Reviews of movies with John Wayne.
Grade: C-
Synopsis: During the Civil War, a Union Cavalry Colonel (John Wayne) clashes with a pacifist surgeon (William Holden) assigned to his outfit for a raid deep into confederate territory.
Despite the combined talents of director John Ford and stars John Wayne and William Holden, The Horse Soldiers is a disappointment, and if anyone’s to blame, it’s likely Ford. MORE »
Grade: B
Synopsis: Davy Crockett (John Wayne), Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) and William Travis (Laurence Harvey) lead a group of volunteers and soldiers in an attempt to stave off the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna.
The Alamo was John Wayne’s dream project. He worked for years to get it green-lit, as studios were reluctant to finance such a large-scale project with Wayne, a first-time director, at the helm, but Wayne persevered, agreeing to play the role of Davy Crockett himself, as well as assuming financial responsibility for any cost overruns. Combined, these two compromises would nearly break him both physically and financially. MORE »
Grade: D
Synopsis: A cowboy (John Wayne) protects a little half-Indian girl from crooks eyeing to ransom her for a portion of the oil lease she’s inherited.
‘Neath the Arizona Skies does not start well. Finding a good child actor is, admittedly, very hard, with big-budget productions utilizing nationwide casting calls and auditioning hundreds of performers. The filmmakers here, apparently, went the economy route and just picked the first kid they could find. The result, Shirley Jean Rickert, turns in one of the worst performances ever, even by child-actor standards. She mumbles her lines and often doesn’t even look at her co-stars. Indeed, if she didn’t disappear for much of the film after the first ten minutes or so, ‘Neath the Arizona Skies would be unwatchable. MORE »
Grade: B-
Synopsis: Chinese villagers engineer the escape of an American ship captain (John Wayne) from a Communist prison in the hopes that he will help them flee to Hong Kong.
Despite its heavy right-wing slant, Blood Alley is an enjoyable John Wayne adventure vehicle with an interesting history. Produced by Wayne’s Batjac Productions, filming began with Robert Mitchum as the lead, but after shoving a crewmember into the San Francisco Bay, Mitchum was fired and went on to make Man with the Gun (1955), instead. The role was then offered to Gregory Peck, who turned it down, and then Humphrey Bogart, who wanted too much money. With Warner Bros threatening to pull their distribution deal unless a major star could be found, Wayne himself stepped into the role. MORE »
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A government agent (John Wayne) and his partner (James Arness) hunt Commies in Hawaii for the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Thanks to star John Wayne’s monotone voice-over narration, the flat characters, and dry story, Big Jim McLain plays more like an extended episode of Dragnet than a major motion picture. Indeed the lack of any real thrills or tension combined with the script’s heavy anti-Communist propaganda make for a rather dull, but not unwatchable, 90 minutes. MORE »
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