What do you think?
Rate this book
The Films of John Wayne
Pictorial tribute to the remarkable movie career of the Academy Award-winning actor provides photographs, snyposis, casts, and credits for each of his 144 films
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1970
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 26, 2025
One of Citadel's lesser efforts but still a pretty good summary of the film career of Marion Morrison (oops, I mean John Wayne.) My edition finishes with mention of 'Rio Lobo. (1970), nearly a decade before his death, so there is no listing of his final films including one of his best performances, his valedictory role in Don Siegel's 'The Shootist.'
For various reasons I am not much of a fan of Wayne but have to admit he appeared in many fine films; some are classics which are amongst my favorite films of all time.
Wayne, after an inauspicious beginning with Hollywood 'B' studios such as Monogram and Republic was suddenly turned into a major star with the advent of John Ford and his 1939 'Stagecoach.' From there Wayne became a super star and was a top box office star for the rest of his life.
Probably no other actor has one director to thank for such an illustrious career. He starred in a host of other great John Ford films such as 'Fort Apache'/ 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' /'Rio Grande' / 'The Quiet Man' / 'The Searchers' / 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.' And he was excellent in every one of them. But one does wonder, how his career would have gone without the genius of Ford. On the other hand, perhaps they complimented each other perfectly.
And let's not forget that Wayne also had the good fortune to work with director Howard Hawks, giving fine performances in three classic Hawksian epics 'Red River,' 'Rio Bravo' and 'Hatari!'
In this book, every film is listed with credits and synopsis (early films get a very brief outline), no analysis or critical comments but what is lacking is more than compensated by a fine collection of film stills.
(Review based on original Citadel Press hardback edition, second printing, 1973. Suggest you check out later edition which has been expanded and contains a complete career listing of all Wayne's films.)
For various reasons I am not much of a fan of Wayne but have to admit he appeared in many fine films; some are classics which are amongst my favorite films of all time.
Wayne, after an inauspicious beginning with Hollywood 'B' studios such as Monogram and Republic was suddenly turned into a major star with the advent of John Ford and his 1939 'Stagecoach.' From there Wayne became a super star and was a top box office star for the rest of his life.
Probably no other actor has one director to thank for such an illustrious career. He starred in a host of other great John Ford films such as 'Fort Apache'/ 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' /'Rio Grande' / 'The Quiet Man' / 'The Searchers' / 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.' And he was excellent in every one of them. But one does wonder, how his career would have gone without the genius of Ford. On the other hand, perhaps they complimented each other perfectly.
And let's not forget that Wayne also had the good fortune to work with director Howard Hawks, giving fine performances in three classic Hawksian epics 'Red River,' 'Rio Bravo' and 'Hatari!'
In this book, every film is listed with credits and synopsis (early films get a very brief outline), no analysis or critical comments but what is lacking is more than compensated by a fine collection of film stills.
(Review based on original Citadel Press hardback edition, second printing, 1973. Suggest you check out later edition which has been expanded and contains a complete career listing of all Wayne's films.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review