The John Wayne Collection

Originally written in 2005 or 2006 when I was given the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Gretchen Wayne, who was a pleasure to speak with, I thought I’d share this article I wrote about my favorite actor, and apparently many others, John “Duke” Wayne.

“Feo, fuerte y formal.”

That was the epitaph John “Duke” Wayne chose for himself. In English it simply reads: “He was ugly, he was strong, and he had dignity.” Wayne was all of the above, although as a matinee idol throughout the 1930s, 40’s and ‘50s, some might argue with him about the first part of that sentiment.

Born May 26, 1907 and named Marion Michael Morrison, John Wayne, who never harbored a strong desire to become an actor, but sort of fell into it while working as a prop man, has gone on to become a living legend. On June 11, 1979, at the age of 72, Wayne lost his second battle with cancer—having survived it once in the ‘60s. By the time of his death, the man was all ready a legend, larger-than-life and the embodiment of the American man. He left behind approximately 150 films, ending with 1976’s The Shootist, the story of an aging gunslinger at the turn of the century that discovers he's dying from cancer, with no hope for a recovery. Instead of waiting for a slow and painful death, John Bernard Books arranges for a meeting between himself and three gunslingers-lowlifes, with the assumption that one of them is bound to kill him. It was a fitting film finale for an actor, whose death received an unprecedented worldwide outpouring of grief.

Today, the iconic image of John Wayne lives on. “He’s referenced frequently in novels—the John Wayne-type, the take charge type. He stands for something that’s understood,” explained Gretchen Wayne, wife of Wayne’s oldest son, the late Michael Wayne, a producer who ran Batjac, Wayne’s production company, with his father. (Michael passed away April 2, 2003).

“People respect what he stood for,” added Gretchen, President of Batjac Productions, adding that Wayne made the kind of films the “whole family can watch. Kids tend to watch them with their parents.”

The Legend Lives On

Throughout the history of world cinema, there have been many legends—Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, etc.—yet none have had the same impact on the public’s imagination as Wayne. “If you look at the Harris polls and any popularity poll he always ranks in the Top Ten,” said Gretchen. In last year’s Harris Poll of American’s Favourite Actor, Wayne ranked seventh, between Clint Eastwood and Denzel Washington, and is the only deceased actor to make the list. Gretchen attributes this not only to the quality of his work but also what he represents to his audience: love of country, honesty and stability.

In The Shootist, Wayne’s character explains his code in life, a code borrowed from Wayne himself. It was simple: “I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, [and] I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to others and I require the same of them.”

Realizing the popularity of Wayne, in 2004, Paramount Home Entertainment and Batjac Productions announced a worldwide DVD and television distribution agreement, which in effect gives Paramount the rights to 63 of Wayne’s movies. Already released as part of The John Wayne Collection is: Hondo (1953), McClintock (1963), The Shootist (1976), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), True Grit (1969-earned a Best Actor Oscar), In Harm’s Way (1965), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Big Jake (1971), Donovan’s Reef (1963), Rio Lobo (1970), El Dorado (1967), Hatari (1962), and the never-before available The High and the Mighty (1954) and Island In the Sky (1953).

As Gretchen pointed out, The High and the Mighty, Batjac’s first venture in Cinemascope, and a film that earned actress Claire Trevor an Oscar nomination (she starred opposite Wayne is his star-making film, Stagecoach in 1939), hadn’t been seen in a long time, possibly on TV in the 1980s. Batjac received a lot of requests from fans for the release of this film, but the print they had was “rain damaged.” Batjac made the effort to restore the print and eventually put it out as a 2-disc DVD with a lot of excellent extras. The studio’s release of McClintock, for which they lost the copyright, is the only version worth purchasing, as Gretchen pointed out they had all the elements required to put out the definitive version of the copyright-free film. And once again, add some amazing special features that fans will not want to live without.

Seamless Acting

The beauty of The John Wayne Collection, aside from the many special features added to each DVD, is Wayne’s performances. When critics talk about acting, Wayne’s performances are often overlooked. “He transcends those things,” said Gretchen in regards to comments on his acting ability. “He’s so good you don’t even realize he’s acting.”

She’s right. Over the decades, despite his popularity, Wayne has become, unfairly, an easy target for critics. During the course of his long career he earned only one Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Sheriff Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. He should have walked away with Oscars for such films as The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Red River (1948), The Quiet Man (1952), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Cowboys (1972), The Shootist (1976) and The Searchers (1956), a film which both director’s Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese stated they watch once a year just based on Wayne’s bold performance.

“The Shootist, that was a performance that was so touching and so sensitive,” said Gretchen. “It reflected what was going on in his life at the time.”

Gretchen attributes Wayne’s lack of Oscar respect due to the fact he made westerns, which the Academy seemed to be snobs about. Wayne suffered the same snobbish problem over the years, with many not giving him much credit in the smarts department, but as Gretchen pointed out, he was “a real achiever,” and a strong believer in the value of a good education. “He read a book every day,” she added.

Wayne was also self-deprecating, which helped him win over students at Harvard when the Harvard Lampoon challenged him to premiere his new film MCQ (1974) in Harvard Square, a nerve center of anti-war sentiment in the late 1960s. Wayne, ever the patriot, had made The Green Berets, a pro-Vietnam War film in 1968. Wayne arrived on an 11-ton armored personnel cruiser, accompanied by soldiers as a joke, and went on to win over the young crowd with his wit. When asked by a student if he viewed himself as the fulfillment of the American Dream, Wayne responded, “I don’t look at myself any more than I have to.”

He was equally modest about his acting ability, stating, “I don’t act, I react.” Director Howard Hawks, however, had a different opinion. “Wayne is underrated,” he once said. “He’s a much better actor than he’s given credit for being. He’s an awfully good actor. He holds things together, he gives it solidity and “honest”-ness, and he can make a lot of things believable. If he’s kind of grousing around in a scene, you know that there’s something wrong with the scene. He maybe can’t tell you, but you can find out what’s bothering him. He has a very true sense of cinema.”

From Batjac’s Vaults

Along with The John Wayne Collection, and numerous other Wayne films, Paramount have made available as of last month, the following titles from Batjac’s vaults: Man In the Vault (1956), starring Anita Ekberg, Plunder of the Sun (1953), starring Glenn Ford, Ring of Fear (1954), starring novelist Mickey Spillane, Seven Men From Now—Special Collector’s Edition (1956), starring Randolph Scott, Lee Marvin and Gail Russell, and Track of the Cat—Special Collector’s Edition (1954), starring Robert Mitchum, Teresa Wright and Tab Hunter.