Motion Picture Gems : John Wayne

Showing posts with label John Wayne. Show all posts

7/25/2016

The Shootist (1976)

Wayne plays aging gunfighter who travels to a small town to visit an old doctor friend played by Jimmy Stewart who tells Wayne that he only has a few months to live.

Wayne decides to stay in the town to live out his last days.

He rents a room from Lauren Bacall who has a young son (Ron Howard).

Wayne's old enemies find out he's camping out in the town and decide to offer him one last challenge.

The movie is filled with some pretty cool shootout scenes, and gets rather bloody at times.

Kind of reminded me a little of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, a better movie.

Also starring Hugh O'Brian, Scatman Carothers, and Gene Barry, who passed away on Dec 9 2009.

10/09/2015

Stagecoach (1939) and Bend of the River (1952)

This past summer I watched two great westerns, both of them involving journeys through dangerous terrain.

First, Stagecoach from 1939. Numerous characters with various personalities and backgrounds are forced to travel together, including a prostitute (Claire Trevor) and John Wayne who loves her despite her background. Thomas Mitchell won the Oscar for Outstanding Supporting Actor as the drunken doctor. He's hilarious especially all his banter with Donald Meek who plays a whiskey salesman. Then there's Andy Devine as the stage driver; he has some of the funniest lines. And then there's a funny scene when the stagecoach makes a stop at the way station and Meek is startled by an Apache and screams "is that a savage?" The Mexican innkeeper says, "Yes, that's my wife. She's a little savage". LOL There have been a few other versions made after this one as well. Directed by John Ford.

Another blog review from Wide Screen World (June 2020):

Then I caught up with Bend of the River at a local revival screening. I always enjoy seeing a Jimmy Stewart film on screen. Set in the 1840s/Gold-Rush era, Jimmy plays a cowboy with a checkered past who's hired to lead a group of settlers (including Julie Adams) westbound. During the journey, the wagon train survives a harsh indian attack and we meet a friend of Jimmy's played by Arthur Kennedy, who romances Julie and steals her away from Jimmy (but not for too long!). The movie starts to get a bit more complicated when the group stops in Portland and we meet a gambler played by Rock Hudson; the biggest laugh from the crowed in the theater came when Rock eschews the flirtations from a female admirer. In the second act of the film, the wagon train has to deliver loads of food to a new settlement for the winter, and few of the hired hands (including Harry Morgan) conspire to make off with the goods. It's an exciting movie, but not as much comedic relief as Stagecoach. The character providing the most comic relief comes from Stepin Fetchit who plays a riverboat assistant. In the end, Jimmy redeems himself in the eyes of anyone who found him untrustworthy, including Julie's dad, who disapproved of him until the very end. Shot on location in Oregon. Also starring Francis Bavier ("Aunt Bea"). Directed by Anthony Mann.

A blog post from Just Hit Play here

6/09/2014

Martha Hyer (1924-2014)

The Santa Fe New Mexican and Boot Hill are reporting that actress Martha Hyer has passed away. She was 89.

For 25 years (1946-1971), Ms Hyer appeared in both lead and supporting roles in a numerous popular films, including Sabrina, Frances in the Navy, The Delicate Delinquent, The Carpetbaggers, Houseboat, The Sons of Katie Elder, and Some Came Running, which earned her an Oscar nomination.

She retired from films in the early '70s, and lived in Santa Fe.

Her filmography includes:

1940s (early career)

1947 Thunder Mountain
1948 Gun Smugglers
1949 Rustlers, The Clay Pigeon, Roughshod, The Judge Steps Out

1950s

1950 The Lawless, Outcasts of Black Mesa, Salt Lake Riders, Frisco Tornado, Kangaroo Kid
1951 Oriental Evil
1952 Yukon Gold, Wild Stallion, Geisha Girl
1953 Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, So Big
1954 Riders to the Stars, The Battle of Rogue River, Sabrina

Dean Martin, Martha Hyer, and Frankie Sinatra

1954 Lucky Me with Doris Day
1954 Wyoming Renegades
1954 Down Three Dark Streets
1954 Cry Vengeance
1955 Kiss of Fire, Francis in the Navy
1956 Paris Follies of 1956, Showdown at Abilene
1956 Red Sundown
1956 The Delicate Delinquent with Jerry Lewis
1957 Mister Cory with Tony Curtis
1957 My Man Godfrey, Battle Hymn
1958 Houseboat with Cary Grant
1958 Paris Holiday with Bob Hope
1958 Once Upon a Horse...
1958 Some Came Running - Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress
1959 The Best of Everything with Joan Crawford
1959 The Big Fisherman

