John Wayne.

Just found this in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, by David Thomson:

But that begins to take us into his strange career as boaster, bully, boozer, and member of the unwholesome John Ford gang. As such, there are many stories about Bond’s stupidity, his uncouthness, and his being the butt of jokes—and sadly these are more entertaining than many of the films he made. Which is not to say that Bond was a hopeless case:

he made Wayne look like a mild Red-basher

I've given The Searchers about six chances; still think it's as overlit, broadly written and acted, and pokily directed as I did twenty years ago. I've given up because Ford and Duke made at least four better cowboy films less revered.

That has more or less been my experience as well

Speaking of Ward Bond, do yourselves a favor and don't do a deep dive looking into Walter Brennan. Hoo-boy, what an asshole...

with or without teeth?

Both!

5th-best Ford-Wayne western is still pretty good

I liked The Searchers the one and only time I saw it years ago. The only thing that threw me was the goofy mid-film fight scene (Jonathan Lethem's amazing essay on the film had already defended/contextualized the racial stuff for me). But yeah, of the Ford/Wayne collabs I've seen, Fort Apache is at least as good and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence is definitely superior.

Has anyone seen either of the films Wayne made as a (co-)director? Are they as embarrassing as rumoured?

Has anyone seen either of the films Wayne made as a (co-)director? Are they as embarrassing as rumoured?

The Green Berets is. The Alamo is only embarrassing as an Oscar contender, which is what Wayne campaigned for it to be.

I like The Searchers the way I like Blood Meridian. It’s depressing & violent & I wouldn’t ever casually recommend it but there’s something sort of mythological/biblical about it that I really like & that keeps me watching it every now and then. goth-western? idk.

the searchers is not a perfect film, but i think wayne's performance in it is just as good as everyone says. the character as written is meant to be fairly mysterious and contradictory, and he conveys that really well. ward bond is pretty good in it too. definitely some fairly weak attempts at comic relief in there, but mostly what i remember is the incredible bleakness of so much of it, especially toward the beginning. wayne's quiet reaction to realizing that his brother's family has been brutally killed is probably his most moving on-screen moment.

Did anyone (else) read the Scott Eyman boo?

I mean the lionization of The Searchers is largely in part due to its messiness. Ford certainly made more airtight Westerns, but this is the one that broke things apart. Occupies a space similar to Vertigo in my eyes. Not one that succeeds as much in the ways the more straight genre films did, but ultimately the most interesting.

xp I read the Scott Eyman bio. Thought it was good, it revealed sides to the man I wasn't aware of. I read it back-to-back with the Bob Hope bio by Richard Zoglin, so that was an interesting comparison.

man, I love Hope (thru the mid '50s) but his life sounded fairly dull (aside from the infidelities), so I didn't read that.

I learned a great term from that Eyman bio, dog heavy, meaning the under assistant West Coast Promotion Man to the main heavy, who comes out and kicks the dog.

What’d you think of the Hope bio?

xp Yes that struck me as a conspicuous difference between him and Wayne. Duke had actual hobbies and interests and you could imagine that sharing a drink with him would be enjoyable. Hope had an incredible work ethic (especially when younger) but beyond that there's a blankness. One image that sticks is the fact that his house was strewn with all his honorary awards and photos of him with US presidents. That's what he cared about. I don't think he even drank (father was a bad alcoholic).

xp!
I was sort of intrigued by that one but yeah figured he was kind of cold fish in person, same reason I steered clear of Carson bio.

can’t wait to watch John Wayne and ray milland battle a giant octopus in hd pic.twitter.com/eM5jCXCjmy

— Peter Labuza (@labuzamovies) August 7, 2019

that makeup is touching

Wait Steve Martin and Lionel Barrymore are in that too?

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/usc-john-wayne-exhibit-removal-protests-1027317/

Joseph McBride, author of SEARCHING FOR JOHN FORD, posted this on Facebook:

"USC's 'School of Cinematic Arts' dishonors itself and its name by taking down its exhibit about the school's greatest filmmaking alumnus. Wayne doesn't need their tribute. They fail to separate the actor from the flawed man who played so many indelible roles onscreen. Who among us is without character flaws? Let him or her cast the first stone. I interviewed Navajos in Monument Valley about the 1971 Playboy interview two years later, and they said they were disappointed because they always got along well with Wayne and thought he was their friend. All but one of those I spoke with then were more disappointed and philosophical about him than angry, although one young Navajo who had just returned from Vietnam and was wearing his Army flak jacket told me if Wayne ever returned to Monument Valley to make a film, 'He'd better watch out, because I'll be sitting up there in those rocks with my M-1 rifle and I'll pick him off.' I thought what a story that would be: 'INDIAN KILLS JOHN WAYNE.' Until Wayne died I had to wrestle with what I do would do if I heard he was going back there and whether I would warn him or let history happen. But I can appreciate the films of my favorite actor while still deploring and regretting his political stands. I just watched him again tonight in one of John Ford's masterpieces, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE. And the other night I saw Wayne in Ford's FORT APACHE, in which he plays the Army officer who is friendly with the Apaches and honors Cochise, while trying to make peace with him and his people. I wonder if anyone at USC has bothered to watch that great film."

No

Sign of the times ∞ + 1: TCM has cancelled the John Wayne Summer Under the Stars day scheduled for 8/22. They will instead show a Natalie Wood program.

Big leggy.

Very consistent, while TCM keeps programming films featuring actual Klansmen.

lol, Charles Coburn films tonight! look him up

Wait until they find out about Stumpy

not seeing any news about TCM cancellation

but i trust j.lu has her sources

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/weekly.html?tz=PST&sdate=2020-08-22

TCM.com hasn't said anything, but the message board regulars noticed.

Moreover, The Searchers is in the prime 8pm slot.

Watching Rio Bravo again (fourth time?), I'm struck by John Wayne's beautiful serenity. He's always observing the other characters, as an actor and as Chance. He's relaxed but wary. His best performance.

yes! a very thoughtful performance in a fairly rambunctious movie

I got into a dispute with a friend in the neighborhood yesterday when he told me that he never watches “those kind of Westerns,” because John Wayne was “a cartoon” and “not cool like Clint.”

I finally remembered that he had actually gone to film school but seemed to be one of those Film Bros we have talked about.

But not after I had already started to go full-on Ethan Edwards on him, saying “Maybe not according to what you believe, but according to what that Comanche believes!”

I misquoted it slightly. Time for another rewatch soon I guess.