Back in December 1971, John Wayne (a favorite on this blog) was promoting his upcoming movie The Cowboys in the media. The movie, directed by a young director named Mark Rydell and due for a January 1972 release, was to be a different type of movie for the Duke.
Why was it different? Well, for one thing, it wouldn’t have any of his old buddies in it (like Ben Johnson or Bruce Cabot). The plot was a little different than the usual John Wayne movies; in this one he enlists a bunch of young boys for a cattle drive, serving as a sort of surrogate father to them.
But mainly it was different because he gets killed in it.
I remember seeing the movie with my family at Amherst Theater and getting pretty teary-eyed when the Duke was shot to pieces by Bruce Dern. I still think it was just an attention-getting gimmick.
Below is an article about the Duke and his interaction with the director of the film. It appeared in the Journal on December 15, 1971.
Speaking of westerns.There is supposed to be a Young Guns III in the works.Emilio Estevez is reprising his role as Billy The Kid.Alongside Lou Diamond Philips and Christian Slater.I don't know how it will all play out as Emilio is some 30 years older now.But there were always rumours that Billy was not killed and lived to be an old man.So this will probably be the plot of the movie which was pretty much how Young Guns II was told.
ReplyDeleteI know this is off topic.But I wish I could go back in time to that local K Mart and buy a couple of sets of those Super Drag 1 mag wheels at four for $99.99.Those things go for around $125.00 apiece in used condition.I'd have a time machine and get a truckload back in 1971.Then come back to 2021 and sell them on ebay.RIP K Mart.
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't you just buy Microsoft, Amazon, or Apple stock if you went back in time? It would be much easier then driving a truck full of toys through time travel and much more profitable.
ReplyDeleteDan - Was the "attention-getting gimmick" the Duke's death or your getting misty about it?
ReplyDeleteHa ha. I just think that the Duke didn’t really need to die in the movie. He could have been laid up in a bed in town while the kids finished the drive. But it gave the movie a lot of publicity; I remember a big spread in Life magazine. But it was the era of ‘revisionist Westerns’ so it’s not surprising.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read one of your John Wayne posts, I try to recall whether I have actually seen any of his movies. I must have done so when I was a kid, but it left no lasting impression on me.
ReplyDeleteWayne was not a fan of the "modern" Western, which, for those who may have wondered,is why the Duke and Clint Eastwood never worked together.
ReplyDeleteIt’s kind of funny how the Duke was one of the actors who turned down the “Dirty Harry” role, but he ended up doing two movies in that kind of vein: McQ and Brannigan. I’ve never seen either one of them, believe it or not.
ReplyDeleteThey're watchable, but not really his milleu.
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