Me too…and I never said John Wayne or his films were “utter crap” I just said I had no interest in them. Clint Eastwood will always be my hero.
I know. And having no interest is absolutely ok.
The utter crap part wasn’t written with anyone particular in mind.
I like both equally, Clint and the Duke.
Neither Clint Eastwood nor John Wayne would I consider My Heroes. LMAO
Both actors put in some great performances though.
John Wayne is the greatest if you love American westerns, I prefer spaghetti westerns of course but that doesn’t mean he isn’t great in his own right.
[quote=“Stalagmite, post:43, topic:1327”]John Wayne is the greatest if you love American westerns, I prefer spaghetti westerns of course but that doesn’t mean he isn’t great in his own right.[/quote]I think Clint is the greatest for U.S. westerns.
Well I’m more refering to the people who prefer American Westerns over Italian westerns. Such people are diminishing, yes, but yeah xD
But John Wayne is All American, but that isn’t a popular thing to be lately either, so yeah.
I’ve always prefered Clint, but in the last few years I’ve sort of broadened my horizons to some of Wayne’s work as well, to avoid complete favorism.
I do not understand why John Wayne is so popular?
Why do people find Clint Eastwood popular? Because of his screen presence: the same with the Duke. It’s just that you have to like or not mind that screen presence to enjoy their films.
[quote=“John Welles, post:47, topic:1327”]Why do people find Clint Eastwood popular? Because of his screen presence: the same with the Duke. It’s just that you have to like or not mind that screen presence to enjoy their films.[/quote]how true people say wayne always played John Wayne but you could say that about most actors i thought Humphrey Bogart nearly always played Humphrey Bogart. At his best ie “THE SHOOTIST, SANDS OF IWA JIMA,THE SEARCHERS, John Wayne was a better actor than Bogart who only gave two different performances " The Caine Mutiny” and “High Sierra” in my opinion. what do you say about that? it’s all a question of different opinions, thank goodness we are all different it’s not a crime.
For me, I find them much more likeable than talented. But they both often had some very high highs as far as acting goes. Bogey in films like Casablanca, In a Lonely Place, Caine Mutiny, and African Queen. Wayne to had high points with Red River, 3 Godfathers, and Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. But definitely not the greatest as far as actual talent goes.
Some performers are icons more than actors. The voice, the walk, the demeanor all attribute to this. The ‘I wouldn’t want to fuck with that guy in a bar’ mentality sometimes overshadows ones talents. I personally am not a fan of the Duke. I think his acting skills & the delivery of his lines very stiff & unbelievable. When he appears in The Longest Day for instance, I see John Wayne, not the Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort that he’s supposed to be playing.
I still wouldn’t want to fuck with him in a bar but also choose to enjoy many of his movies.
I have a big collection of John Wayne films that I’d like to sell. I’ll part with them cheaply if anybody is interested.
I like him in the movies b4 he started to grow old, means till cca 1960. Then it is just sad.
Opposite for me. I prefer the likes of Big Jake, which are the ones I’m keeping. I’m selling off his early films
Big Jake is the best of his late production. True Grit and the Shootist are of course special for specific reasons. Most other movies from that period are enjoyable, but most of them felt like B-movies with a better budget. I like for instance The Train Robbers, but you cannot call it a major achievement by any stretch of the imagination. He already started to make these type of minor movies in the early 1960s, but still made some much better movies in-between with directors like Howard Hawks and Hathaway (the underrated Sons of Katie Elder)
Better than True Grit and The Shootist?
For me Wayne made only good westerns in the 50s and the 60s up to True Grit. Only exception is the comedy McClintock, which is a ok to watch but overall too old fashioned and directed without any imagination.
The problem after True Grit is that Wayne worked too often with a lousy director like Andy McLaglen, and some of the other films are similarly worse (actually The Train Robbers is one of them, and Rooster Cogburn the other one). Even his last western (and film) with Hawks is a comparatively lesser film, but at least enjoyable enough to belong to his better outings in these year. The most interesting film between True Grit and the Shootist is The Cowboys, a western which is as much about Wayne as it is with him. Big Jake belongs in the Rio Lobo category.
- 1968: True Grit 9/10
- 1969: The Undefeated 4
- 1970: Chisum 2
- 1970: Rio Lobo 6
- 1971: Big Jake 6
- 1972: The Cowboys 7
- 1972: The Train Robbers 3
- 1973: Cahill, U.S. Marshal 3
- 1975: Rooster Cogburn 3
- 1976: The Shootist 8,5
I have not seen all Wayne’s westerns but 1948 Red River is a great movie. I’d say easily one of Wayne’s best. I bet there are some other gems in his 1940’s career.
Yes, he made some classics beginning with 1939’s Stagecoach, but also several not so famous westerns by rather unknown directors, before he then became a real big star in the late 40s with Fort Apache and Red River.
The best of these not so well known westerns in the 40s (between Stagecoach and Fort Apache) are Dark Command, The Spoilers and Tall in the Saddle. Each 6/10
With ‘his late production’ I meant the post-True Grit era.
The Undefeated(1969) **
Chisum (1970)**
Rio Lobo (1970)***
Big Jake (1971)***½
The Cowboys (1972)***
The Train Robbers (1973)***
Cahill, United States Marshal (1973)**
Rooster Cogburn(1975)**
The Shootist (1976)***½
To my mind this one is in a different league from the typical ‘Duke’ vehicle of the period. He’s not surrounded by all his lacky drinking buddies in the cast, and it’s a much stronger story than any of the post ‘True Grit’ stuff mentioned above.
I’d give it 4 out of 5, whilst ‘Big Jake’, ‘Train Robbers’ etc 2 out of 5 … ‘Rooster Cogburn’ 1 out of 5 … it’s an embarrassing mess, with little more production value or interest than an average TVM.
For me “The Horse Soldiers” (1959) is one of the standout movies. It is also quite underrated and rarely seen in any top list.