John Wayne Poll Part 2

[profblues]

Part 2 of my films of John "Duke" Wayne poll. Same rules as part 1 you can pick as many as you like and of course feel free to comment, positively or negatively.

[erik]

Like many (I would suspect), I chose THE SEARCHERS as being one of the principal films of the Duke's career, along with TRUE GRIT (for which he won his Oscar), THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, and his last film, THE SHOOTIST, to name just a few.

Of course, during the 1960s, Wayne stopped being a mere Hollywood star and became an American icon, especially after he had proclaimed to have licked "The Big C" (via removal of a lung in 1964), and a staunch lover of his country--the original "My country, right or wrong" spokesman, par excellence, a family values man, and a patriot, which was reflected probably the most in THE ALAMO, and THE GREEN BERETS (this last film where the sun sets in the East; isn't God clever? [LOL]). The problem with that, of course, is that much of that surface story, once you've read up on the man, is an illusion (IMHO).

[profblues]

Dec 15, 2013 20:30:21 GMT -5 erik said:

Like many (I would suspect), I chose THE SEARCHERS as being one of the principal films of the Duke's career, along with TRUE GRIT (for which he won his Oscar), THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, and his last film, THE SHOOTIST, to name just a few.

Of course, during the 1960s, Wayne stopped being a mere Hollywood star and became an American icon, especially after he had proclaimed to have licked "The Big C" (via removal of a lung in 1964), and a staunch lover of his country--the original "My country, right or wrong" spokesman, par excellence, a family values man, and a patriot, which was reflected probably the most in THE ALAMO, and THE GREEN BERETS (this last film where the sun sets in the East; isn't God clever? [LOL]). The problem with that, of course, is that much of that surface story, once you've read up on the man, is an illusion (IMHO).

while it is true, he did not serve in WWII (part of that was as much the fault of the studio's as his), I don't think you can discount his patriotism and love of country. He was on the wrong side of Viet Nam but in hindsight so was much of the country. As a strong anti-communist, he was a John Bircher for a time apparently, and also supported the work of HUAC.

obviously his Hollywood work during WWII, (as well as Korea and Viet Nam) was good for morale and he did tour military bases and visit with the troops.

He supported Nixon (but then so did I) and Reagan, but he also supported FDR and Truman and while he admits not voting for JFK he did however support him after he was elected.

[erik]

What was kind of amusing, given how much of a hardened "square" he was, was that he actually got along pretty well with both Kirk Douglas (whom he did three films with) and Paul Newman; and both of those guys were staunch liberals. He did, however, have a falling out with Henry Fonda over the HUAC issue; and, like a lot of others of his generation, villified Jane Fonda almost until his dying day.

He also (seemingly) owned a good portion of Durango, Mexico, given the fact that many of his latter-day Westerns were filmed down there. But because Durango is so high up in elevation, he often had to have an oxygen tank with him on the set whenever he was doing a film there.

[robertaxel]

I think a more nuanced view of John Wayne is possible given some years have passed.. He was definitely on the far right side of the political spectrum, although the tea partiers may differ... He did show some conciliatory views supporting Jimmy Carter on the Panama Canal issue. Given also the fact that he was fluent in Spanish and married three women of Hispanic descent, he likely would have been somewhat open on the immigration issue...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne#Personal_life

[erik]

Yes, he supported the Panama Canal Treaty; and ironically, when Reagan (then prepping for his run for the White House) attacked the treaty on very nebulous grounds, Wayne wrote a very heated letter telling Reagan to cease and desist.

Another bit of Duke trivia: he is the Roman centurion at the end of THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, saying "Truly this man was the son of God." The director George Stevens had asked Wayne to put a little more awe into that one line of his, and so the Duke did one take where he said the line, preceeded by "Awww..." It's a line that makes people chuckle to this day, but not nearly as much as his turn as Genghis Khan in THE CONQUEROR (LOL).

[Andrew]

I've never seen Wayne in a film. After seeing one of my all-time favorite actors, Jeff Bridges, in the Coen Bros. "True Grit," I don't want to see John Wayne's cover of it ;-)