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Who helped make John Wayne great? Director John Ford

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 June 2006, 07:21 CDT

By Matt Hurwitz

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In 1939, while shooting the seminal western "Stagecoach," John Wayne got his first taste of director John Ford's biting, often cruel, sense of humor.

After inviting the "Duke" in to see the previous day's work -- of actor Andy Devine, an accomplished horseman, driving a team of six horses -- he asked the young actor for his opinion. "Dad told him, 'You know, the stunt men didn't put any pressure on the reins, so it didn't look like Andy was really driving them,"' recalled Wayne's son Patrick. "I see," Ford said.

The two went out to the set, where Ford called for silence and announced, "Duke says Andy Devine can't drive a six-up!"

The entire crew stood looking at the young actor, wondering why he would slam a seasoned actor like Devine. "He completely turned the story around, and my dad was totally humiliated," said Wayne. "That was dad's baptism into John Ford."

It was the beginning of a professional relationship which would span five decades and produce some of Hollywood greatest films. Eight of those movies are included in a new Warner Home Video DVD box set, "The John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection."

The pairing of Wayne, who died in 1979, and Ford, who died in 1973, had a strong impact on the film world, as well as on their careers. "There have been other great actor/director collaborations, but I don't think any two people were part of each other's lives so crucially as Wayne and Ford," said film historian Leonard Maltin.

It was Ford who gave the Duke his first break in the movies, recommending him for "The Big Trail" in 1930 to director Raoul Walsh, only to snub the actor for his success in the film, leaving him to play in B-movies for nine years.

"Wayne never knew why," said director Peter Bogdanovich, who is making a new documentary about Ford. "And then, as suddenly as it began, it ended, and Ford became friendly again and cast him in 'Stagecoach' and changed his career."

Ford's introduction of Wayne on the screen in "Stagecoach" remains one of the most iconic cowboy images on film. "That fantastic closeup of him essentially heralds the birth of a new star," Maltin said.

MEATHEAD

Wayne never forgot the break Ford gave him, even enduring constant abuse from him on film sets. "By all accounts, Ford would ride Wayne miserably, calling him 'meathead.' And Wayne always took it," said Maltin. "He never fought back; it was like from a parent that you knew loved you, in spite of superficial evidence to the contrary."

"Ford was tough, and he could be meaner than hell," said actress Maureen O'Hara, 85, from her home in Glengariff, Ireland. "But, by God, he was the best bloody director you ever worked with in your life."

Actors on Ford's films never knew which Ford they'd get on any given day. "We'd come on the set, and they'd say, 'How is he today? What kind of a mood is he in?"' O'Hara recalled of her five films with the director. "And they'd say, 'Oh, God, he's in a stinkin' mood -- watch out."'

Socially, however, Wayne and Ford were incredibly close, spending time together on Ford's yacht, The Araner.

"We'd spend summers in Catalina, and Ford would be there on The Araner," Patrick Wayne said. "There was a true sense of romance and adventure about it." Duke and "Pappy," as he called Ford, Wayne said, "would go out and play cards and drink and smoke ... maybe eat, maybe not eat, for days, maybe weeks."

Ford's films often included the same "stock company" of fine character actors, including Wayne, Ward Bond, Harry Carey, Jr., John Carradine and Victor McLaglen, often writing parts with these actors in mind to fit their characters, Bogdanovich said. "The parts, of course, fit like gloves."

Ford is credited with creating "mature" westerns. "Ford was a key architect in expanding the western from a cubbyhole of cliche," Maltin said. "Stagecoach," "Fort Apache," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "The Searchers," all included in the set, are among the great westerns for grown-ups.

Indeed, Wayne's performance as Ethan Edwards, an embittered Civil War veteran hunting for his niece in "Searchers," is often thought of as his finest film performance.

"Wayne was always dismissed as an actor -- and still is," said Maltin. "But it was Ford who gave Wayne some of his most iconic roles, to a point where their images and reputations fused."

Wayne, apparently, felt the same way. "He really gave Ford credit for everything that he became," said Wayne's son Patrick. "But I think he had a little something to do with it, too."

Source: REUTERS

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