A Tribute to John Wayne

[Hostile]

100 years ago today, John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa. His name at birth was Marion Robert Morrison, though it was changed to Marion Michael Morrison at some point. His family owned a dog named Duke and the two were inseparable. So much so that they called the dog Big Duke and the boy Little Duke. He preferred Duke to Marion and the name stuck.

His family moved to California early in his life. After High School he attended USC and played DT for the Trojans. He had applied to the Naval Academy but was rejected. His football career ended after he hurt his leg body surfing. That injury caused his famous limping walk which so fit the cowboy movies he was to make his own.

Western actor Tom Mix got him a job at the film studios as a prop man. He landed some parts as an extra in a couple of silent movies and struck up a friendship with Director John Ford, a Hollywood icon. In these films he was first cast as Duke Morrison.

In 1930 he landed his first starring role in Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail" where he was cast as John Wayne. From there he went on to star in a series of B Westerns. His big break came in 1939 when old friend John Ford cast him as the Ringo Kid in "Stagecoach," though it took a string of more B Westerns before his career really launched.

His star on the Hollywood walk of fame began in earnest from that day forward as he captured the imagination and adoration of American movie goers.

Below is a list of his movies that I either own or have seen, the year they came out, and an occasional comment. The ones in bold I recommend for any John Wayne fan or someone curious.

• The Big Trail, 1930. Great movie for its time.
• Shadow of the Eagle, 1932
• The Hurricane Express, 1932.
• Haunted Gold, 1932.
• Riders of Destiny, 1933.
• Lucky Texan, 1934.
• West of the Divide, 1934.
• The Lawless Frontier, 1934.
• Man From Utah, 1934.
• Randy Rides Alone, 1934.
• The Trail Beyond, 1934.
• Neath Arizona Skies, 1934.
• Texas Terror, 1935.
• Rainbow Valley, 1935.
• The Desert Trail, 1935.
• The Dawn Rider, 1935.
• Westward Ho, 1935.
• The New Frontier, 1935.
• Lawless Range, 1935.
• The Lawless Nineties, 1936.
• King of the Pecos, 1936.
• The Lonely Trail, 1936.
• Winds of the Wasteland, 1936.
• Pals of the Saddle, 1938.
• Stagecoach, 1939. A Western classic. Must see.
• Three Texas Steers, 1939.
• Allegheny Uprising, 1939.
• Dark Command, 1940. Not bad at all.
• The Long Voyage Home, 1940.
• Seven Sinners, 1940. The beginning of an affair he had with Marlene Dietrich.
• Lady From Louisiana, 1941.
• The Shepherd of the Hills, 1941. His first film in color. He's a moonshiner bent on revenge.
• Reap the Wild Wind, 1942.
• The Spoilers, 1942. Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott also share the screen.
• In Old California, 1942.
• Flying Tigers, 1942. One of his first WWII films.
• Pittsburgh, 1942.
• A Lady Takes a Chance, 1943. yuck.
• The Fighting Seabees, 1942. Based on the beginning of the Construction Battalions.
• Tall in the Saddle, 1944. Gabby Hayes steals the film.
• Flame of the Barbary Coast, 1945.
• Back to Bataan, 1945. Anthony Quinn also stars.
• They Were Expendable, 1945. Portrays a PT Boat Captain.
• Without Reservations, 1946.
• Angel and the Badman, 1947. Underrated film. He falls in love with a Quaker.
• Tycoon, 1947.
• Red River, 1948. One of the greatest westerns every made.
  
