Did John Wayne and James Dean really co-star in an unfinished Western called Showdown? John Wayne starred in over 80 Westerns in his career, with his final performance coming with The Shootist. Despite being an icon himself, James Dean’s career was tragically short, with the actor only appearing in eight movies total.

Five of those were uncredited roles, including as “Football Spectator” in John Wayne sports comedy, Trouble Along the Way. Dean became a star thanks to his lead role in 1955’s East of Eden, but he didn’t live to see the success of his two follow-ups, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant.

Dean pᴀssed away in an auto accident in September 1955, but despite his handful of starring roles, his undeniable talent made him a screen legend. It appeared Trouble Along the Way was the only time “The Duke” and Dean worked on the same project, but a story from the set of Wayne’s final film The Shootist suggested otherwise.

John Wayne And James Dean Supposedly Co-Starred In An Unfinished Western Called Showdown

Wayne co-starred in this moving Western alongside actor and author Rick Lenz. While working on the movie, Lenz quizzed Wayne about a rumor he’d heard from Richard Boone, co-star of Wayne’s most violent Western Big Jake and a good pal of the star.

According to Lenz (during an interview with Bloo), Boone claimed that he, Wayne and Dean worked on an unfinished Western called Showdown. Apparently, the movie got deep into filming before being shut down following Dean’s sudden pᴀssing. Instead of confirming or denying this story, Lenz recalled that Wayne went quiet.

Instead, he asked if Boone had been speaking to him before cutting the query off with “I don’t talk about that.” Lenz presumably never brought up the topic with Wayne again, but Lenz later used the concept of an unfinished Wayne and Dean Western for his 2021 novel, Impersonators Anonymous.

There Is No Evidence That Showdown Exists

While discussing chapters of Impersonators Anonymous on Bublish, Lenz admits that he initially thought Boone was joking about Showdown, but noted “… he wasn’t smiling.” The novel itself posits that the movie got about two-thirds in filming before Dean’s death, though it’s unclear if Boone himself made this claim to Lenz.

Whatever the case, there is no evidence Showdown ever existed. The movie would have been in production sometime in the 1950s, long before the internet or industry gossip really existed. With that in mind, if Showdown was indeed a real production, it’s possible the filmmakers kept quiet about it following Dean’s pᴀssing.

That said, it’s unlikely there would be zero trace of it. There would need to have been a coordinated effort to completely suppress its existence, but what would the purpose of that even be? Sure, the filmmakers behind Showdown might have been quiet in the immediate aftermath out of respect, but would they never talk about it?

Surely the director, writer, or various crew members involved would have mentioned it in interviews in later years. I highly doubt Lenz is making his story up, and it’s possible Boone and Wayne were talking about a film that was supposed to happen, instead of one that made it halfway into filming.

There are two other Westerns called Showdown, with one being a 1963 Audie Murphy vehicle, while the other was a 1973 offering starring Rock Hudson and Dean Martin. Neither production appears to have any link to either John Wayne or James Dean, however.

Source: Bloo, Bublish