‘John Wayne is the United States of America’

bighollywood.breitbart.com ^ | June 11, 2009 | John Nolte

[Free ThinkerNY]

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of John Wayne. To honor this great man, National Review’s John J. Miller has put together a terrific tribute. I was very pleased to be asked to contribute along with Andrew Klavan and our very own Leo Grin, Michael Long, Andrew Leigh, Andy Levy, S. T. Karnick, and others. I urge you to check it out.

It was Maureen O’Hara who said “John Wayne is the United States of America,” and that he was. Honorable, generous, brave, selfless, aware of his own flaws… The great thing about being a John Wayne fan is that he survives all attempts at deconstruction. His timeless work obviously speaks for itself, but the man himself has withstood the toughest of all critics, time. John Wayne doesn’t disappoint.

[wtc911]

Yeah, Wayne played a real Marine in that one, very brave.

[Pistolshot]

You forgot the one he should have gotten the Oscar for....The Searchers.

[Rummyfan]

I think Wayne himself said that was the worst of his films, bar none.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Having watched “North to Alaska” and “Jet Pilot”, that’s saying something.

[tnlibertarian]

Yeah, the United States used to be John Wayne. It seems lately it’s more Andy Dick.

[oyez]

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Not a John Wayne fan I take it?...PEE Wee Herman more your bag?

[SpinnerWebb]

Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted.

The poem was a skit on Laugh-In, as a take-off on Henry Gibson:

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Gibson

"Gibson's 'break-out' performance came with the three years he spent as part of the Laugh-In cast. A key character he played was "The Poet," often reciting poems with "sharp satirical or political themes".

[2] He would emerge from behind a stage flat, wearing a then-trendy Nehru jacket and a string of 'hippie' beads and holding an outlandishly large artificial flower, and say, "[Title of poem] -- by Henry Gibson." He would bow stiffly from the waist, recite his poem, and return behind the flat.

Gibson's simple-looking poem routine was a memorable enough part of Laugh-In that John Wayne actually performed it on the show once, flower in hand—although in his own inimitable style: "The Sky -- by John Wayne. The Sky is blue/The Grass is green/Get off your butt/And join the Marines!" At which point, Wayne left the scene by smashing through the flat."

[Stand Watch Listen]

Maureen O’Hara, soon to be 89, is alive, well and living in the Virgin Islands.

[wtc911]

I'm a a big fan of Wayne's, introduced my grandson to his movies. He was really good at playing heroes on screen.

But I am also a grown-up who realizes that Wayne the man fell far short of the heroes he played on screen at the most crucial time in our history. There were a lot of better established, older Hollywood actors who threw their careers to the wind (read about Robert Montegomery some time) and laid their lives on the line for the flag that you want to wrap around Wayne. He stayed home.

That fact can't be changed, it can't be excused and for me it can't be forgiven.

The guy was an icon, no doubt about that. But he was iconic for the heroic roles he played not the life he led.

[Rummyfan]

You make one hundred movies or so, you’re bound to have some clunkers in there. My personal favorites are just about anything he did with John Ford - Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, The Searchers, The Quiet Man, and another one not very well known and in which he only played a supporting role, The Long Voyage Home.

[Rummyfan]

The 101ST in St Mere Eglise - I’ll be visiting there in July!

[AngelesCrestHighway]

"They Were Expendable" was a great movie. Still is....

[Tijeras_Slim]

Agreed, those are all great.

[wtc911]

Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted.

_______________________________________

So what (if true)? The USNA is a four year gig. The war was over in three and a half years. Why didn't he follow the example of everyone from Tyrone Power to Desi Arnaz (who wasn't even a citizen) and just join?

He didn't even though older men with more children did. He stayed in Hollywood and got paid. No honor in that.

Admire his work but remember that his work was pretending to be something he wasn't.

[Rummyfan]

But I am also a grown-up who realizes that Wayne the man fell far short of the heroes he played on screen at the most crucial time in our history. There were a lot of better established, older Hollywood actors who threw their careers to the wind (read about Robert Montegomery some time) and laid their lives on the line for the flag that you want to wrap around Wayne. He stayed home.

Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Leslie Howard who died serving in the British forces, David Niven who served in the Royal Army and on and on.

BTW, Wayne starred with Robert Montgomery in another John Ford flick, They Were Expendable. It's a very accurate portrayal of a PT boat squadron in The Phillippines in the early months of the Pacific War. The Montgomery character is based on the real naval hero John Bulkeley.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Agreed!..... (from post 33)

[wtc911]

I guess you totally miss the irony of your own post. They Were Expendable starred Robert Montegomery who, before WW2 was a much bigger star than Wayne. He was also older. He left Hollywood and joined the Navy where he actually was a PT Boat skipper.

Ford intentionally rubbed Wayne's nose in it by listing the WW2 rank of Montegomery and others in that movie's credits. Wayne was one of the few who had nothing to show.

You may idolize the actor Wayne, as for me, I'll save my respect for guys like Ford and Montegomery (and dozens of others from that time who embarassed you hero by their actions).

[Joe 6-pack]

I was born and raised in Jimmy Stewart's hometown...that's the old county courthouse in the background...It's still there.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

I’m not diagnosing it as much as you are. I am simply watching a movie without pretense as most kids did back then on Saturday afternoon.....