Post by mikef6 on Mar 24, 2021 20:34:59 GMT
Sometime in the early 1960s, about the time of "The Alamo" (1960), "Hatari!" (1962). and "McLintock!" (the last two titles ending in exclamation points) was when he became JOHN WAYNE - the icon. It was starting about there to the end of his life that people refer to when they claim that he "just played himself." And, yes, he did take a lot of roles that played to that "icon" status. But his earlier films (from about 1939 on) show him to be a pretty fair actor. He would never have played Hamlet, but he did essay some varied and interesting characters through the years in films like:
Stagecoach / John Ford
Dark Command / Raoul Walsh
The Long Voyage Home / John Ford
They Were Expendable / John Ford
Red River / Howard Hawkes
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon / John Ford
The Sands Of Iwo Jima / Alan Dwan
The Quiet Man / John Ford
Island In The Sky / William Wellman
The High And The Mighty / William A. Wellman
and others I could name.