John Wayne’s 50-year career is filled with iconic moments, and here are some of the most memorable. Wayne has become such a towering figure in pop culture that most people aren’t aware it took him years to break through. The Big Trail flopping set his career back a decade, most of which he spent in cheapie B-movie Westerns.
After a starring turn in John Ford’s Stagecoach, Wayne became an A-lister for the remainder of his career. Despite dipping into many other genres (romance, drama, comedy, etc), John Wayne’s Westerns have become a key part of his legacy.
He also worked with a slew of incredible directors (John Ford, Howard Hawks, John Huston), and Wayne’s best movies have been cited as influences by filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Wayne also left behind a rich body of incredible film sequences.
Big Jake (1971) – Meet “Big” Jake McCandles
Big Jake is the most violent Wayne movie by some measure, with the тιтle character being tasked by his estranged family to rescue his kidnapped grandchild. In spite of the bloodshed, the film is one of Wayne’s best latter-day outings. It takes a while for “Big” Jake to get introduced, but boy, is it worth the wait.
It takes 20 minutes for Jake to appear, where he reluctantly saves a man from a lynch mob. He might be outnumbered, but Jake’s ice-cool demeanor and the mere mention of his name make the mob back down right quick. He even gains an employee, where he hires the would-be hangee after a quick negotiation.
True Grit (1969) – Cogburn Charges The Outlaws
Probably the most famous shootout in Wayne’s filmography, the finale of True Grit sees Marshal Cogburn take on the outlaw Pepper (Robert Duvall) and his men. Cogburn is outnumbered four to one and Pepper barely registers him as a threat, but the Marshal nevertheless orders the outlaw to “Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!“
Cogburn then charges the gang on horseback, holding the reins between his teeth while cocking his rifle one-handed. It’s a thrilling sequence that indeed proves Rooster’s true grit, and that he’s not just the “one-eyed fat man” Pepper dismissed him as.
Chisum (1970) – Chisum Defends White Buffalo
Chisum could be described as John Wayne meets Billy the Kid, though it’s a more interesting film than that might suggest. This Western casts Wayne as the тιтular cattle baron who gets sucked into the bloody feud between Billy and brutal businessman L.G. Muphy. The movie’s best scene has nothing to do with the Lincoln County War, however.
Chisum’s best moment sees Wayne’s character deal with a gruff sergeant who manhandles Chief White Buffalo, a Comanche chief. White Buffalo is a former foe turned friend of Chisum’s, so after calming tensions and offering the sergeant a cigar, Chisum quietly states to the soldier that he’ll “kill” him if he disrespects his friend one more time.
The Searchers (1956) – “Let’s Go Home, Debbie”
Wayne played his darkest character in The Searchers, with Ethan Edwards being a violent, racist ex-soldier on a quest to save his kidnapped niece (Natalie Wood). This Ford Western establishes Ethan’s burning hate for the Comanche right from the start and how itchy his trigger finger becomes when he’s around them.
He eventually finds Debbie (Natalie Wood) and learns she has become the wife of Comanche chief Scar (Henry Brandon). Disgusted by this reveal, The Searchers makes it appear Ethan will kill her instead of saving her. Overcome with emotion when they’re finally reunited, Ethan instead lifts his niece and states, “Let’s go home, Debbie.”
Rio Bravo (1959) – The Silent Introduction
Rio Bravo was Wayne’s response to High Noon, a hit Western that he despised for its politics. Despite its bitter origins, it’s one of Wayne’s best Westerns and has become a favorite of Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter. Director Howard Hawks shows off a little with the prologue too, which is completely dialogue-free.
Nevertheless, this silent scene conveys that Dean Martin’s “Dude” is a desperate drunk, that Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) is an amoral villain, and that Wayne’s sheriff Chance is a badᴀss. After trying to help Dude retain a little dignity, Chance has to shrug off getting pistol-whipped to arrest Burdette, kicking the story into motion.
The Shootist (1976) – Books Meets His Destiny
While The Shootist wasn’t intended to be Wayne’s last movie, it worked out that way due to the star’s ill health in his final years. The film follows Wayne’s Books, a legendary gunfighter dying of cancer who spends his final days mentoring a teenager (played by Ron Howard), while planning to die in a blaze of glory.
The Shootist’s finale sees Books take on some rivals in a bar, but he proves so ᴅᴇᴀᴅly he still manages to kill them all. However, he’s fatally wounded when the bartender shoots him from behind, while his protégé guns the man down. Books then smiles when the boy tosses the gun away, signaling he won’t become like his idol.
The Quiet Man (1952) – Keep Punching
The Quiet Man is a departure for Westerns for both Wayne and Ford, which sees the former’s retired boxer heading to Ireland. The movie is a drama that emphasizes the brewing romance between Wayne’s Sean and Maureen O’Hara’s Mary, but it’s best remembered for its epic punch-up in the final act.
The fight between Sean and Will (Victor McLaglen) is both dramatic and comic, and runs for about nine minutes. It goes on so long that its length becomes part of the gag, but it does make sense within the story too. This fight was influential on future fistfights too, like the famous punch-up in John Carpenter’s They Live.
True Grit (1969) – Cogburn’s Backstory
True Grit’s surly main character, Rooster Cogburn, is the role that earned Wayne a Best Actor Oscar. While he rated the likes of The Searchers as superior movies, Wayne still believed one scene in True Grit featured his best work as an actor.
This saw Cogburn open up to Mattie (Kim Darby), revealing he has an estranged wife and son. While Cogburn claims the boy is better off without him, the Marshal clearly harbors a lot of regret over his failures as a father. It’s one of the most affecting scenes Wayne ever performed, so it’s little wonder it earned him an Oscar.
Stagecoach (1939) – Picking Up The Ringo Kid
Wayne always acknowledged Stagecoach as the movie that changed his life, and his stardom was apparent from the moment his character turned up. Wayne’s The Ringo Kid is an escaped convict who enters the movie a little later than the other main characters, but he proceeds to take over the entire thing.
Ford’s staging of The Ringo Kid’s introduction is flawless. It sees Wayne’s outlaw bellow “Hold it!” while cocking his Winchester one-handed, with the camera zooming in on his face. Wayne had plenty of great introductions (see the Big Jake entry), but few could rival Stagecoach.
The Searchers (1956) – Ethan Returns To The Desert
In The Searchers prologue, Ethan emerges from the desert like an apparition, returning to his family after being away for years. There is a sense that Ethan is so poisoned by violence he can never be part of society again, and the Western confirms that’s the case in the devastating closing sH๏τ.
This sees Ethan deliver Debbie back to her family, but instead of entering, he stands in the doorway. His mission complete, Ethan turns back to the desert he came from as the door closes behind him. The Searcher’s final scene is one of the most iconic sH๏τs in cinema, and the only logical choice for John Wayne’s best movie moment.
John Wayne
- Birthdate
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May 26, 1907
- Birthplace
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Winterset, Iowa, USA
- Notable Projects
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Rio Bravo, The Searchers , The Man Who SH๏τ Liberty Valance
