He was hard-working, he did a great job of functioning despite a serious booze problem, kept working after losing a lung I think, and left a decent body of work that still is worth watching for the most part (probably not his portrayal of Genghis Khan, or that flyboy piece he did for Hughes). My favorites of his include the ones with half-hour fistfights. :’) And of course, the showdown scene in “True Grit” remains one of my favorites by anyone.
He was outstanding in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Actually, everything in the Cavalry Trilogy is good.
The Searchers was Ford's best movie and Wayne gave an inspired and somewhat dark performance.
Wayne was also great in Red River, which he did not do with Ford. Ford is reported to have said after he saw it, "I didn't know the son of a bitch could act!"