John Wayne In Romantic Comedy Movie Roles

Hatari poster with John Wayne

I’ve never been that keen on John Wayne doing ‘funny’. To me, he’s just not cut out to be either a clown or the butt of someone else’s joke but Duke obviously didn’t mind, seeing as he appeared in a … Read more

Western Movie Villains – The 10 Baddest Bad Guys

Richard Boone in Big Jake

Psycho Cowboys Part I We’re all familiar with the usual suspects when it comes to back-shooting murderin’ dry-gulch killers such as Lee Marvin and Bruce Dern as featured in the Westerns of John Wayne. I thought maybe we’d wander off … Read more

The Many Western Movies of John Sturges

Director John Sturges began his career in 1946, helming a number of popular film noirs in the early years with titles such as “Shadowed” and “The Sign of the Ram”. Despite his eventual recognition as a director of Westerns, he … Read more

Randolph Scott & The 7 “Ranown Cycle” Movies

Having spent numerous hours watching all of the films featured in this three-part article on a series of seven movies known as the ‘Ranown’ cycle, I’ve decided to reference a well-informed essay by film critic Richard T. Jameson in the … Read more

Sergio Leone & His Western Movies

Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates

Sergio Leone only directed eight films in his short but impressive career. His first two movies were examples of the popular sword and sandal Italian movies of the late 1950s / early 1960s, Leone credited as an assistant director on … Read more

Movie Review of Adventure’s End

a lobby card showing John Wayne in Adventures End

Despite a claim by at least one reviewer that they actually watched the film back in 2004, it would appear that “Adventure’s End” is now considered to be missing in action, along with “The Oregon Trail”, which was released a … Read more

John Wayne Movie Review – Idol of the Crowds 1936

Lobby card of Idol of the Crowds with John Wayne

Idol of the Crowds (1936) Universal Dir: Arthur Lubin, b/w, 60mCast: John Wayne, Sheila Bromley, Billy Burrud, Russell Hopton, Huntley Gordon, Charles Brokaw In a world where characters with names such as Swifty, Hank and Spike shout insults at each … Read more

John Wayne Movie Review – I Cover The War!

Lobby card of "I Cover The War! with John Wayne

I Cover the War! (1936) Universal, Dir: Arthur Lubin b/w, 65m Cast: John Wayne, Gwen Gaze, Don Barclay, Charles Brokaw, James Bush, Pat Somerset “I Cover the War!” is a contemporary comedy stroke melodrama featuring John Wayne and Don Barclay … Read more

California Straight Ahead 1937 Movie Review

california straight ahead poster

In this, the third of the six films John Wayne starred in for Universal in the mid-1930s, he plays school bus driver Biff Smith who sings “Merrily we roll along” with the youngsters, the cynic in me anticipating that something … Read more