When a horse' s head is stretched up and out like a camel because his rider is pushing his stirrups up approaching the animal's years and forcing his weight back on the tender part of the horses back, all the while yanking back on a severe curb bit, it is hardly a thing of beauty and this John Wayne did consistently.
The horse was beautiful, the cinematography was first rate, his character as an actor might've been superhuman, but his horsemanship was not.
As to Ben Johnson, I do not say that he was a greater star than John Wayne but I will argue that he played in some very significant roles and did some very high quality acting. I need only cite The Last Picture Show for a masterful performance.
Yes John Wayne is an icon, I have never disputed that, as a matter of fact I praised him in several films, comments which you have ignored, but as an actor we must regard him as someone who is pretending in front of the camera and not someone who because of the arts of cinematography is entitled in his private life to shape our world view.
There are many great actors in Hollywood but most of them are political and personal wretches. We don't attach ourselves to them and, if we are sensible, we don't think they are superheroes merely because they play superheroes. It is equally foolish to think that acting talent is a necessary consequence of playing a right wing figure. It is akin to thinking that an actor who plays the heavy is somehow morally deficient in real life.
