John Wayne's 10 Best Movies

Tools    





So many good movies, so little time.

  1. The Searchers
  2. Red River
  3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
  4. Stagecoach
  5. The Quiet Man
  6. The Shootist
  7. Fort Apache
  8. Rio Bravo
  9. Rio Grande
  10. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
__________________

"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx





Well, certainly not "best" in terms of quality, but the one that best sums up The Duck (I says) to me is Big Jim McLain (1952). The first film he produced under his own production company banner, it follows Wayne as the cocky, two-fisted, Commie-hatin' investigator for the Un-American Activities Committee that the dirty Jew doctor cabal fears and the ladies can't resist. Yes, that's right: at the height of the Red Scare John Wayne had the courage of his conservative convictions to make a pro-McCarthyism propaganda piece! Yee-Haw! You really have to see it to believe it. I despise Wayne's knee-jerk, scapegoating form of "patriotism".

Yup, this is the flick that defines Wayne the best to me.




If I had to pick a great one all around, I think his actual best is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962 - John Ford), followed by Red River (1948 - Howard Hawks). And as I think I've gone into on other older threads, I too have issues with The Searchers (though not really Wayne-related, per se).
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



So many good movies, so little time.
You know Holden, its easy to pick on John Wayne. He was in two of the most unpopular movies of all time, The Green Berets and Big Jim McLain. These movies supported two of the least popular episodes in American History (McCarthyism and the Vietnam War). However, to criticize him for these choices is really to criticize him in hindsight.
In 1952 and 1968 the causes he was exposing were patriotic. I have trouble criticizing him for being anti-Communist in 1952 and in 1968. In 1952 we were in the middle of the Cold War. I have written a web site on McCarthyism and the Movies(http://www.jacknilan.com/senatorjoe/index.html), so I am pretty aware of the damage Tail-Gunner Joe did to the country. However, I have trouble condemning the Duke for being in a being in a movie in 1952, which he thought was supporting his country,
The Green Berets was an awful movie, but again, John Wayne thought he was making a movie that was helping his country. In 1968 there were a lot of Americans who believed in the Domino theory. John Wayne made a movie that he thought would help his country (just like he did numerous time in WWII).
John Wayne chose to be in the most anti-racist movie of all time, The Searchers. I will always admire him for that.
I happen to be a liberal in terms of politics, but I admire Patriots, Conservative or Liberal. I admire John Wayne, not because his choices always turned out to be right, but because he made a decision on what he thought was right, and then chose to follow it.



I don't have a problem with being anti-Communist in and of itself, it's the feverishly pro-McCarthy that stinks to high heaven. And yes, I get that Wayne was making these propaganda pieces out of patriotism, and that plenty of other Americans felt the same way about McCarthy (and later Vietnam) as The Duck. Doesn't make it right, and certainly doesn't make it palatable.

If you want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say hindsight is 20/20 and all, that's fine. If these tracts make him an easy target, so be it, but that's the bullseye you put on yourself when you wear your politics on your sleeve like that. They do define John Wayne and, for lack of a better term John Wayneism, to me.



So many good movies, so little time.
I don't get "Doesn't make it right, and certainly doesn't make it palatable."

You have to say why he was so wrong in 1952 and in 1968 for John Wayne to support the things he believed in. He certainly wasn't a fortune teller. Why was he so wrong at that time. (obviously we know he was wrong from a later perspective).



I don't get "Doesn't make it right, and certainly doesn't make it palatable."

You have to say why he was so wrong in 1952 and in 1968 for John Wayne to support the things he believed in. He certainly wasn't a fortune teller. Why was he so wrong at that time. (obviously we know he was wrong from a later perspective).
Well, I guess it's kinda in the same way D.W. Griffith wasn't a fortune teller in predicting that the Ku Klux Klan might be seen in a less-than-favorable light down the line in a desegregated America, but, you know, yuck.

Yes, again, I grant you that Wayne thought he was doing right and that his cause was in the right. But again, that doesn't make it right or palatable. To me. Today. TO ME. Should Wayne have not swallowed the party lines in the '50s and '60s? That's asking a lot, I realize. But it's really only asking a lot because it's John frippin' Wayne, and he wasn't going to take a critical look at those issues in 1952 or 1972 or had he lived probably not in 2002, either. And what he thought about them in private, I could give a crap. It's that he happily and dutifully spewed out propaganda. What percentage of America or even what percentage of John Wayne's intellect knew it was propaganda vs. just thinkin' that was the way things are doesn't really interest me. I'm not belatedly prosecuting him for thought crimes, I'm judging him by the stands he took in the "art" he left behind as the evidence. And since he didn't apologize for or express any regret for either Big Jim McLain or The Green Berets before his death in 1979, I can assume that even after the evidence was in he still stood by his positions, and more importantly behind those horrible movies. And beside the distasteful McCarthyism and Vietnam indoctrination in those two flicks, the truth is they are also just plain bad movies: badly made and badly acted.


