One Hundred, Pilgrim
Your humble scribe is particularly reflective today. It's an auspicious day, but not because it's Mother's Day in Poland, or National Sorry Day in Australia, or the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Augustine of Canterbury.
One hundred years ago today - in a small white house in Winterset, Iowa - Clyde and Mary Morrison gave birth to a boy they curiously named Marion. Those faithful readers who know their movie trivia will know that that boy grew up to be John "The Duke" Wayne.
All week, movie channels have been holding John Wayne retrospectives. And there are lots of movies to choose from; according to IMDB, the Duke holds the singular distinction of playing leading parts in more movies than any other actor: 142, to be exact. Not all live up to the iconic standards associated with John Wayne. One probably couldn't be criticized for missing Wayne's turn as Singin' Sandy Saunders (yes, a singing cowboy) in 1933's Riders of Destiny and even Duke connoisseurs sometimes scratch their heads at his decision to play Genghis Khan in 1956's The Conqueror.
But as a public service, the Nine Inch Column is prepared to suggest five (count them - five) John Wayne films worth seeing:
1. The Quiet Man (1952) Lest you think I've included this only because Wayne plays Sean Thornton, an Irish-born American ex-boxer returned to his homeland, note that I didn't include 1966's El Dorado in which he plays Cole Thornton. The first thing to know about The Quiet Man is not to panic: the Duke does not try to fake an Irish brogue. Practically a postcard from Ireland from director John Ford, the sprawling traveling fistfight between Duke and Victor McLaglen is the highlight of the film. Also look for a fiery Maureen O'Hara, a leprechaun-esque Barry Fitzgerald, and Ward Bond as the bombastic parish priest.
2. The Searchers (1956) Also directed by John Ford, the protagonist of this film, Ethan Edwards, was reportedly Wayne's personal favourite (he named a son Ethan). Darkly driven in a multi-year search for his niece who has been abducted by Comanches, Ethan's ultimate vengeance is tempered by Jeffrey Hunter (the original Captain of the Enterprise). Many subsequent filmmakers (George Lucas, David Lean, Sergio Leone) have taken inspiration from or paid homage to this classic which the U.S. Library of Congress has called "culturally significant."
3. The Cowboys (1972) When the men of his town all disappear in a gold rush, Duke hires on a team of schoolboys to drive his herd of cattle across 400 miles of open wilderness. Wayne is the gruff father-figure the youngsters (including Revenge of the Nerds' Robert Carradine and L.A. Law's and General Hospital's A Martinez) come to grudgingly love and respect. Roscoe Lee Browne is superlative as loquacious trail-cook Jebediah Nightlinger, and Bruce Dern as the bad guy commits the ultimate Hollywood sin.
4. Wake Of The Red Witch (1948) John Wayne is a cad of a South Seas ship's captain who double-crosses his employer for a cargo of gold: hardly the rugged beacon of American values you'd usually expect the Duke to represent, but that's what makes the movie so intriguing. Well, that and the performances by Luther Adler and Henry Daniell as sangfroid men of power. Of particular note to B-movie fans, supposedly the giant octopus Wayne fights was stolen and reused in Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s Bride of the Monster.
5. The Shootist (1976) John Wayne's last movie might as well be his epitaph, and an elegy to the Western itself. Set in 1903, at the close of the Wild West era, Duke is J.B. Books, an old gunfighter whose way of life is an anachronism in the modern world of horseless carriages, telephones and electric lights. A visit to the town doctor (Jimmy Stewart) reveals he has cancer and only a short time to live. He uses that time to befriend a widow (Lauren Bacall) and to teach her son (Ron Howard) some of the important things about manhood before he stages his own exit facing down three rival gunmen. Of course, Wayne himself was dead of cancer within three years of this film's release, so it will always retain a certain poignancy.
One hundred years ago today - in a small white house in Winterset, Iowa - Clyde and Mary Morrison gave birth to a boy they curiously named Marion. Those faithful readers who know their movie trivia will know that that boy grew up to be John "The Duke" Wayne.
All week, movie channels have been holding John Wayne retrospectives. And there are lots of movies to choose from; according to IMDB, the Duke holds the singular distinction of playing leading parts in more movies than any other actor: 142, to be exact. Not all live up to the iconic standards associated with John Wayne. One probably couldn't be criticized for missing Wayne's turn as Singin' Sandy Saunders (yes, a singing cowboy) in 1933's Riders of Destiny and even Duke connoisseurs sometimes scratch their heads at his decision to play Genghis Khan in 1956's The Conqueror.
But as a public service, the Nine Inch Column is prepared to suggest five (count them - five) John Wayne films worth seeing:
1. The Quiet Man (1952) Lest you think I've included this only because Wayne plays Sean Thornton, an Irish-born American ex-boxer returned to his homeland, note that I didn't include 1966's El Dorado in which he plays Cole Thornton. The first thing to know about The Quiet Man is not to panic: the Duke does not try to fake an Irish brogue. Practically a postcard from Ireland from director John Ford, the sprawling traveling fistfight between Duke and Victor McLaglen is the highlight of the film. Also look for a fiery Maureen O'Hara, a leprechaun-esque Barry Fitzgerald, and Ward Bond as the bombastic parish priest.
2. The Searchers (1956) Also directed by John Ford, the protagonist of this film, Ethan Edwards, was reportedly Wayne's personal favourite (he named a son Ethan). Darkly driven in a multi-year search for his niece who has been abducted by Comanches, Ethan's ultimate vengeance is tempered by Jeffrey Hunter (the original Captain of the Enterprise). Many subsequent filmmakers (George Lucas, David Lean, Sergio Leone) have taken inspiration from or paid homage to this classic which the U.S. Library of Congress has called "culturally significant."
3. The Cowboys (1972) When the men of his town all disappear in a gold rush, Duke hires on a team of schoolboys to drive his herd of cattle across 400 miles of open wilderness. Wayne is the gruff father-figure the youngsters (including Revenge of the Nerds' Robert Carradine and L.A. Law's and General Hospital's A Martinez) come to grudgingly love and respect. Roscoe Lee Browne is superlative as loquacious trail-cook Jebediah Nightlinger, and Bruce Dern as the bad guy commits the ultimate Hollywood sin.
4. Wake Of The Red Witch (1948) John Wayne is a cad of a South Seas ship's captain who double-crosses his employer for a cargo of gold: hardly the rugged beacon of American values you'd usually expect the Duke to represent, but that's what makes the movie so intriguing. Well, that and the performances by Luther Adler and Henry Daniell as sangfroid men of power. Of particular note to B-movie fans, supposedly the giant octopus Wayne fights was stolen and reused in Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s Bride of the Monster.
5. The Shootist (1976) John Wayne's last movie might as well be his epitaph, and an elegy to the Western itself. Set in 1903, at the close of the Wild West era, Duke is J.B. Books, an old gunfighter whose way of life is an anachronism in the modern world of horseless carriages, telephones and electric lights. A visit to the town doctor (Jimmy Stewart) reveals he has cancer and only a short time to live. He uses that time to befriend a widow (Lauren Bacall) and to teach her son (Ron Howard) some of the important things about manhood before he stages his own exit facing down three rival gunmen. Of course, Wayne himself was dead of cancer within three years of this film's release, so it will always retain a certain poignancy.
There you go, faithful readers. Get thee to a video store.
In the meantime, here at the Nine Inch Column, we tip our Stetsons to you, Duke. Happy Birthday.
posted by Benjamin Thornton at 8:41 a.m.
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