John Wayne
My views on John Wayne have changed slightly over the years. Originally I thought he really couldn't act. Now I've come to the conclusion that he can act, surprisingly well at times, and although he clearly has a very limited range he's pretty much perfect for the role he usually plays. The phrase "a stopped clock is right twice a day" may be partially applicable, although that's giving him too little credit—within his limited range he's actually pretty nuanced (or something!).
So clearly he had some ability, and fitted a given type of role so spot on that he became the definitive western actor. However
- the acting in some of his earlier films is pretty poor—he clearly improved with time. Personally, I think he's fine in stagecoach, but I've heard opinions to the contrary view.
- many of his later films are a bit weak. Mostly when he started having a say in the production and moved away from interesting stories chosen by someone to either hyperpatriotic stories (The Alamo) or broad, slightly raucous but basically inoffensive family action/comedy (McLintock is a good example, although a lot from that era would could).
Therefore, that leaves a "golden period" from the late '40s to the end of the '50s where his output was pretty much universally good. There's actually surprisingly few Westerns here (he only did 5 Westerns in the '50s). Adding to these some first-class outliers from elsewhere in his career (for example Stagecoach, El Dorado, The Shootist), and you get a list of excellent Westerns, but given his status as the definitive Western actor the list is actually surprisingly short. (That said, it's a good 10-15 films, which isn't bad going by anyone's standards!)
- Order by:
- title
- year
- rating
- Group by:
- role
- media type
Roles
- Director (uncredited):
- Actor:
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