The Man The Myth The Legend.

A Tribute To This Legend.

When he was a boy, Marion Michael Morrison was told by his father: "Don't look for trouble. But if you get into a fight, make sure you win it". It was a piece of advice the boy took to heart and it followed him throughout his life, both on the screen and off it. For Marion Morrison became John Wayne, and through more than 150 films he brawled, scrapped, gunned and charged his way in and out of trouble. John Wayne was certainly not the best actor in Hollywood history, as he admitted many times. But statistics show that he was the most enduringly popular and successful star ever. His films were seen by more people and made more money than those of any other screen actor. And yet, through every film John Wayne played the same part, the role of John Wayne. The man millions saw at the cinema was simply an exaggeration of the man in real life. The real John Wayne could shoot and ride; he learned both skills as a six year old in California. He had been born in Winterset, Iowa, in 1907, but his father, a pharmacist, had moved west to try his hand at farming. It was a hopeless struggle; the family nearly starved and he returned to his old profession in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles. Just along the street were the premises of a small film studio and, as a boy, Morrison watched as they cranked out quick, cheap westerns. In those days, however, his ambition was to be a football player. He was already big and strong he eventually grew to 6ft 4in and athletic, and had earned the nickname " Duke" which was to stick with him to the end. His ability as a footballer won him a scholarship to the University of Southern California, but there was little money to pay for his living expenses, and at the end of the first year he needed a holiday job. He managed to get himself work at the Fox studios where he worked in the Property Department, carrying furniture and other props on and off the film sets. His first assignment was working on a film directed by John Ford.

A Lifelong Friendship.

Ford was already a top director, and he later became one of the great craftsmen directors of Hollwood, specializing in Westerns. Most of the best westerns ever made carried Ford's name on them. The director was a tough man, as strong and resouceful as the cowboys in his movies, and when he saw the brawny nineteen-year-old football player he challenged Marion Morrison to tackle him. He did, and using an unsportsmanlike kick, knocked Ford to the ground, but instead of sacking the teenager, Ford smiled and shook his hand. Ford adopted the young man, and when a bad shoulder injury stopped him playing football it was Ford who advised him to give up college for a year and work at the studios. After six tedious months of moving props, he gave Morrison a tiny part in" Hangmans House 1928" and the next year a bigger role in a talkie "Salute". By now he was attracted to the movies, especially if he could become an actor, but he was making slow progress, and considered returning to college to continue studying law. However, Ford had recommended him to another director Raoul Walsh, who was having difficulty in finding someone to play a tough looking cowboy in his epic sound Western, "The Big Trail". Walsh thought that Morrison looked right, but wasn't convinced of his acting ability. So he sent him to a drama teacher to have his diction improved. After a few lessons, the teacher was ready to give up, declaring that "Morrison woudn't be an actor in a hundred years of trying!" Nonetheless, Walsh persisted and tested him on the film, instructing him not to try to act, but just be himself.. When the test was shown Walsh was impressed. He wasn't much of an actor but he looked, sounded and moved like a westerner and was given the lead part. The studio changed his name, saying that John Wayne sounded more rugged than Marion Morrison. The Big Trail 1930 should have been the newly-christened John Wayne's big break. In fact, the film was a financial disaster that never stood a chance of earning the $3,000,000 it cost, the studio tried him in two more disastrous films and then fired him. Another studio signed him up but the results were no better and they sacked him on Christmas Eve,1931. John Wayne was twenty-three years old, engaged to be married to Josephine Saenz, and out of work.

From "Poverty Row" To Stardom.

None of the major studios was interested in him, but in Hollywood at that time were a number of very small companies called "Poverty Row" studios which specialized in churning out rather bad, very cheap, short films and serials which were shown as "fillers" in cinemas. In those days, the price of a cinema ticket bought hours of entertainment, and most programmes had a major or feature film, a shorter movie called a "B" picture, a newsreel, and either a cartoon or a "short". Some also showed an episode of a continuing serial. These shorts were made in days rather than the months that it took to make a feature film. John Wayne's first films for Mascot studios cost only $11,000 compared with what it cost to make The Big Trail. For seven disheartening years Wayne made over fifty of these terrible Westerns and even tried wider success by becoming a singing cowboy. It seemed he would never have another chance at stardom, that is until Ford started planning his first western for ten years, a simple story of a stagecoach trip which meets with many adventures along the way. The main character was the Ringo Kid, and Ford was convinced that John Wayne was the only person to play him. But almost everyone else disagreed, and refused to invest money in a little-known actor of third rate Westerns, but Ford who was hugely respected won out in the end.

Success At Last.

