John Wayne starred in many different movies throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, but his 1963 movie, McLintock!, allowed him to step out of his comfort zone and try something new. One of the biggest names in the movie industry, John Wayne rose to prominence in the movie industry throughout the twentieth century for his roles in the war and Western genres. Some of John Wayne’s best movies of his career include The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), and True Grit (1969), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1970.

Throughout his 53-year-long movie career, John Wayne starred in over 80 Western movies, but while he found great success in the genre, he later admitted that he struggled with being typecast as the no-nonsense, sharpshooting outlaw. In 1968, Wayne stated that he felt stuck in the later stages of his career, and he considered his Oscar-winning performance in True Grit to be his best role in 20 years. In spite of this, Wayne was allowed the opportunity to explore his romance and comedy skills in other movies, as seen through his performance in a Shakespeare-inspired comedy released in 1963.

John Wayne Gave His Take On William Shakespeare In McLintock!

McLintock! Was Inspired By William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew

In 1963, John Wayne starred in the Western comedy, McLintock!, alongside Irish actress, Maureen O’Hara. Directed by Andrew V. McLagen, McLintock! depicts Wayne as G.W. McLintock, a cattle baron and ranger who is respected by his townspeople and hated by bureaucrats for his work in keeping the peace in his namesake town. McLintock is surprised to learn his estranged wife, Katherine, played by Maureen O’Hara, is back in town, intending to bring their daughter back East with her. As the movie progresses, their unexpected reunion resurrects feelings both long believed were diminished.

McLintock! stands out among John Wayne’s Western movies as it was loosely adapted from a Shakespeare play, The Taming Of The Shrew. Similar to Shakespeare’s comedy, McLintock! depicts Wayne’s character taming his estranged wife into submission; in one notable scene, Wayne’s McLintock spanks Katherine with a shovel, which Maureen O’Hara later revealed in an interview for the DVD release of the movie, left her backside “black and blue for weeks” (via Slashfilm). Surprisingly, McLintock! is the second John Wayne movie adapted from a Shakespeare play; his 1952 movie, A Quiet Man, was also loosely adapted from The Taming Of The Shrew.

John Wayne Proved He Was More Than Just A Western Hero

The Role Allowed Him To Explore His Romance And Comedy Skills

Although McLintock! is not ranked as one of John Wayne’s best Western movies, it is still highly popular with his fans, as seen by its high audience score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. While it wasn’t rated as high by critics, McLintock! did receive praise for merging both comedy and action together, as seen through the movie’s memorable “mudhole scene,” where a fist fight orchestrated by Wayne’s character results in the townspeople brawling in the mud; it is regarded as one of the best fist fight scenes in a John Wayne movie and perfectly showcased Wayne’s comedic acting skills.

The movie also allowed John Wayne to showcase his skills as a romantic leading man, as seen through his own screen chemistry with Maureen O’Hara. Wayne and O’Hara starred in five movies together across their careers, but McLintock! allowed them the opportunity to add more humor and over-the-top drama to their characters, and interact with each other in a more lighthearted manner, which helps set McLintock! apart from their previous dramatic works. While McLintock! isn’t the best movie of John Wayne’s career, it gave him the opportunity to prove that he was capable of more than just being a Western hero.

Source: Slashfilm