Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne

by Ronald L. Davis

Book Overview

Almost two decades after his death, John Wayne is still America's favorite movie star. More than an actor, Wayne is a cultural icon whose stature seems to grow with the passage of time. In this... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806130156
• ISBN13: 9780806130156
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 377 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Dark Duke : Feo, Fuerte y Formal.

Author Ronald L. Davis has given us a very informative, easy to read biography of a surprisingly complex, some would say tortured soul. All the highlights are there, Duke's less than perfect childhood, his early days as a prop man for Fox Film, Duke's first big movie made in 1930, "The Big Trail", a critical success but box office failure. Then the hungry decade where Wayne honed his skills and waited for his "time" to come. It came in 1939 when John Ford chose Duke to star in the ground breaking "Stage Coach". Wayne and Ford then had more than 25 years of hit movies, all these classics The Searchers, The Quiet Man, The cavalry trilogy etc. are mentioned in the book. Author Davis does not forget to explore Duke's three marriages, his loving but sometimes stormy relationships with his seven children and several high-profile affairs, particularly one with Marlene Dietrich that lasted for over three years. