the minds of America with remarkable portrayals of the cowboy archetype. A true hero of the films of the old west, Wayne established himself as an actor who could consistently deliver the acting goods, whether firing a rifle from atop his horse or taking care of…
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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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El Dorado Enigma: Decoding Robert Mitchum’s Major Blunder, Shielded by John Wayne
John Wayne made three Westerns with director Howard Hawks about a sheriff defending his office from outlaws. In between 1959’s Rio Bravo and 1970’s Rio Lobo, they shot 1966’s El Dorado, which co-starred Robert Mitchum as the drunken lawman opposite Duke’s gunslinger. Interestingly, Wayne had replaced Mitchum just a decade earlier in 1955’s Blood Alley…
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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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Hollywood’s Maverick: John Wayne’s Trailblazing Approach to ‘Fighting Dirty’ in Westerns
John Wayne continues to exist as one of the timeless faces of the Western film genre. However, he also revolutionized the art of the Hollywood fight sequence in more ways than one. Wayne brought a more realistic and “dirty” way to fight on the silver screen. More modern ideas of fight sequences can thank Wayne’s…
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The Ultimate Quote: Discovering John Wayne’s Most Memorable Line on the Silver Screen
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…