John Wayne

John Wayne starred in three movies in 1957:

1. The Wings of Eagles - in which the sinking of the USS Hornet CV-8 is mention and Wayne's character Frank W. "Spig" Wead pushes for the development of smaller, faster, more manuverable carriers.
2. Jet Pilot - Wayne portrays an Air Force pilot, so US Navy aircraft carriers are not discussed.
3. Legend of the Lost - Joe January (Wayne) plays a treasure hunter in the Saharra, so again no carriers.

Since most people have never met John Wayne in person it's really difficult to tell what this man was really all about and most is propaganda, lies or some truths. Here is what information I was able to dig up and it's up to each individual to have their own opinion on Mr. Wayne:

• He was a prisoner of his own era and was all American and apple pie, yet was considered a draft dodger and refused to fight in WW2 in favor of stardom, yet played in war movies as well as Westerns. He was a man of many contradictions.
• He didn't particularly like horses and he didn't like to wear Western gear and preferred tuxedos to chaps, jeans and boots according to his son Michael Wayne. Mr. Wayne also favored the sea over the prairie.
• He was a football player and discovered by John Ford and together they made many films regarding the war. This seemed to give Mr. Wayne in his own mind the right to criticize many aspects of the war (agreeing that young men should be sent off to Vietnam as good American boys should be) and was quoted as saying 'about the protesters of the Vietnam War, 'As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't bother me a bit to pull the trigger on one of 'em' yet forgetting he was a draft dodger and was hardly in a position to give an opinion.
• John Wayne made no bones about being racist and made poor remarks such as 'I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to the point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.' Another comment about the Western Indians, 'I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.' He also admitted he didn't like Mexicans or Canadians, yet John Wayne's first two marriages were to Josephine Saenz and Esperanzo Bauer also Latin Americans and ended in divorce. He later married Pilar Palette Wayne who was born in Peru. He had seven children from his marriages and more than 15 grandchildren.
• He costarred in many movies with his long time friend Maureen O'Hara who was close to the Wayne family. She speaks very highly of him. Personally, I feel at best that Mr. Wayne was a hard man to get to know and preferred to believe in his own persona as a star than the emotional man he really was. He could be tender and caring regarding family and good friends, yet cruel and bullying.
• His son Michael Wayne had once said years ago that his father was unemotional and a bully. One can only guess this came from a teen and there may be no credence in that remark, yet possibly there is.
• During the making of 'The Conqueror' released in 1956 starring Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Dick Powell it is said that Dick Powell spoke to the director in private with Mr. Wayne present and Mr. Powell voiced his concerns about shooting scenes so close to the Nevada nuclear testing sites. Wayne told him to shut up and say nothing or get off the picture. Mr. Wayne just didn't want to believe there was anything wrong and that the government would never do anything to harm the American People. Little did he know that almost all the cast and many of the crew were stricken with cancer, either dying or surviving. In later years Mr. Wayne had part of one lung removed and later he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Whether it was his heavy smoking and drinking ways or the filming in Nevada there is no proof of either contributing to Mr. Wayne's death.

To me personally the man wasn't the greatest actor of all time, but, there was something about him that made at least men befriend him because of the persona Mr. Wayne gave as being tough and ready to rumble and win the war on almost anything. Some women admired him for his inn strengths and only in a few films did one ever see a tender side to him. I personally enjoy the odd John Wayne flick, but only when Maureen O'Hara or Kathryne Hepburn get the best of him. By the way, Ms. Hepburn told Mr. Wayne in so many words to clean up his language and behave himself and that he did!

I'm not sure where some of these facts came from. There are several points that are in complete contrast to my own research. I believe that had someone done just a small amount of digging they would find that Mr. Wayne was not a draft dodger. During WWII Wayne was very disappointed at not being able to serve in the armed forces for his country. At the time Wayne was nearing 40 and had four small children. He was rejected for these reasons. Feeling that he wanted to do his part for the war effort, he had to be content to make pictures about what was going on in the world and hopefully to keep moral up on the home front. During the war in Vietnam, Wayne took time off work so he could mingle with US servicemen close to the front line. He wasn't much concerned with his own safety, but wanted the men to know that they had his support and the support of many Americans.

In retrospect, I'm sure Mr. Wayne had his faults, we all do. And there are many that did not agree with his politics, but he always said, "Thank God we live in a country where we can say what we want. If we don't like the President, we can voice our opinion". I think he summed it up perfectly.

Amazingly, there were two.

He got the lead role in the HUGE production of The Big Trail in 1930. Unfortunately, his performance was so wooden in that film, that he was relegated to "Poverty Row" studios for years.

John Ford gave The Duke another big break with Stagecoachin 1939. Wayne quickly went to the top and stayed there for decades.