During the first few days of the filming of Stagecoach 1939, Ford was merciless in his criticism of Wayne, insulting him and shouting at his every effort. Later, he explained that he had done this to shake Wayne out of the lazy habits he had picked up in years of grinding out films that were made in three days. The trick worked because Wayne was so good as Ringo and Stagecoach was such a success that he finally achieved what he had thought was impossible: John Wayne was a star. From now on there was no looking back. During the rest of his long career Wayne made dozens of movies, many of which have very little merit, and some mostly for John Ford that are excellent. But what ever the quality, they were nearly all successful because John Wayne was so convincing, whether he was winning World War Two single-handedly, fighting fires, or riding the range. Furthermore, the public clearly liked John Wayne to be John Wayne, and not attempt to play a different type of character. The war years saw his popularity increase as he starred in a series of films which depicted him as the brave American fighter, and not even a divorce harmed his reputation (he was married three times in all ). In 1949 he appeared for the first time in Motion Picture Herald's Top Ten popularity list, which showed the stars who had attracted the most people to cinemas. The year before he had only been 33rd. In 1950 and 1951 he was top of the list, and he never dropped out of the Top Ten between 1949 and 1974, a record achieved by no other star. In 1956 he became the highest paid movie actor in the world when he signed a contract to make three films for a fee of $ 2,000,000. Much of his success was due to a run of fine films, mostly Westerns made after the war. John Ford starred him in three movies about the US Cavalry, Fort Apache 1948, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 1949 and Rio Grande 1950, all of which are still big favourites on Television. He was excellent in Red River 1948 directed by Howard Hawks, and was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor in 1950 for a war picture, Sands Of Iwo Jima.

His Political Side.

During the 1950s he became increasingly perturbed by what he thought was a Communist plot to undermine the United States, and he campaigned both on and off the screen to expose any communists in Hollywood. In 1948 he helped found the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American ideals, which was pledged to fight communism, and he supported Senator McCarthy who was whipping up hysteria about Communism and supposed Russian spies. McCarthy ran a well publicized investigation which accused hundreds of people of being Communists. Hollywood writers, directors and even actors were put on a "black list" which meant they could not work in the film industry. Their careers, and occasionally their lives, were ruined by these "witch hunts" even though they may have been entirely innocent. Wayne gave his support to McCarthy and his team and even made a film about the work of an anti-Communist investigator the film was called Big Jim McLain 1952, and throughout the rest of his life he angrily condemned anything or anybody whom he considered to be un-American.

The Final Battle.

John Wayne formed Batjac Productions which was successful in the 1950s, and by the end of the decade he was determined to take on a huge project a film that was not only a stirring adventure taken from American history, but also one that showed everything he considered best about America and Americans. The Alamo 1960 told the story of 180 Americans who held a fort for 13 days against 4,000 Mexican troops in 1836. The fight was over the ownership of the state of Texas and the stand at the Alamo attracted such heroes as Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, who fought to the end, until their position was over-whelmed and they were all killed. Wayne not only produced the film, he also directed it and starred as Davy Crockett. He thought the cost of making the film would be around $8,000,000. But he spent $12,000,000. It was years before it earned enough to pay for its cost. It was his tribute to American ideals; he saw it as his patriotic duty. This reverse in his fortunes did not last long as he made more profitable films, one of which was, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962. All in all, John Wayne seemed to enter his fifty sixth year in fine form. However, while making McLintock 1963 he developed a serious cough which he put down to the amount of cigarettes he smoked a day. He resisted going to the doctor, but finally agreed to go for some tests. Diagnosis:  a tumor on his right lung! He went through two major operations, but refused to admit there was anything wrong. Later he confirmed that "I had contracted cancer but I licked it". He returned to filming with great ardour in 1965, by which time America was involved in the Vietnam War. Wayne decided to make a film about the conflict.

His Greatest Ambition.

The Green Berets 1968 was a rather simple minded account of the war, a cowboys and indians film set in Asia. It enraged some of the press and public, and was described by one critic as "vile and insane". Where-ever the film was shown a picket was formed by demonstrators, The film was even booed by some audiences in the cinemas. Wayne was unperturbed "although he did run at some protesters with fists flying" saying anyone who disliked this film was unpatriotic and un-American. As a result of the outcry about The Green Berets, Wayne entered 1969 as the most popular and the most unpopular star in America, but this did not worry him because he had achieved everything he had ever wanted. Except one thing he had never won an Oscar. He was sixty-two and looking his age. His face was weather beaten and his thinning hair which he hid under a toupee. He was too old to win the pretty girls on the screen, too old and creaky to jump on a horse, too slow to win a gunfight, But was he? Certainly not! He proved it by playing an aging, battered, whiskey- soaked, one-eyed marshal named Rooster Cogburn in True Grit 1969. He was magnificent in True Grit and the Academy of Motion Pictures awarded him with an Oscar for Best Actor, thus fulfilling his last great ambition. John Wayne made other films after True Grit but only one came close to its quality The Shootist 1976 in which he played an old gunfighter who is dying of cancer. A sad reflection of his own life, for the huge man who seemed so full of living, who had been an actor for forty-eight years was in fact very ill. In 1978 he had a heart operation and received 150,000 letters from well wishers, although his physical stature declined, his spirit was still there and he came back after each blow, just like he had picked himself up after so many screen brawls. But in 1979 he lost the fight to the only enemy he couldn't beat. Sadly Marion Michael Morrison better known to his millions of fans throughout the world as John Wayne died on 11 June 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA. And is still greatly missed by his fans, but he still lives on as he fights the War battles and rides the trails in the hearts of all his fans.

Researched by my daughter Cassandra and Myself Condensed by Thomas Jr.

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