So here we are almost two years after I went on to review every single film John Wayne appeared in from 1939 to 1976 before taking on all of the Westerns JW made in his wilderness years between 1930 to … Read more
Having recently been pointed in the direction of a song about John Wayne by Red Sovine entitled “The Hero”, I thought I’d have a go at putting together a playlist of other songs inspired by the much-missed actor. I was … Read more
Having now made my way through all of the existing Westerns that John Wayne performed in for studios such as Warners, Lone Star and Republic from the early 1930s until 1939, I thought I’d revisit the last four of the … Read more
This is the second part of John Wayne’s “unrealised” films. The first installment considers the movies JW passed on for one reason or another. Check out The Movies John Wayne Turned Down. Recently perusing an old movie magazine that was … Read more
I bet even John Wayne didn’t realise that the next film he was to make after this would be the one that finally put paid to his almost decade-long stint in the wilderness as a B-movie actor. Way to go … Read more
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 … 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 … 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 … 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, … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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, … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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) … 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”) … 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 … 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 … Read more