All Else Confusion

What can you say about "The Duke"? His presence was larger than life. You could say that, in a sense, he personified the American Spirit, fighting his way through the Old West and nearly every war America ever entered. While other stars of Hollywood's Golden Age entered retirement, the Duke never quit, working steadily through the '60's and into the '70's. His final film The Shootist is about an old gunfighter, who has learned that he has cancer and is looking to live out his last days in peace and quiet. Like his character, J.B. Books, Wayne died of cancer 2 years later. On June 9, 1979, the Archbishop of Panama arrived at the hospital and baptized Wayne into the Roman Catholic Church. He died 2 days later and was given a Catholic funeral service.

He once said, "I don't want ever to appear in a film that would embarrass a viewer. A man can take his wife, mother, and his daughter to one of my movies and never be ashamed or embarrassed for going."

Check out John Wayne with his most famous leading lady, Maureen O'Hara tonight in McClintock!. This western take on the Shakespeare classic The Taming of the Shrew is Wayne and O'Hara at their comedic best in an all-out battle of the sexes. Wayne plays George Washington McClintock and O'Hara is his wife, Katherine. G.W. is a land and cattle baron whose wife, Katherine has packed up and moved back East to "civilization", but returns to greet their daughter returning from school. Fireworks ensue between G.W. and Katherine as he attempts to learn why she left. The feud eventually ends in a decidedly chauvanistic (but still lots of fun) finale at the town's Fourth of July picnic. Look for sparks to fly between McClintock's daughter, played by Stefanie Powers, and his new hired hand, played by the Duke's son Patrick Wayne as well. This boisterous, raucous western is filled with laughs.

Labels: movies