Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Staph

(6,245 posts)
Thu Aug 10, 2017, 02:17 AM Aug 2017

TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 12, 2017 -- Summer Under the Stars - The Essentials - John Wayne

From the TCM website:
REAL NAME: Marion Robert Morrison
LIFE SPAN: Born May 25, 1907, Winterset, IA; died June 11, 1979, Los Angeles, CA
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Heroic image, laconic acting style
NOTABLE ROLES: Ringo Kid, Stagecoach (1939); Sean Thornton, The Quiet Man (1952); Ethan Edwards, The Searhers (1956)
HOLLYWOOD BEST FRIENDS: Maureen O'Hara, director John Ford

Enjoy!




6:00 AM -- THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (1940)
A merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter
BW-106 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Dudley Nichols, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gregg Toland, Best Film Editing -- Sherman Todd, Best Effects, Special Effects -- R.T. Layton (photographic), Ray Binger (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), Best Music, Original Score -- Richard Hageman, and Best Picture

Initially resistant to the idea of working with a Swedish accent, John Wayne was instructed by Danish actress Osa Massen. John Ford later complimented Wayne on his handling of the accent.



8:00 AM -- MCLINTOCK! (1963)
A cattle baron fights to tame the West and his estranged wife.
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Patrick Wayne
C-122 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The "mudhole" in which the famous brawl took place wasn't actually made of mud. It was made of a material called bentonite, which is used in the drilling of oil wells and has the consistency of chocolate syrup. According to actor Leo Gordon (the first one to be knocked down it), that scene took a week to shoot.


10:15 AM -- CHISUM (1970)
A cattle baron enlists Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid to help him fight a land war.
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
Cast: John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, Christopher George
C-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Although clearly labeled as the older man, at 58 Patric Knowles was actually five years younger than John Wayne. Wayne's character, John Chisum, died five or six years after the events portrayed in this movie, at age 60. In real life cattle baron John Tunstall was 24 when he was murdered; he was played by the 58-year-old Knowles. The real John Chisum was 54 at the time the events in this film occurred, but he was played by the 62-year-old Wayne.


12:15 PM -- STAGECOACH (1939)
A group of disparate passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
BW-96 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Thomas Mitchell, and Best Music, Scoring -- Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- John Ford, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Bert Glennon, Best Art Direction -- Alexander Toluboff, Best Film Editing -- Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer, and Best Picture

John Ford liked to bully actors on the set, and this was no exception. At one point he said to Andy Devine, "You big tub of lard. I don't know why the hell I'm using you in this picture." Undaunted, Devine replied, "Because Ward Bond can't drive six horses." Likewise he attacked Thomas Mitchell, who eventually retorted, "Just remember: I saw Mary of Scotland (1936)," effectively humbling the director. Worst of all was Ford's treatment of John Wayne. He called him a "big oaf" and a "dumb bastard" and continually criticized his line delivery and manner of walking, even how he washed his face on camera. However, at least part of this was to provoke the actor into giving a stronger performance; Claire Trevor recalls how Ford grabbed Duke by the chin and shook him. "Why are you moving your mouth so much?" he said. "Don't you know you don't act with your mouth in pictures? You act with your eyes." Wayne tolerated the rough treatment and rose to the challenge, reaching a new plateau as an actor. Ford helped cement the impression that Wayne makes in the film by giving him plenty of expressive reaction shots throughout the picture.



2:00 PM -- SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949)
An aging Cavalry officer tries to prevent an Indian war in the last days before his retirement.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar
C-104 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Winton C. Hoch

John Ford initially was uncertain who to cast in the lead role. However, he knew that he did not want John Wayne for the part-considering, among other factors, that Wayne would be playing a character over twenty years older than he was at the time. Reportedly, Wayne's performance in Red River (1948) changed Ford's mind, causing him to exclaim, "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!" Ford realized Wayne had grown considerably as an actor, and was now capable of playing the character he envisaged for this film. When shooting was completed, Ford presented Wayne with a cake with the message, "You're an actor now."



