I have never seen a John Wayne movie.

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muskrat

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....you must remember he was a product of the times....no excusing the incorrectness, but his generation held to those beliefs-and, other icons felt the same, their views just never became public record...

Yeah, if I had to worry about old school Hollywood being racist I wouldn't be able to watch ninety percent of all classic movies.
 

Kurben

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The Searchers (Very good iconic western)
The Quiet Man (very atypical Wayne. He plays a boxer that killed a man in the ring and swears never to fight again. Maureen O'Hara and he has great chemistry)
Red River (a western version of mutiny at the bounty with Montgomery Clift as the good guy and one of Waynes best acting as the bad guy)
Rio Bravo (Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson)

There are more, like the Stagecoach and The Man who Shot Liberty Valence (1962) with him, James Stewart and Lee van Cleef, Lee Marvin and Vera Miles thats really good. His politics were extremely right. He was, for example, proud of helping with the blacklisting of people and kicking them out of job and country that went on in McCarthy s america in the 50-ties. But, in the right role, he was good as a western actor.
 
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Lily Sawyer

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Kurben was the one who nailed it:
if you're going to see a John Wayne movie, let it be Stagecoach. He's young and handsome in it, but he's not the focal point - it's an ensemble cast, and it's a well-made cinematic miracle that was astonishing for its time (1929). It's really well-done, given how young Hollywood was and what kind of cinematic tricks they had at their disposal (none). Forget whether he was a racist; he is an icon and there's a reason for it. IMO, he was truly himself when he filmed Stagecoach, with none of the false bravado that he used in other films.
 

Kurben

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Kurben was the one who nailed it:
if you're going to see a John Wayne movie, let it be Stagecoach. He's young and handsome in it, but he's not the focal point - it's an ensemble cast, and it's a well-made cinematic miracle that was astonishing for its time (1929). It's really well-done, given how young Hollywood was and what kind of cinematic tricks they had at their disposal (none). Forget whether he was a racist; he is an icon and there's a reason for it. IMO, he was truly himself when he filmed Stagecoach, with none of the false bravado that he used in other films.
Yeah, stagecoach is great but it is 1939. I love the actor that plays the gambler (is it John Carradine? or Thomas Mitchell? i mix their parts up in my head. Too long since i saw it. It is possible that wayne picked up some advice from Wyatt Earp in the 20-ties. It is known that Earp was around as advisor in the studios in these years, both at John Ford movies and Raoul Walsh movies. Earp became friend with Tom Mix, big silent western star who helped carry his coffin when Earp died in 1929. Wayne was a small bit actor in short movies in these days but he was there.
 

muskrat

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Kurben was the one who nailed it:
if you're going to see a John Wayne movie, let it be Stagecoach. He's young and handsome in it, but he's not the focal point - it's an ensemble cast, and it's a well-made cinematic miracle that was astonishing for its time (1929). It's really well-done, given how young Hollywood was and what kind of cinematic tricks they had at their disposal (none). Forget whether he was a racist; he is an icon and there's a reason for it. IMO, he was truly himself when he filmed Stagecoach, with none of the false bravado that he used in other films.

Yeah, Stagecoach is Killer. Love Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy from Its a Wonderful Life) as the alcoholic Doctor.

He was also Scarlett O'Hara's dad. And a buncha other great characters.
 

Kurben

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You know if i like an artists work, be it actor, author, singer or whatever, i'm gonna watch or read it as long as i like it. To not read an author or watch an actor just because you dont agree with his views on whatever would mean there where quite a lot of actors and authors that we never could enjoy. To do that seems a very strange path to take for me. I always separate a persons personal opinions from what we see on the screen and/or in books. You can separate yourself from one while watching/reading the other. In Waynes case his movies, with the exception for The Green Berets which he directed himself, are not very political and if they are it is the directors politics, not Waynes. I do think he directed Alamo also (Wayne plays Davy Crockett) but that is more a movie to honor the heroes of Alamo against the wicked and rather kliche mexicans.
 

Dana Jean

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You know if i like an artists work, be it actor, author, singer or whatever, i'm gonna watch or read it as long as i like it. To not read an author or watch an actor just because you dont agree with his views on whatever would mean there where quite a lot of actors and authors that we never could enjoy. To do that seems a very strange path to take for me. I always separate a persons personal opinions from what we see on the screen and/or in books. You can separate yourself from one while watching/reading the other. In Waynes case his movies, with the exception for The Green Berets which he directed himself, are not very political and if they are it is the directors politics, not Waynes. I do think he directed Alamo also (Wayne plays Davy Crockett) but that is more a movie to honor the heroes of Alamo against the wicked and rather kliche mexicans.
I totally agree. I just separate the personal from the job. Just because I enjoy their movies or books, doesn't mean that I'm in bed with the enemy.
 

muskrat

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Nov 8, 2010
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You know if i like an artists work, be it actor, author, singer or whatever, i'm gonna watch or read it as long as i like it. To not read an author or watch an actor just because you dont agree with his views on whatever would mean there where quite a lot of actors and authors that we never could enjoy. To do that seems a very strange path to take for me. I always separate a persons personal opinions from what we see on the screen and/or in books. You can separate yourself from one while watching/reading the other. In Waynes case his movies, with the exception for The Green Berets which he directed himself, are not very political and if they are it is the directors politics, not Waynes. I do think he directed Alamo also (Wayne plays Davy Crockett) but that is more a movie to honor the heroes of Alamo against the wicked and rather kliche mexicans.

Correctamundo, Kurbdog. It's okay to like the art but not the artist.
 

mjs9153

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Nov 21, 2014
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I didn't really care for Brannigan much. The Duke seemed tired, and there wasn't much gusto. It just seemed anemic, like a television movie that somehow got a theatrical release.
I agree.. I prefer his last movies, the Cowboys, and The Shootist, it almost seemed like he was saying goodbye to the public in those movies..
 
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