John Wayne's 100th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne
I was too young to appreciate John Wayne when he was alive. He was one of those guys that had been around forever and I just figured he always would be.
There weren't many like him and the further we move into the 21st century I certainly don't see anyone filling his shoes.
I was too young to appreciate John Wayne when he was alive. He was one of those guys that had been around forever and I just figured he always would be.
There weren't many like him and the further we move into the 21st century I certainly don't see anyone filling his shoes.
posted by Bill Rowland @ October 05, 2007
33 Comments
33 Comments:
I can't resist being the first to comment on your blog, a rare privilege. What I admire about the older generation of actors is that they don't look as if they've just been through puberty. Men looked manly and women looked like ladies instead of little girls.
Word!, to what lexcen said. John Wayne was a Man's Man. I never see guys like that in movies today, which, I think, is part of why I've become so thoroughly disinterested in going to the movies.
Us ladies, we need a big, strong guy like the Duke, or George C. Scott. I liked Spencer Tracy, personally...but John Wayne...the way he would grab a woman, doing something real, like cleaning dishes in a metal wash basin, and not being some corporate tightassed doodoohead who shits heavenly nougat, and kiss her...damn!
Besides, everyone in Hollywood today...they're moonbats. Hollywood and those stoopid causes they support could kiss my Big Fat White Jooish Ass.
I've always liked John Wayne, he is unique and there will never be another one like him. He could be a cowboy or a WWII captain and still be believable, which is something you can't say for 99% of actors today.
We're huge John Wayne fans in this house...his movies are so great because there has never been anyone like him. And, no matter what character he played, he made them believable. The best is that on a rainy Saturday afternoon, if a John Wayne movie is on, you know you can watch it with your children in the room without any worry as to what they might see or hear. Just don't make movies like that anymore - or American heroes like him...
Here's a question though. What college/university was it that invited him and then set out to make fun of him? I'm pretty sure it was in the 70s. I remember seeing a clip about it a few years ago and just boiling in anger. Of course, he handled himself with such grace, and the idiots looked just like what they were - spoiled pompous assholes. If you have the time Hammer, maybe you can find the clip...I just mainly remember being so disgusted by it. I'll do a search here in a bit and see if I can find it...
I love old John Wayne movies.
At least we still have Bruce Willis.
Ok, I looked up John Wayne on Wikipedia and I'm stumped....
...I know I will get my ass chewed out for this (if Law Dog reads this, I will get insulted in a very eloquent way), but I have to ask:
WHAT THE HELL IS THE FASCINATION WITH JOHN WAYNE!!??
The man didn't directly avoid getting drafted but certainly could have made an effort to volunteer to fight during WWII, as many other stars did. Instead, he chose to PLAY a hero on film....
That's right people, he was AN ACTOR!!!! He was not the person he played!!!
WTF, over???
Why does everyone envision him as some kind of hero-rolemodel???
The man never served in the military, he was NOT ACCEPTED to the Naval Academy, he was divorced twice, had numerous affairs....
JUST WHAT THE HELL MAKES HIM A HERO??????
Somone please explain it to me....
.... I am now bending over, with vaseline liberally applied, waiting for the reeming that will inevitably follow, since I dared to step on the icon....
....just please remember, I said nothing about Elvis.... (I'll wait a few months before I step on that one....)
Well Cris, I reckon everyone fought World War Two in some way or another. The Duke's films during the era were patriotic type..the kind that the left wing so despises now..and those films helped keep the American public's support of the war effort.
Was Wayne a hero? No. But he did play one in his films and was at times a most convincing actor.
In all of the Duke's films there was no doubt about who was the bad guy and who was the good guy. There was no attempt to include the left wing social message that patriotism
is bad and tearing down the country that gives on the freedom of speech to do so is good.
Wayne seems to have represented all that was good about the USA. Individualism, acceptance of responsibility, hard work, and the cowboy way. Yeah, Wayne was one of my heroes..and still is.
Och you wee bairn you! You don't have to be AMerican to appreciate John Wayne, you just need American movies on a Saturday morning on a rainy day, probably all over the world.
Cheers
We need the Duke, he'd whip Osama!
I was lucky enough to have John Waynes half brother visit me for a good year or more, every week down at the horse corrals. He would tell us all sorts of stories about John. He actually was a double for him in alot of movies, and you could see it. Their build was exactly alike. And the walk. hehehehehe
My mum was in love with him, not me.
