Tag: Western
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Unveiling Clint Eastwood’s Soft Heart: A Surprising Look Beyond the Tough Exterior
Clint Eastwood is primarily viewed as the quintessential “tough guy” in films. He’s the gun-slinger extraordinaire, the morally ambiguous protagonist in any gritty film you love to rewatch. He’s an idol, and for many, the picture of what it means to be a man. All of this considered you might be surprised that the…
-
Unraveling the Parallels Between ‘High Plains Drifter’ and ‘Pale Rider’ – Clint Eastwood’s Twin Western Masterpieces
In two of his most outstanding western flicks, Clint Eastwood manages to not only traverse the supernatural, but also colorfully illustrates his growth as both a star and a filmmaker. In High Plains Drifter, he is a vengeful spirit looking to unleash the fires of hell itself. In Pale Rider, he is the embodiment of…
-
Iconic Antagonist: The Black-Hat Maestro Lee Van Cleef Who Stole Scenes from Clint Eastwood
Move over Wayne and Eastwood — Lee Van Cleef is here to steal your scene! Sure, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are practically synonymous with Westerns (and for good reason), but Van Cleef is the most under-appreciated and overlooked regular of the genre. His hawkish, piercing eyes and naturally intimidating demeanor make him an effortless…
-
Unearthing John Wayne’s Grave-Robbing Controversy and Disturbing Seventies Racist Comments
If John Wayne were still alive, he’d be in real trouble. The Western movie star, who died in 1979, has been hauled over the coals on Twitter for his racist views. Screenwriter Matt Williams dug up an interview ‘Duke’ gave to Playboy in 1971, in which he held forth on Native Americans, black people and…
-
The Struggles of Hondo: John Wayne’s Stormy Temperament and the Harsh Realities of Filming
Through his starring roles in westerns and war movies during the golden age of cinema in America, John Wayne became a cultural icon. His performances in the epic western The Searchers, as well as Rio Bravo, True Grit, and Red River, are probably what the actor is best known for, but Wayne also had a…