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John Wayne was a humbled man early in the 1960s. His passion project, "The Alamo," had fallen well short of box office expectations in 1961. An epic Western about the siege of the basement-less San Antonio mission, Wayne directed the film and took its failure personally. He didn't need a hit; even at his lowest point in the 1970s, a Wayne picture at a certain budget level was an automatic greenlight. Still, Wayne was a prideful man who actively tended to his legacy; he was mindful of his fan base, and sought their approval. So Wayne came charging out of his corner in 1962, and knocked out every last naysayer with Howard Hawks' "Hatari!," "How the West Was Won," "The Longest Day" and John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

The Ford movie could've been Wayne's Western swan song, but a rifle-toting Wayne astride a horse still held commercial appeal,...

Western movie star John Wayne frequently rode a horse to complete his cowboy image. However, he grew an affinity for one animal in particular. Wayne went out of his way to ensure that he could ride the same horse named Dollar across seven of his movies.

‘True Grit’ (1969) L-r: John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn and Glen Campbell as La Boeuf | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

The first time that Wayne worked with Dollar the horse on the silver screen was in 1969’s True Grit, directed by Henry Hathaway.

A 14-year-old named Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) seeks out U.S. Marshal “Rooster” Cogburn (Wayne), a man of “true grit.” He’ll need every ounce of it on a mission to track down a hired hand named Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey) after he killed Mattie’s father.

Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) joins them on the hunt, looking to bring Tom...

“Two smoldering women made all the danger worthwhile!”… heck, we didn’t even see ’em catch fire. John Wayne is charismatic and Andrew V. McLaglen’s direction is decent for once in this formulaic ‘easy listening’ pot-boiler from the Wayne school of laid-back ’60s entertainment. After winning the Vietnam War, our intrepid action man extinguishes 101 out-of-control oil fires, which appear to happen every twenty minutes. When nothing’s burning, there are plenty of domestic tangles to straighten out with the womenfolk. In support are Katharine Ross, Jim Hutton, Vera Miles, Bruce Cabot and Jay C. Flippen. It’s old-fashioned but not embarrassing — Wayne still has his charm.

Hellfighters

Blu-ray

Mill Creek

1968 / Color/ 2:35 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date May 4, 2021 / Available from Mill Creek Entertainment / 19.99

Starring: John Wayne, Katharine Ross, Jim Hutton, Vera Miles, Jay C. Flippen, Bruce Cabot, Edward Faulkner, Barbara Stuart, Edmund Hashim, Valentin de Vargas, Frances Fong, Alberto Morin,...

Ten years ago I attended the Lone Pine Film Festival for the first time. It was the 17th annual celebration in 2006 of a festival dedicated to the heritage of movies (mostly westerns, but plenty of other genres as well) shot in or near the town of Lone Pine, California, located on the outer edges of the Mojave Desert and nestled up against the Eastern Sierra Mountains in the shadow of the magnificent Mt. Whitney. The multitude of films that could and have been celebrated there were most often shot at least partially in the Alabama Hills just outside of town, a spectacular array of geological beauty that springs out of the landscape like some sort of extra-planetary exhibit, a visitation of natural and very unusual formations that have lent themselves to the imaginations of filmmakers here ever since near the dawn of the Hollywood filmmaking industry.

In writing about the...

Review Aliya Whiteley 19 Jun 2013 - 06:47

Aliya finds this John Wayne adaptation of Shakespeare to be interesting, if uncomfortably old-fashioned, watching...

If you’re going to watch a movie version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew you have a quite a few options: from Dw Griffith’s 1908 silent version to the 2010 Bollywood film Isi Life Mein. You could try Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor hamming it up in Franco Zefferelli’s 1967 film, or enjoy the music of Cole Porter and the choreography of Hermes Pan in 1953's Kiss Me, Kate. Or there's 10 Things I Hate About You, which surprisingly feels like one of the more faithful renditions, with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles spitting venom at each other in a very enjoyable way.

And then there's McLintock!, a comedy western from 1963 with the stamp of John Wayne all over it, determined to tell an old story in an old-fashioned way.

Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales is among many classic Westerns shot in Kanab.

 

The annual Western Legends Roundup will take place on August 26-28 in Kanab, Utah, where many classic Westerns were filmed. The town also boasts major sets still standing from the Clint Eastwood film The Outlaw Josey Wales. Additionally, many favorite stars from Western films and TV series will be appearing including James Drury, Peter Brown, Clint Walker, Ed Faulkner and Glendon Swarthout, screenwriter of John Wayne's The Shootist. The weekend is jam-packed with many activities that will appeal to retro movie lovers. Click here for details...