Thanks for sharing the video...I have never been a John Wayne fan but I think it is more that I was too young to appreciate him while he was alive.
Well, since as far as I can tell, I'm the only one who referred to The Duke as hero, I'll take it part of your comment, Chris, was directed at me :).
You are right about who he was as a person...maybe not the greatest husband, he didn't volunteer for WWII (which I don't hold against him) - and I'm not sure what kind of father he was. Probably of the same caliber most fathers were of his generation - a bread winner and not changing diapers or getting up in the middle of the night with a colicky baby lol. I can't hold that against him either - most fathers of that generation didn't either.
When I said, "Just don't make movies like that anymore - or American heroes like him..." I worded the sentence poorly, I readily admit. I meant (which is not clear and I apologize) is that not only do they not make movies like that anymore, they also don't allow characters like he played IN the movies anymore.
Hollywood seems to do everything in their power to make sure NOTHING positive about America, American people or our military ever gets near the big screen - especially anything resembling an American Hero.
Last year, it was taking away Superman's catch-phrase, "Truth, Justice and the American Way." The writers decided to can it in their Superman movie as "the American Way" means something different to people in other countries, and Superman is an alien - not an American.
Whatever.
Just look at our war movies today. During WWII, movies encouraged Americans...they portrayed our military heroes as heroes. Now, the few movies that have been made about the middle east, the soldiers are criminals. I never saw the movie, but there was the one (I think with Clooney maybe) about the soldiers stealing gold from Kuwait or something...
Instead of doing a movie about a soldier hero like we did with Audie Murphy, SFC Paul Ray Smith's story who was awarded The Medal of Honor for his heroism in Iraq will never be seen - much less a movie even made. Instead, we get In the Valley of Ellah with Sarandon of all people playing a role in it. No heroes in this movie according to this review: "Writer/director Paul Haggis, whose "Crash" was gallingly didactic, generally operates in a more sophisticated mode here. There is a political thread to the story, concerning a bureaucratic reluctance to expose misdeeds and the damage done when military training turns killing onto an ordinary act.
[....]
There's much to admire here: a continually surprising storyline, an aversion to cliché, a gallery of characters who are neither stock heroes nor cardboard villains..."
Of course, it's no surprise to me. Like I said in my first comment, "Just don't make movies like that anymore - or American heroes like him..."
The thing about John Wayne was that he was a blue collar actor. He went to work, got the job done, and went home. He knew what his strength was, and went with it, and didn't follow the Peter Principle, like a lot of stars do.
Maybe he was a dud at politics, and had the good sense not to embarrass himself by doing something he'd publicly flop at. Who knows why he stayed away from politics.
Sam Elliott is the only guy I can see pulling off Westerns today. Everyone else is a smooth faced man-child, making the tabloids with some addiction or other issue to see Oprah to confess.
But at least you wouldn't ever see The Duke pulling a Sean Penn somewhere with some harebrained cause. And he sure as hell wouldn't have made a Brokeback Mountain!
Thanks for the video!
man. how'd the OJ Simpson snippet sneak in there right at the end?
my favorite Duke line:
"I'm not gonna hit ya.
I'm not gonna hit ya.
Like hell I'm not... !"
yup.
B-)
------
John Wayne was the best. I loved his movies with Katherine O'Hara. Strong, silent. There's nobody like him.
I'm old enough to fully appreciate John Wayne! Wanna borrow some of my movies? ;)
He's one of my childhood heroes, Shoot most boys learned a lot of character from him. I personally liked him for his charisma and the courage he portrayed on camera. He played leading roles with Katharine Hepburn which is another of my old favorites.
So what if he's been divorced twice and had numerous affairs, Yes, it's morally wrong, but, who are we to judge him without walking a mile in is shoes first. Personally we as the public, never really knew him other than an actor with skill and talent so that's where the hero comes in.
How true that is. John Wayne was one in a million and nobody will ever come close to him
He's one of my all time heros
Nope, no none that I know of can fill those boots my friend.
We need to guard against that "I figured he/she always would be" feelings. I'm seeing a lot of folks moving on these days that I thought the same thing about...and while spending time with my son this weekend, I wondered it he had that feeling about me. I suppose he does, but at least I'm trying to make good memories for him to hold on to. Maybe he'll do the same with his own.
