Whilst writing numerous articles and posts for Mostly Westerns over the years I would occasionally come across little snippets of information from various sources relating to some of the roles John Wayne played in his films. On closer examination there appear to be quite a few movies in which Duke’s character has some basis in … Read more
John Wayne plays a bit of a scallywag in this one, but despite this, he still manages to get the girl. Hell Town (aka Born to the West) (1937) Republic, Dir: Charles Barton, b/w, 55m Cast: John Wayne, Marsha Hunt, John Mack Brown, John Patterson, Monty Blue, Lucien Littlefield The opening of the film features … Read more
What’s your favourite 10 John Wayne Movies? Not just westerns or war movies but your best Duke films ever. It all started with my 10 Best John Wayne Westerns From My Childhood now a distant memory. I’ve now reviewed over 100 John Wayne movies for this site and I thought I would have a go … Read more
Just like the previous film John Wayne starred in for Republic, “The Lonely Trail”, this one also takes its cue from the history of the Old West, in this case, the demise of the Pony Express, which ceased running in 1861. Winds of the Wasteland (1936) Republic, Dir: Mack V. Wright, b/w, 55m Cast: John … Read more
Welcome to the second part of our article on the films John Wayne starred in for celebrated director John Ford. You can catch up with Part I of John Wayne & John Ford movies. They Were Expendable (1946) Despite John Wayne being cast second in the bill to Robert Montgomery, this is the first real … Read more
John Wayne and director John Ford forged a screen partnership that produced a body of work almost unparalleled in Hollywood history. If either of them had never made any other films they would both still be lauded for having produced some of the most famous and popular movies ever made, the majority of them firmly … Read more
Seeing as how the articles on John Wayne’s leading ladies made such an impression with all you John Wayne fans out there, I thought it might be worth looking at some of Duke’s leading male co-stars as well. This article lists my favourite top 10 actors who have appeared opposite John Wayne, in ascending order. … Read more
If this John Wayne 1936 Republic oater isn’t one of those “JW in disguise sent by the Governor to sort out local corruption” scenarios, we’ll eat our horse and try a couple of spurs for dessert. The Lonely Trail (1936) Republic, Dir: Joseph Kane, b/w, 56m Cast: John Wayne, Ann Rutherford, Cy Kendall, Bob Kortman, … Read more
Howard Hawks was more of a “genre-hopper” as opposed to a director known for working in one specific type of movie. He made screwball comedies (“Bringing Up Baby”, “His Girl Friday”), gangster and crime thrillers (“Scarface”, “ The Big Sleep”) and musicals (“A Song is Born”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”). However, to most John Wayne fans, … Read more
Here’s another John Wayne Western in which Yakima Canutt plays the bad guy again, this time around a character called Henchman Pete. Don’t those outlaws ever have a surname? King of the Pecos (1936) Republic, Dir: Joseph Kane, b/w, 55m Cast: John Wayne, Muriel Evans, Cy Kendall, Jack Clifford, Arthur Aylsworth, Herbert Haywood Villain Alexander … Read more
Henry Hathaway learnt his craft during the silent era, working as an assistant director on the 1925 version of “Ben-Hur”. Turning to directing in the early 1930s he went on to work mainly within the Western and gangster genres throughout most of his career, although his first box-office hit was with “The Lives of a … Read more
The 1960s ushered in the beginning of the death knell for the Hollywood Western Movie. You had to blame TV really. In the UK we only had two channels in 1960 but both were awash with the likes of Wagon Train, Bronco, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Lone Ranger, Laramie, The Range Rider, Boots and … Read more
The next review should have been for “The Oregon Trail” but it seems to have gone missing somewhere along the way which is a shame as it may have turned out to be one of the best of all the Poverty Row Westerns John Wayne made in the 1930s. We’ll never know, so in the … Read more
This is the first in a series of articles in which we take a look at some of the directors John Wayne worked with on more than a number of occasions, starting with Andrew V. McLaglen. Son of actor Victor, Andrew was a British born director who went on to work with some of the … Read more
John Wayne strums his way through this whilst miming to the questionable vocal talents of Glenn Strange, an actor who went on to play the Frankenstein monster a few years later. You have been warned. Lawless Range (1935) Republic, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 53m Cast: John Wayne, Sheila Manners, Frank McGlynn Jr., Jack Curtis, … Read more
We thought we’d revisit one of our most popular articles which took a look at the subject of John Wayne’s female co-stars. This time around we’ve put together a top ten list based upon the number of appearances the lucky ladies made when appearing opposite JW. Hope you enjoy it. Joanne Dru – Red River … Read more
This is a mildly diverting read concerning 9 of the leading ladies we love and remember from co-starring opposite John Wayne. The choice is not necessarily restricted to the actresses who appeared with Wayne in his Westerns but inevitably there’s going to be some bias towards that genre. I’m going to consider the actresses in … Read more
“The New Frontier” should not be confused with the later 1939 John Wayne / Republic vehicle “New Frontier”, which was retitled “Frontier Horizon”. Glad we can clear that one up. Read on, pardners. The New Frontier (1935) Republic, Dir: Carl L. Pierson, b/w, 54m Cast: John Wayne, Muriel Evans, Warner Richmond, Alan Bridge, Sam Flint, … Read more
I originally posted an article on my favourite top 10 John Wayne Movie Westerns that I caught at the cinema at the time they were released. Bearing in mind that I was 4 years old when my parents took me to see The Searchers this means there’s a whole bunch of Westerns Wayne made before … Read more
The Longest Day (1962) I admit to this being one of my all time favourite WWII films that just happens to have John Wayne in it. It’s not strictly a John Wayne WWII movie, as he features alongside a positive plethora of other Hollywood stalwarts such as Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan and Rod Steiger to … Read more