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
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 idea originally was to see if we could match all of JWs “three good companions” – his weaponry, the horse he rode in on and the hat he wore – for the majority of his big-name Westerns. There is so much information out there to work with but trying to collate and match that … Read more
It’s ten minutes into the final assault in “The Alamo”, and Dimitri Tiomkin’s superlative score heralds the beginning of the end for Davy Crockett. He makes his way towards the door of the mission, torch in hand, rifle in the other, turning as he runs and throwing the weapon in the face of an advancing … Read more
…and slightly beyond.Like a lot of people who grew up in the 50s and 60s – mostly boys I have to admit – John Wayne was the ultimate hero and John Wayne Westerns were the best movie experience. He kicked arse like no one else onscreen. You could say he was an equal opportunities arse … Read more
Dealing specifically with John Wayne Westerns only, here’s my list of the most darndest, lowdown, back-shooting hornswaggling varmints that ever graced the screen in a Duke cowboy movie. All of the following apart from one don’t make it to the end of their respective films alive. Just in case you’re not sure I’ll provide the … Read more
At the risk of sounding as if I’m stating the obvious, we all watch a John Wayne movie to see him in action, whether that be a John Wayne western, one of his war films or any other genre. You wait in anticipation for Duke to make an entrance because you know that once he’s … Read more
Another 1930s western movie where John Wayne as Jerry Mason, comes back from college. College? What did he study? Riding shotgun? “Gabby” Hayes plays a character called “Grandy” Benson. The Lucky Texan (1934) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 54m Cast: John Wayne, Barbara Sheldon, Lloyd Whitlock, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Yakima Canutt, Eddie Parker … Read more
John Wayne Western Shootouts – My Top 10 I’ve been writing about Westerns and John Wayne in particular for a couple of years now, covering JWs leading ladies, co-stars, punch-ups etc., so it comes as a bit of a surprise, even to me, that I’ve yet to take a look at my favourite shootout sequences … Read more
In the preface to a book dedicated solely to a collection of essays on The Searchers (The Searchers: Essays and Reflections on John Ford’s Classic Western, edited by Eckstein and Lehman) one of the editor’s mentions a video installation set up in the desert a few miles to the east of Los Angeles back in … Read more
John Wayne Western Movies of The 1930s – The Wilderness Years (Part 1) Having checked out all of the full-length feature films that John Wayne appeared in from Stagecoach to The Shootist, I thought I’d take a look at JWs wilderness years, before he became a fully fledged star in John Ford’s 1939 classic Western. … Read more
I recently wrote an article listing my 10 Best John Wayne Westerns I saw as a child. The reaction was very positive but quite a few people lamented the omission of John Wayne classics such as Red River, McLintock and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, to name a few. This is, therefore, an attempt to round up … Read more
John Wayne Western Movie Theme Songs This is a list in ascending order of some of my favorite John Wayne western movie theme songs and tunes which I hope is going to stir a debate or two amongst JW fans out there. There’s one feature that I nearly always mention in passing when writing a … Read more
Early John Wayne Films Directed by John Ford There is a suggestion in a number of Wayne filmographies that his first appearance in a John Ford film was as an extra in the silent Mother Machree, released in 1928. The film, however, was actually shot in 1926 but held back for release until 1928 whilst … Read more
A question for all you John Wayne fans out there – in what year did our hero make the film Rio Bravo? If you answer 1959, when Wayne starred in the film directed by Howard Hawks, then you’d be wrong. Rio Grande (1950) The answer is 1950, which was when Wayne reprised his character of … Read more
I’m only reviewing the following movie simply because it’s a Western and it has John Wayne in it, although he probably only appears for about two minutes in a film that runs for approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes. So what’s the film? How the West Was Won (1962) Wayne plays General Sherman in the Civil … Read more
When it comes to songs being sung over the credits of any John Wayne Western then the number one spot goes to the Sons of the Pioneers singing the theme to The Searchers. After that maybe El Dorado and True Grit (great music, not so hot lyrics) tying for second place. Johnny Horton singing North … Read more
This is the last of my John Wayne westerns round ups. These round ups all started because of the response from the first article which was The 10 Best John Wayne Westerns of My Childhood a nostalgic look at the Duke’s western films I remember seeing when growing up at the actual time I saw them. Good news though … Read more
Having covered John Wayne Western Theme tunes, I thought I’d give consideration to the best orchestral themes as well. Just like the previous article, I’m hoping this one will initiate a debate between the readers of MostlyWesterns regarding their own favourite JW theme. For the purpose of this article JW theme music is defined as … Read more
At the end of The Searchers, John Wayne famously stands in the doorway as the family he has helped to reunite disappear into the darkness of the cabin in front of him. Before turning away into the four winds that will carry Ethan Edwards away to an unknown future, Wayne clutches his lower right arm … Read more