Hammer,
I really gotta start wearing my glasses. I thought the title of this post was John Wayne's tooth.
I used to love watching his movies dubbed into German - if you ever need a laugh!! man oh man!!
Do you think that in today's culture that an actor like John Wayne would become as iconic as the original John Wayne?
I was at a summer workshop in 1979 for student council of the high school I attended when John Wayne died.
The whole thing was team building stuff for us and each group had to put on a small skit for the whole crowd. We changed ours at the last minute and did a salute to the life of John Wayne. The whole skit was pro-American, this was still in the depths of the Cold War, and everyone loved it.
I can't see that happening with today's high schoolers, but I hope I'm wrong about that.
He had a line in one of his movies where he was talking to his girl and he told her, "You know? You'd be lovely if you had brown hair." and she replies innocently, "But I have brown hair." and he smiles a sly smile and says, "I know."
I used to tell Lovely Wife when we were dating, "You know? You'd be lovely if you had auburn hair..."
That and "War is hell!" are my two favorite John Wayne quotes. The actor was an unapologetic American. I still love that about him.
Other than him in "The Quiet Man", I wasnt a big fan. Cheers!!
I have to admit my mom has plenty of them but I am not old enough to really appreciate him like Tshsmom and my parents. LOL....
I felt I missed something with John Wayne. I see the movies today when they come on Turner Classics but just can't appreciate them...I feel like I missed a golden age of film or something.
Flyinfox_SATX
lexcen: I agree. Those boy models trying to appear rugged with a 5 O'clock shadow and a smoke just isn't believeable.
Erica: That's what makes Wayne so different. He was always an unapologetic anti-moonbat even though hollywood was going commie as far back as the 30's
Shannon: I had heard the story too but couldn't find a reference anywhere.
Beast: I'm thinking Bruce willis is as close as they come.
Chris: looks like you started the floodgates ;) I remember reading that Wayne tried to join in 44 but was rejected because of an old knee injury.
Guy: Well said. You covered it.
Maddy: Yep rainy saturday afternoons were prefect for those old westerns.
Phosgene: I bet he would :)
Burfica: I bet that was a cool experience. I know an old cowboy that used to work on movie sets who got to meet some of the old stars. He's got some interesting stories.
Kitem: My dad got upset when as a child I asked him what was so great about John Wayne.
Canadian: I agree. The more I watch as an adult the more I appreciate his style.
shannon: I agree completely. A lot of the actors that joined up just made movies for the military. Wayne was able to accomplish the same if not more for American morale.
mts: Sam elliot, there is another fine western actor. I don't see a lot of tabloid moonbat garbage about him either.
yoga gal: No prob :)
Dr Chip: I hear he punched out Director John huston for being an ashole on the set.
kat: Kathrine Ohara, yum!
tshsmom: hehe I've got a stack from amazon ready to watch :)
sweeti: he is from a different time all together. It's difficult to apply todays standards. His screen work is his most improtant legacy.
alekx: I hear ya, He's one of a kind.
Mushy: that's all we can do is leave good memories.
jerry: hehe I had to go back and squint to make it look like that.
Mutley: I bet that is a hoot.
sornie: damn near impossible I'm afraid. clint eastwood might be a possible exception.
Jam: I wish I had that line back wehn I needed it!
mat-man: that was a good one.
tweety: Other than his last movie He was gone 10 years before I could sit down and learn to appreciate his films.
Flyinfox: Back in the day movies were it for entertainment. Pretty much any schlock they put on the screen was an excuse to go to the theatre. Now with all the special effects and CGI we see movies in a whole new perspective.
I loved him to death. Cried my eyes out when he died. Never forget it. No one can ever replace him.
I'd like to see John Wayne take on George Clooney and kick his ass.
John Wayne was incredible.
I am so proud my Name is John Wayne. It really is. John after Dad's dad and Wayne after my Mothers dad. But hey- It's John Wayne no matter how you slice it. Now if I can just get rid of that damn last name LOL.
JOhn
John Wayne was so patriotic, he obtained deferments to avoid fighting in the war.
I think as an actor, he was okay, but he pretty much played the same character in all his movies...no real depth.
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