Is my thinking still somehow unclear?



The People's Republic of Clogher
Shouldn't this thread have been called 'Put Up Your Dukes'?

For as long as I can remember, one of my favourite films has been The Searchers but I've never been much of a Wayne fan per se.

For every Ethan Edwards there were a dozen Sean Thorntans, for every Liberty Valance there's that bloody 'Shirley THIS man was the SON of GAAD!' Centurian.

Still, as be-wigged corset-wearing icons go, he's right up there. Like Elton John...
__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan



Still, as be-wigged corset-wearing icons go, he's right up there. Like Elton John...
__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha



  1. The Searchers
  2. Red River
  3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
  4. Stagecoach
  5. The Quiet Man
  6. The Shootist
  7. Fort Apache
  8. Rio Bravo
  9. Rio Grande
  10. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
1. The Quite Man
2. The High and the Mighty (I'm surprised this isn't in your top 10! How far down would you rank it and why?)
3. Sands of Iwo Jima (Wayne deserved his Best Actor nomination for that role)
4. The Searchers
5. Liberty Valence
6. Hondo
7. Fort Apache
8. Rio Grande
9. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
10. The Angel and the Badman

I've got two special reasons for that last one, besides the fact that it's overall a good flick: 1. It teams Wayne with his friend Harry Carey. 2. Except for the open credits against film closeups of Wayne's hand firing a pistol, he never fires another shot in the the rest of the film--he makes a whole western without ever firing a shot! Otherwise, I would end my list with the film that made him a star, Stagecoach.

As our two different lists show, Wayne was at his best in good ensemble films when he had other good actors to play off of.



You know Holden, its easy to pick on John Wayne. He was in two of the most unpopular movies of all time, The Green Berets and Big Jim McLain. These movies supported two of the least popular episodes in American History (McCarthyism and the Vietnam War). However, to criticize him for these choices is really to criticize him in hindsight.
In 1952 and 1968 the causes he was exposing were patriotic. I have trouble criticizing him for being anti-Communist in 1952 and in 1968. In 1952 we were in the middle of the Cold War. I have written a web site on McCarthyism and the Movies(http://www.jacknilan.com/senatorjoe/index.html), so I am pretty aware of the damage Tail-Gunner Joe did to the country. However, I have trouble condemning the Duke for being in a being in a movie in 1952, which he thought was supporting his country,
The Green Berets was an awful movie, but again, John Wayne thought he was making a movie that was helping his country. In 1968 there were a lot of Americans who believed in the Domino theory. John Wayne made a movie that he thought would help his country (just like he did numerous time in WWII).
John Wayne chose to be in the most anti-racist movie of all time, The Searchers. I will always admire him for that.
I happen to be a liberal in terms of politics, but I admire Patriots, Conservative or Liberal. I admire John Wayne, not because his choices always turned out to be right, but because he made a decision on what he thought was right, and then chose to follow it.
The Searchers is "the most anti-racist movie of all time"? More than Pressure Point, To Kill a Mockingbird or even another Western from that era, The Unforgiven? I think we could list a lot of anit-racist films before we get to The Searchers, especially when people now like to brag about being "part Indian." Heard any "white" folks lately brag about being part black?

As for Wayne choosing to make films "to help his country" during World War II, most of the Hollywood traffic was going the other way, including James Stewart and Tyrone Power, both of whom paid to learn to fly before enlisting—Stewart in the Army, Power in the Marines; Douglas Fairbanks Jr., David Niven, John Agar, Glenn Ford, Jackie Coogan, Gary Merrill, Burgess Meredith, Mickey Rooney, Henry Fonda, Gene Autry, Ronald Reagan, Jeff Chandler, Don Adams was a Marine, Eddie Albert who was decorated for valor, Clark Gable who was older than Wayne, Glenn Miller who was older than Wayne, John Ford, who was older than Wayne and later ragged his ol’ buddy about sitting out the war. Even Sabu, the Elephant Boy became a US citizen and served as a B-17 belly-gunner. Although not yet in the movies, Rock Hudson was an airplane mecanic in the navy.

Wayne, however, applied for and received a draft deferment for being married with children. Hell, my old man qualified for the same deferment plus he was employed in an industry “critical to the war effort” (he drilled for oil in Texas); Yet he enlisted in the Air Corps in February 1942 and served until 1946. Meanwhile, Hollywood was making war movies because that’s what sold at the box office. Wayne advanced his career playing soldiers in those war movies while other better actors were overseas.

Wayne was a pretty good actor, but when he had a chance to really demonstrate his patriotism during World War II, he elected to stay home.



So many good movies, so little time.
The Searchers was pretty subtle as an antiracial tract and I think that is one reason it holds up so well. The movie was made in 1956, right in the middle of civil rights struggle in America. Instead of addressing the American issue directly, John Ford used a Western to comment on the current situation. It was a very daring movie to make. Having a hero who was a genocidal racist and shoots people in the back was different role for John Wayne and a different kind of movie for John Ford. At the end of the movie, Martin, the "half-breed" and Debbie, the "leavin's of Comanche bucks", are allowed to enter the homestead with the Jorgensen family. Ethan, the racist, is not allowed to enter.

