As Kris mentioned Wednesday, this week marks the 30th anniversary of John Wayne’s death. I’ve always respected Wayne’s performances and have for a long time, long before it was fashionable, to be sure.
It was considered somewhat ridiculous for an acting student to admire Wayne’s work in the 1970s and 1980s. My God, we were supposed to be worshipping at the altar of Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino! Our professors hammered home the importance of truth in a performance, which I of course believe to be essential. But I’ve always felt that Wayne’s finest performances were as truthful and as real as anything Brando did.
Wayne could not do Shakespeare, and was horribly out of place in certain genres, but in his element — the American western, the war film, high adventure or romantic comedy — he was as good as anyone working in movies. There were some critics who appreciated his work while he was alive, but most came around after his death in 1979, which to me is rather sad.
I have proposed a book on Wayne, slightly different from those out there already, that would focus on his best work on film. There are 11 performances in the Wayne filmography that were truly outstanding, in my opinion. Here is perhaps a primer for Wayne fans, new, old and emerging — a list of his best performances and some comments as to why I think they deserve to be remembered forever. Let me know what you think.