John Wayne was one of the most influential and successful Hollywood actors of his time. In 1971, he was asked by Playboy in an interview whether The Marshal, which was called True Grit in English, was the best film he had ever worked on. Wayne had a clear answer: no. Instead there is five filmswhich he clearly prefers.
John Wayne calls these 4 well-known films his best
Ringo (1939): In Ringo (Stagecoach), John Wayne as Ringo Kid travels with a colorful group of travelers in a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory. They must overcome their differences when they are invaded by the natives.
Red River (1948): In Red River, John Wayne plays Thomas Dunson, a determined rancher who moves from Texas to Missouri with his foster son and a huge herd of cattle. Along the way, there are dramatic conflicts with Native Americans and his own tyrannical behavior.
The winner (1952): In The Quiet Man, Sean Thornton (Wayne) returns to Ireland to buy his childhood home. There he falls in love with Mary Kate Danaher, but her brother Will stands in the way of their marriage.
The Black Falcon (1956): In The Searchers, Wayne plays the determined Ethan Edwards, who searches for years for his family’s kidnapped daughters after the Comanche raid. Driven by revenge, he must confront his own brutality and moral dilemmas.
According to John Wayne, far too few people know this fifth film
There is another film that John Wayne would consider one of his greatest masterpieces: The Long Voyage Home, an American war film from 1940. Although the film was nominated for several Oscars, you know Relatively few people saw it compared to the other films. This is also noticeable in some fan forums like Reddit, where fans are wondering why hardly anyone is talking about this film.
The reasons for this could be that The Long Road to Cardiff, as a melancholic war drama, did not fit in with the action-packed westerns that had made John Wayne famous. In addition, the film was little promoted and remained under the radar of the general public. However, as Wayne revealed to Playboy, the film is “the one that all film students at universities watch over and over again”.
Here you can see The Long Road to Cardiff – and that’s what the film is about
The film follows the sailors of the freighter Glencairn, including John Wayne as the tough Ole Olsen, as he and his crew battle storms, German attacks and personal challenges. The film can be seen on WOW in the stream or on Blu-ray, which is available from Amazon *, among others.
John Wayne received several top-class awards for his outstanding acting performances, including the 1970 Oscar for Best Actor for The Marshal.
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