Wrong! No self-parody involved. The Duke is brilliant in the film - hilarious and tough and strong. Just watch his light touch during the early trial sequence or when he charges Robert Duvall and his gang on Old Bo and then rides Mattie (the admittedly awful Kim Darby) to safety. And Henry Hathaway was a fine director. He directed How the West Was Won, one of the best westerns ever.
I never cease to wonder at the lack of film/theatre taste among freepers.
Wayne was playing that part with toungue firmly in cheek. Watch the great films he made for John Ford and Howard Hawks and then compare them to True Grit. It’s not a great film by any means. Fun but that’s about it. The only segment in “How the West Was Won” that wasn’t expendable was the John Ford one.