Rooster Cogburn: Trailer starring John Wayne in 1975
Nicknamed The Duke, John Wayne remains one of the most enduring figures in Hollywood, having appeared in more than 170 films and TV shows during a long career, beginning in the silent era of cinema in the 1920s. For over three decades, Wayne has ranked among the top box office hits for moviegoers, and as a result is often seen as Tinsel Town’s biggest star. His legacy was secured in 1999 when the American Film Institute named him one of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema. The climax of his career came with True Grit in 1969, when after years of trying, Wayne, who passed away at the age of 72 in 1979, garnered the Academy Award for Best Actor he so desperately craved.
Although critics and fans have continued to praise his incredible film career, it appears that Wayne himself has struggled to maintain some relationships with those he has worked with. This included director Mark Riddell, who was nominated for an Academy Award for the 1981 film On Golden Pond.
The two paired up in 1972’s The Cowboys, with Wayne wanting at the time to appear in more iconic Western films, as opposed to the low-budget flicks in which he spent the majority of his career.
The story follows an elderly rancher who hires some young teens to help drive his livestock 400 miles, from Montana to South Dakota. Slash Film, in this year’s report, called The Cowboys the “perfect companion” for True Grit.
Wayne, who that year caused mayhem at the Academy Awards due to his feud with Sacheen Littlefeather over Native American rights, has been trying to find the perfect scenario.
Angry John Wayne struggle left demands his removal: ‘I wasn’t a fan of him’ (Image: Getty)
John Wayne in Cowboys (Image: Getty)
Among those who opposed Wayne appearing in The Cowboys was author William Dale Jennings, who was an openly gay man and felt his values were so different from the Western star that he didn’t want him anywhere near the production. Riddle was equally against Wayne’s inclusion.
During the process of adapting Jennings’ book to script, screenwriters Irving Ravic and Harriet Frank Jr. also didn’t want to write Will Anderson’s character for George C. Scott, who won the Best Actor Oscar a year after Wayne’s movie for Patton. .
According to John Wayne: The Life and Legend in 2014, author Scott Iman noted how Riddle’s agreement with the book made him dig up his heels, until Wayne got involved, convincing the director to give him a chance.
Riddle said, “I didn’t want John Wayne in The Cowboys. But Warner[the film studio]was very invested in John Wayne, with whom I was in political and emotional opposites in every possible way.”
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The movie was released in 1972 (Image: Getty)
He said, “I didn’t like him. But he seduced me mercilessly.” I promise I will do the best job possible. Let’s not talk about anything but acting. Not politics or religion, just acting. “He totally won me over and I agreed he should play the role.”
On this occasion, Wayne was able to change his perception of himself to others, but when it came to the Duke harboring his own opinions, he was not indulgent. Among those Wayne was said to have despised was Gone with the Wind Clark Gable, and double Academy Award winner Gene Hackman.
One of the children of the Hollywood legend, Issa Wayne, described feeling bad about the stars in her 1991 book John Wayne: My Father. I remembered how his anger toward Gable, for example, came about as a result of a disagreement between him and director John Ford, a close friend of The Duke’s.
She wrote: “My father described Gable as handsome but stupid at least four or five times, and now I wonder if he had anything to do with my father’s friend, John Ford. During filming of Mugambo, Ford and Gable clashed over and over again and the subsequent feud had simmered for years.
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Gene Hackman, double Oscar winner (Image: Getty)
“In my father’s way of thinking, disloyalty to allies, and support of their enemies in any way, was expressly forbidden. If Clark Gable faced John Ford, my father’s law required John Wayne to stand by his old friend.”
He also targeted Wayne Hackman, calling him the worst actor in cinema. And Issa continued: “When it came to his contemporaries in the cinema, I heard him speak only once with any real poison.
“Gene Hackman could never have appeared on screen without my father playing with his performance.
“I wish I could tell you why he criticized Hackman so harshly, but he didn’t go into details. Although it is just speculation, if my father had lived to see more of his work, I think his view of Mr. Hackman would have changed. At the time, my father described Hackman as worse A representative in the city. It’s terrible.'”
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