You can't miss NRO's symposium on John Wayne, compiled to mark the Duke's passing 30 years ago today. (30 years? Hard to fathom.)Here are just a few teasers:
Popular author Andrew Klavan -- Any movie with John Wayne in it is better than every movie without John Wayne in it. That’s a cinematic law. I mean, if I had to decide whether to jump into the ocean to save the last copy of Brannigan or The Godfather / Gone With The Wind gift set, I would probably have a scotch in my stateroom and think about it a good long time.
I guess my favorite is Stagecoach. No, Fort Apache. No, The Quiet Man. Or maybe the part of The Searchers that doesn’t have all that misbegotten domestic comedy in it. I love the ginormous fistfight at the end of The Spoilers. I love the fact that he chased Commie spies for the House Un-American Activities Committee as Big Jim McLain. I believe the scene in Red River where he says “I’m not gonna hitcha,” and then punches out Montgomery Clift may be the high point not only of cinema history but of human evolution.
But I guess there is a special place in my heart for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, because it explains everything a boy needs to know about life in only two hours. That cuts Hamlet’s record in half.
Editor of the new, smashingly successful conservative website, Big Hollywood, John Nolte -- John Wayne was larger than life, an unapologetic patriot, and an outstanding actor who left behind a timeless film legacy. The Alamo, which he directed, is not a great film, but a good one — and it remains an insightful look into the gentle, gracious soul of its creator, a man who recognized the dignity of everyone: a blind woman who refuses special consideration, a slave whose first decision as a free man is to stand and die for liberty, and, most unexpected, Santa Anna’s soldiers. (“Speaks well for men that so many aren’t afraid to die, because they think right’s on their side. Speaks well of them.”)
Many things define John Wayne: how he moved and spoke, his artistry, his politics, and his Americanism. But the Duke’s permanent hold on our hearts comes from something within him, something unseen — the depth of his humanity.
The other contributors don't always have such a positive take...but they're all interesting to read: Leo Grin, Andy Levy, Marc Cerasini, Michael Long, H. W. Crocker III, Mark Hemingway, S. T. Karnick, Bill Kauffman, Andrew Leigh, Charlotte Allen, James G. Lakely, Andrew Stuttaford, Nicholas Tucker, and Kirby Wilbur.
Tonight, if we get everything done we need to, we'll remember John Wayne by settling in with one of his movies. El Dorado, maybe? Big Jim McCain? She Wore a Yellow Ribbon? Flying Sands of Iwo Jima? Red River? True Grit? They Were Expendable? The Quiet Man? Flying Tigers? Stagecoach? The High and the Mighty? The Alamo? The Searchers? Big Jake? The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? Or any of a dozen more.
Or quite possibly, Claire's favorite John Wayne picture, The Shootist?
Tough decision. So hey -- we just might watch two!