4:00 PM -- THE TRAIN ROBBERS (1973)
A bandit's widow enlists a famed gunman to return the gold her husband had stolen.
Dir: Burt Kennedy
Cast: John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Bobby Vinton
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Director Burt Kennedy wanted to cast Jack Elam as Grady. However John Wayne would not allow this, because he felt Elam had stolen too many scenes from him in Rio Lobo (1970).


5:45 PM -- THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)
An experienced gunman and a peace-loving tenderfoot clash with a Western bully.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles
BW-123 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head

John Wayne said that this film was "a tough assignment" for him. While everyone else seemed to have well-rounded characters, he saw his role as merely functional for the plot. "I just had to wander around in that son of a bitch (Tom Doniphon) and try to make a part for myself." When someone suggested to Wayne that his role was a complicated one, full of ambiguity, he reportedly shot back, "Screw ambiguity. Perversion and corruption masquerade as ambiguity. I don't like ambiguity. I don't trust ambiguity."




TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: JOHN WAYNE



8:00 PM -- THE QUIET MAN (1952)
An Irish ex-boxer retires to Ireland and searches for the proper wife.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald
C-129 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Director -- John Ford, and Best Cinematography, Color -- Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Victor McLaglen, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Frank S. Nugent, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Frank Hotaling, John McCarthy Jr. and Charles S. Thompson, Best Sound, Recording -- Daniel J. Bloomberg (Republic Sound Department), and Best Picture

When John Ford screened his final cut for the studio's top brass they liked it, but it was 129 minutes. They reminded him they would not release a film over 120 minutes, citing the audiences could not/would not sit in a theater for over two hours. Ford staunchly objected claiming he already cut out 'all the fat' and there was nothing left to cut. They stood their ground & sent him back to cut nine minutes. Ford did his level best to contain his ire as he collected his film and fumed out the door. As the story goes, a few days later he called the brass and informed them 'the final print' was ready for the screening. When the last man took his seat Ford signaled the projectionist to dim the lights and run it. Then, at exactly 120 minutes, right in the middle of the climactic fight, the screen goes white and the house lights came up. There followed by a deafening silence. Ford said something like, 'As you can plainly see, there is nothing left to cut out. So, I give you 'The Quiet Man' at exactly 120 minutes! Now, you're begging me for the last nine minutes! Do you honestly think the audience will be any different?' Naturally, the studio relented and the rest, as they say, is history.



10:30 PM -- THE SEARCHERS (1956)
An Indian-hating Civil War veteran tracks down the tribe that slaughtered his family and kidnapped his niece.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
C-119 mins, CC,

Reportedly this film was seen in a theater in Texas by Buddy Holly and his friends in the summer of 1956. They were so impressed with Ethan's (John Wayne) repeated use of the phrase "That'll be the day" that they used it as the title for their now standard rock song, which they composed soon after.


12:45 AM -- RIO BRAVO (1959)
A sheriff enlists a drunk, a kid and an old man to help him fight off a ruthless cattle baron.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson
C-141 mins, CC,

Montgomery Clift, who was bisexual and a liberal Democrat, turned down the role of Dude, because he didn't want to work again with John Wayne and Walter Brennan who were both strongly conservative Republicans. They had previously worked together in Red River (1948). Clift suggested his The Young Lions (1958) co-star Dean Martin for the role of Dude, and so Martin's agent immediately approached Howard Hawks with the idea.


3:15 AM -- THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945)
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed
BW-135 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD), and Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic), Donald Jahraus (photographic), R.A. MacDonald (photographic) and Michael Steinore (sound)

Though many had questioned John Wayne's getting an exemption from military service during World War II, it was not entirely his fault. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor) and family status, classified as 3-A (family deferment). He repeatedly wrote to John Ford, asking to be placed in Ford's military unit, but consistently postponed it until "after he finished one more film", Wayne did not attempt to prevent his reclassification as 1-A (draft eligible), but Republic Pictures was emphatically resistant to losing him; Herbert J. Yates, President of Republic, threatened Wayne with a lawsuit if he walked away from his contract and Republic intervened in the Selective Service process, requesting Wayne's further deferment.



Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Classic Films»TCM Schedule for Saturday...