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New | John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison -- The Duke -- is the most famous of all Western Actors. Every store in Tombstone has several -- sometimes dozens -- of his photos. Before he made Stagecoach (below) he made 50 "Oaters" which you can find in big collections. They are unremarkable except for the stuntwork and occasional acting of Yakima Canutt, arguably the greatest stuntman who every lived. Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks) This movie was one of the first "new" movies filmed in Old Tucson, while I was going to the Univ. of Arizona. We went out and watched the 2nd Unit clean up. Then, every afternoon, we went down to the 50-cent matinee and watched it again and again. It set a pattern for a whole series of movies:
For me, the most memorable scene is the one where Chance confronts "Feathers" (Angie Dickinson) and accuses her of cheating in a card game. The dialog is almost identical to the confrontation scene between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren BaCall in Hawk's To Have and Have Not. (1944) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) John Ford made a bunch of movies about the Cavalry and this is one of the best. Duke, 42 at the time, plays 62-year-old Capt. Nathan Brittles -- a "thirty-year captain" -- about to retire. He should have gotten an Oscar for his performance, but the Academy was taking Westerns for granted at the time. My favorite quote: "Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness" -- words my ol' Daddy lived by. Ben Johnson really got his start in this movie, and has most of the good lines. "That's not my department, sir." His breakneck ride across the prairie to catch the departing Captain Brittles is one of my unforgettable scenes. Stagecoach (1939). In almost everybody's Top Ten list. Redone twice. "The Ringo Kid is sort of a tribute to Johnny Ringo. . I talk about "The Stagecoach Stunt" here. |
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