Tag: 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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Revisiting the Shadows: John Wayne’s Crowning Achievement in ‘The War Wagon’ Lost Amidst His Prolific Career
‘The War Wagon’ Is a Victim of John Wayne’s Success There are few stars that have a filmography as stacked as John Wayne, both from a volume and quality standpoint. Whether you look at the 1930s or the 1970s, you can find a legitimately great movie with John Wayne top-billed without breaking a sweat. The…
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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 Most Disturbing Deed Committed By John Wayne’S Ethan In The Searchers Is A Grim Foreshadowing Of His Eventual Fate
There’s little point in arguing that John Ford’s 1956 adventure isn’t one of the most influential Westerns ever produced. Its breathtaking shots of Monument Valley, mature storyline and Wayne’s haunting performance make it unforgettable. Steven Spielberg rewatches The Searchers every time he starts filming a new project, Martin Scorsese has proclaimed it one of his…
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John Wayne’s Wise Words on Gunsmoke and Hollywood’s Learning Curve!
When John Wayne tells you that you should do a Western, you listen. If you ever find yourself at home watching rerun after rerun of Gunsmoke and start worrying that you should be doing something more production, rest assured that you’re in good company. There’s one Gunsmoke fan who loved to watch reruns of the…
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John Wayne: The Searchers Featured An Appalling Mistake By Ward Bond That Had To Be Covered Up For Years To Avoid The “Terrible Temper”
John Wayne and John Ford collaborated on some of the Hollywood Golden Age’s best-loved Westerns from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Perhaps their most famous was 1956’s The Searchers which saw Duke play a Civil War veteran spending years searching for his abducted niece, played by Natalie Wood.…
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Duke’s Drunken Charm: The Intriguing Hollywood Tale Behind Rio Lobo’s Reappearance
John Wayne had already remade 1959’s Rio Bravo, a film about a sheriff defending his office from outlaws, in 1966’s El Dorado. Yet Howard Hawks, who directed both of those films, wanted to make it a third time in 1970’s Rio Lobo. When the filmmaker first approached Duke about the idea, the Hollywood star replied:…
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Admitted to Hospital for Intestinal Obstruction Removal: John Wayne’s Final Hospitalization and Cancer’s Grim Return
JOHN WAYNE, born Marion Michael Morrison, was a Western megastar. While making at least 74 films, it was in 1964, when appearing in Circus World, when he first learned of his tumour. A heavy smoker, John Wayne – nicknamed the Duke – received a lung cancer diagnosis when he was 57; he then had his…
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“I Got A 60-Year-Old Saddle That Looks Better Than You Do.” – John Wayne’S Brutal Quip At Dean Martin Comparing Him To A Worn Saddle
Nicknamed The Duke, Wayne is one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars, and thanks to his turn in the 1969 flick True Grit, became an Oscar winner, collecting the Best Actor gong. He and Martin starred in one of the pair’s most cherished films, 1959’s Rio Bravo, which helped cement their status among the industry’s elite.…
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Behind the Cowboy Hat: Disturbing Truths About John Wayne, The Sheriff of Hollywood
There aren’t many figures bigger than John Wayne. One of the most iconic leading men of his era, there was no one else in Hollywood like him—but there was a chilling darkness to this legendary figure. His infamous Playboy interview is just the tip of the iceberg, so buckle up and let’s dive into the…