John Wayne appeared in over 160 films in a career that spanned the years 1928 to 1976 but according to the indispensable “John Wayne Filmography,” the author Fred Landesmann lists an amazing 115 ‘ unrealized projects’ in which JW was to have starred in at some point. This article includes affiliate links. If you choose to … Read more
Get your hankies out for this one. The bad guys want someone else’s gold mine so bad they even kill a little girl. Lansakes, have they no heart? Santa Fe Stampede (1938) Republic, Dir: George Sherman, b/w, 55m Cast: John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune, June Martel, William Farnum, Le Roy Mason The Mesquiteers grubstake … Read more
There a number of elements that comprise a John Wayne film. In no particular order, it’s plenty of action, a fight of some kind whether it be fists or guns (preferably both if possible), JW getting the better of the bad guys and even more popular, getting the girl too. There is another aspect, however, … Read more
The movie that finally put paid to the career of a one-time movie superstar – and we don’t mean John Wayne. Overland Stage Raiders (1938) Republic, Dir: George Sherman, b/w, 55m Cast: John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune, Louise Brooks, Anthony Marsh, John Archer This one had me intrigued from the word go seeing as … Read more
As with the recent article on the John Wayne movies in which Duke played real-life characters I’m going to fly by the seat of my paints and pull together all the instances I can think of in which he gets shot, wounded, knocked out and/or generally kicked around without actually giving up the ghost. For … Read more
Pals of the Saddle (1938) Republic, Dir: George Sherman, b/w, 55m Cast: John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune, Doreen McKay, Josef Forte, George Douglas Taking over the lead role of Stony Brooke from Bob Livingston who played the character in all but one of the previous sixteen entries in the series, this is the first … Read more
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
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
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 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
“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