1960s

Danny Kaye and Martha Hyer

1960 Ice Palace, Desire in the Dust, Mistress of the World
1961 The Last Time I Saw Archie with Robert Mitchum
1962 A Girl Named Tamiko
1963 Wives and Lovers with Van Johnson, Janet Leigh
1963 The Man From the Diner's Club with Danny Kaye
1964 Bikini Beach, First Men in the Moon
1964 The Carpetbaggers
1964 Blood on the Arrow
1965 The Sons of Katie Elder with John Wayne
1966 The Chase with Marlon Brando
1966 The Night of the Grizzly with Clint Walker
1966 Picture Mommy Dead
1967 House of 1,000 Dolls with Vincent Price
1967 The Happening with Anthony Quinn
1967 Some May Live with Joseph Cotton
1968 Catch As Catch Can
1969 Crossplot with Roger Moore
1969 Once You Kiss a Stranger...

1970s

1971 Day of the Wolves

1/19/2011

True Grit (1969)

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What It's About:
In the 1870s, 14-year old Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) travels to the town where her father was killed - Fort Smith, Arkansas - and hires a whiskey-drinking US Marshall (John Wayne) to bring the killer (Jeff Corey) to justice. The two are joined by a Texas ranger LaBeef (Glenn Campbell) and they all travel through the wilderness on horseback to find the drifter.

Mattie (Kim Darby) and her father (played by John Pickard)

My take:

I really like this movie, and liked the Cogburn-Mattie "odd couple" relationship. By the end of the film, Cogburn becomes Mattie's surrogate father figure. Kim Darby is very spunky and determined; some critics think she is too old for the part but I thought she was good. Campbell is just ok; I suspect he was cast so no actor could outshine Wayne. Plus it seems like in the 1960s every other pop star was given a part in a major motion picture, from Eddie Fisher to Tony Bennett. The LaBeef character and Cogburn have some funny banter in this film, and it's funny when Wayne calls him a "jaybird". ha ha.

Dinner scene at the boarding house. Mattie eats dumplings.

My favorite part in the movie is the scene in Chen's store, when Mattie comes and eats dinner with a drunken Wayne and Chen, who later play a game of cards. We also get to meet his cat, General Sterling Price.

Mattie (after Cogburn invites her to dinner): I'd like to meet your family!
Cogburn (in Chen's store): This is my father, Chen Lee,
and (pointing to the cat) my nephew General Sterling Price!

Cogburn, to his cat: Well, General, look what we've got! (referring to the wad of cash that Mattie just gave him)

There's a funny scene when Cogburn shoots a rat dead after he humorously shouts at him. Mattie throws the rat outside and says to the cat, "That was your job!". The cat then runs after the dead mouse to eat it. Ha ha. Wayne and Mattie continue talking about "rat hunting".

I love John Wayne in this movie, drunk scenes and all. The scene that probably clinched the Oscar for him (besides his drunk speeches) is the one where he talks to Mattie at night and tells her about his ex wife and son, and about how he lost his eye. Also great in this is Robert Duvall as Ned Pepper.

There is some great scenery, and an enjoyable score by the great Elmer Bernstein. Co-starring Jeff Corey and Dennis Hopper. Directed by Henry Hathaway.

My rating: A

The film ends with Cogburn and Mattie (with her arm bandaged) visiting her father's grave. Mattie then expresses to Rooster how she would like for him to be buried near her father and family one day. It's a very touching sequence, and a nice ending to a very entertaining film.

1/18/2011

40 Years Ago - Top 10 Box Office Stars of 1971 (USA)

1932| 1933| 1934| 1935| 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 |
1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948| 1949 | 1950 |

1951 |1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959|1960 |
1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977-present

The rankings come from Quigley Publishing Co.'s annual list (since 1932) of top money making stars in the USA, which based on a poll of hundreds of theater executives. The list does not rank stars only on how much cash their films made, but on what theater owners say about who attracts audiences on their star power alone.

1. John Wayne