It’s over five decades ago that the one and only John Wayne accepted the role of Major John Reisman in The Dirty Dozen(1967), a spectacular, runaway blockbuster. He asked Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for certain script changes, albeit he pulled out of the project to make The Green Berets (1968). He was replaced by Lee Marvin, who ‘lived’ the role, and did a marvellous job that Wayne would have been proud of. This was the most fascinating element—although with Wayne donning the part, the film would have been dexterously different and a refreshingly original ‘Wayne’ in a new bottle on celluloid.
When Wayne, the first of the great Hollywood heroes, was born over 114 years ago, he did not know he would become a legend. What made Wayne, John Wayne was apparent. He sculpted a new style: what with his Stetson pulled down cockily on one side, with the scarf loosely tied by a solitary knot. His face mirrored true grit and willpower. His clothing was, for most part, jeans, and a shirt loosely worn, with his pistols, yet again, ready to blaze into action at the proverbial drop of a thought. Wayne, was, quite simply, Wayne—because, he’d be nothing else.
A Damn Good Actor
Wayne (1907-1979) was a damn good actor. He was, and still is, America’s alter ego. A movie marvel, no less. As he once articulated, “I’ve established a character on the screen that maybe rough, that maybe cruel, and that may have a different code, but (it) has never been mean, petty, or small.” Wayne made the Hollywood Western a form of Shakespearean drama, a Greek tragedy. He was one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood films—or, films of his era. Witness his grand portrayal of quintessential Western characters like Thomas Dunson, Ethan Edwards, Rooster Coburn, and Nathan Brittles.
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