While the ending is far from a typical Hollywood ending it in also not without hope. Ethan was saved by his memory of Martha which allowed him to spare Debbie and return her home. At the end of the movie he was on the road to redemption. And John Ford bravely showed Americans that there no room in our households for the racist and segregationists. He said it with subtlety and he said it mostly with pictures, but he said it in 1956.



especially when people now like to brag about being "part Indian."
I'm a bit confused by this... I've always pretty much been upfront with people about being part Tsalagi… but have never considered it bragging and really didn't realize anyone else might take it that way…

Heard any "white" folks lately brag about being part black?
As long as the one drop rule applies in the United States, we won't hear any white folks bragging about being part black because there aren't any.... they are considered black... period.

Anyway, I've never made it a secret that I am not a John Wayne fan... and there are numerous reasons behind this… but I watched most of his movies during my angry teen years so when I stopped by the movie store this morning, I decided to pick up The Searchers and re-watch it for the first time in years… and will try to keep an open mind when I do....
__________________
You never know what is enough, until you know what is more than enough.
~William Blake ~

AiSv Nv wa do hi ya do...
(Walk in Peace)




I'm a bit confused by this... I've always pretty much been upfront with people about being part Tsalagi… but have never considered it bragging and really didn't realize anyone else might take it that way…
I don't consider "bragging" to be a negative as you apparently take it. Seems to me that most people who are part Indian seem to work it into a conversation with strangers at the earliest opportunity. Always figured they were proud of the fact.

As long as the one drop rule applies in the United States, we won't hear any white folks bragging about being part black because they're aren't any.... they are considered black... period.
Jeeze, I haven't heard that ol' "one drop rule" chestnut in dogs' years! Thought only Kluxers still subscribed to that. What brought all this comparision of part-Indian to part-black to mind was an ol' buddy of mine in the army--black kid from California--said once that he figured someday that people would be bragging about being part-black like they now brag about being part-Indian. Believe me, being native American Indian hasn't always been as popular as it is now, expecially here in Texas.



The Searchers was pretty subtle as an antiracial tract and I think that is one reason it holds up so well. The movie was made in 1956, right in the middle of civil rights struggle in America. Instead of addressing the American issue directly, John Ford used a Western to comment on the current situation. It was a very daring movie to make. Having a hero who was a genocidal racist and shoots people in the back was different role for John Wayne and a different kind of movie for John Ford. At the end of the movie, Martin, the "half-breed" and Debbie, the "leavin's of Comanche bucks", are allowed to enter the homestead with the Jorgensen family. Ethan, the racist, is not allowed to enter.

While the ending is far from a typical Hollywood ending it in also not without hope. Ethan was saved by his memory of Martha which allowed him to spare Debbie and return her home. At the end of the movie he was on the road to redemption. And John Ford bravely showed Americans that there no room in our households for the racist and segregationists. He said it with subtlety and he said it mostly with pictures, but he said it in 1956.
Musta been damn subtle, because I've never before heard the interpretation that you give to the ending of that movie. It's certainly an interesting point of view. However, having lived through those years, I don't buy that 1956 was "right in the middle of civil rights struggle." Maybe more like how Churchill described the Battle of the Britain--not the begining of the end but perhaps the end of the begining.

The fact that it's the "racist" who ultimately saves Debbie and brings her home seems to me to sort of mess up all the symbolism of who's admitted to the house and for whom there is "no room"--especially since the last shot of Wayne in the doorway is of him duplicating the usual stance of his hero and mentor, Harry Carey, in a salute to his late friend. (That's even stronger symbolism, I think, since both Carey's wife and son have parts in the movie.)

But if you're looking for a put-down on racism, I think the book's original ending would be more appropriate. In a raid on an Indian village, an Indian woman who Nathan is chasing turns and shoots him dead. Martin later reports, "I'll never know if he was trying to save her or to kill her."

Sorry, it's hard to take any of Wayne's movies as a statement against racism when you hardly ever see any blacks in them. The Searchers supposedly is set in West Texas after the Civil War; during that period, the US Army garrisions at Fort Stockton (my hometown) and nearby Fort Davis were blacks with white officers. A black unit out of Fort Davis jumped Mangus Colorado's band as they were crossing over from Mexico and turned them back, although the unit's white commander was wounded. A few weeks later, the Mexican army killed Colorado. Not only were black soldiers all over the West after the Civil War, but a large portion of the cowboys also were black. Yet I can recall blacks in just three Wayne Westerns--one each in The Alamo, The Cowboys, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
One million is 1,000,000. That's 1000 1000s. Wayne made 170 movies, and that includes a crapload of Three Mesquiteers movies. Millions of years old is a major exaggeration, but maybe you're a poet.
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page