• Fort Apache, 1948. First of the John Ford cavalry trilogy with him as star. Henry Fonda also stars.
• Three Godfathers, 1948. Funny in places.
• Wake of the Red Witch, 1948. His first dying role.
• The Fighting Kentuckian, 1949.
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, 1949. A great acting job as an aging cavalry officer. 2nd of the Ford trilogy.
• Sands of Iwo Jima, 1949. Nominated for an Oscar. 2nd dying role. Great movie.
• Rio Grande, 1950. 3rd of the Ford trilogy. First film with Maureen O'Hara as co-star. Great movie.
• Operation Pacific, 1951. Underrated submarine film.
• The Quiet Man, 1952. Should be watched every St. Patrick's Day. Fight scene with Victor McLaglen is a classic.
• Big Jim McLain, 1952.
• Trouble Along the Way, 1953. Plays a cheating football coach.
• Island in the Sky, 1953. Very good.
• Hondo, 1953. One of his better roles.
• The High and the Mighty, 1954. Under rated.
• The Sea Chase, 1955.
• Blood Alley, 1955. By far his worst film.
• The Conqueror, 1956. Also a stinker.
• The Searchers, 1956. The best acting job of his life in a true classic western. Perhaps the greatest western ever made.
• The Wings of Eagles, 1957. A definite must see. Based on a true story.
• Jet Pilot, 1957. Not a good movie, but I still like it. Janet Leigh might be the reason.
• Legend of the Lost, 1957. Worth seeing just for a young Sophia Loren. Yum.
• The Barbarian and the Geisha, 1958.
• Rio Bravo, 1959. Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson co-star and Angie Dickinson is his love interest. Fun film.
• The Horse Soldiers, 1959. His 4th cavalry film, co-starring William Holden.
• The Alamo, 1960. He nearly went broke making this film and it didn't return his interest. 3rd dying role.
• North to Alaska, 1960. A comic western with a hit co-star.
• The Comacheros, 1961. A good western.
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1961. This is such a great western. Co-starring Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin. He dies to start the movie and it goes back in time to tell his story.
• Hatari, 1962. Funnier than you expect. Yet another smoking hot co-star.
• The Longest Day, 1962. A classic.
• How the West was Won, 1962. Cameo role in a great film.
• Mclintock, 1963. One of his best comic westerns.
• Donovan's Reef, 1963. For some reason, I like it.
• In Harm's Way, 1965. Really good movie with Patricia Neal and Kirk Douglas as co-stars.
• The Sons of Katie Elder, 1965. Some like it, I'm not crazy about it though I always watch it when its on.
• The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965. Cameo.
• Cast a Giant Shadow, 1966. Really a Kirk Douglas film. Has historic value.
• El Dorado, 1966. He and Robert Mitchum should have done more films together.
• The War Wagon, 1967. His last with Kirk Douglas.
• The Green Berets, 1968. Very controversial film about Viet Nam during the actual war.
• Hellfighters, 1968. So so, but it always keeps me watching.
• True Grit, 1969. He won his only Oscar for this role. Great film.
• The Undefeated, 1969. Rock Hudson credited him with saving his film career by mentioning him for this role. Reunites him with cowboy actor Ben Johnson who was under rated as an actor IMO.
• Chisum, 1970. Based on the Lincoln County Range Wars. Epic fight scene.
• Rio Lobo, 1970. The dialogue is so bad, but I like the girls in it.
• Big Jake, 1971. He has some great one liners.
• The Cowboys, 1972. My favorite. His 4th dying role if you count Liberty Valance. Bruce Dern was the most hated man in America for killing John Wayne in this film.The Train Robbers, 1973, Ann Margaret is one reason to watch it. the other is that it's a good film.
• Cahill, US Marshall, 1973. This one is just plain fun to watch.
• McQ, 1974
• Brannigan, 1975.
• Rooster Cogburn, 1975. It is a shame that he and Katherine Hepburn didn't make more movies together. Magical.
• The Shootist, 1976. His last movie, and last dying role. A fact that mirrored real life as he was in fact dying of cancer.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

FYI, AMC has a JW marathon that runs straight through to 5am tomorrow morn.

 

[bbgun]

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/05/26/2007-05-26_happy_birthday_pilgrim.html

 

[Concord]

Happy Birthday John!

 

[DallasCowpoke]

I ran across these pics on another FB, and the way they were positioned cracked me up!!

:laugh1:
​

 

[SupermanXx]

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

 

[ologan]

"Rio Bravo, 1959. Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Martin co-star and Angie Dickinson is his love interest. Fun film."

Ricky Martin????? I don't even think he was born when that came out. I think you mean Ozzie n' Harriet's precocious kid,Ricky Nelson.

 

[Hostile]

"Rio Bravo, 1959. Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Martin co-star and Angie Dickinson is his love interest. Fun film."

Ricky Martin????? I don't even think he was born when that came out. I think you mean Ozzie n' Harriet's precocious kid,Ricky Nelson.

Yikes. Thank you.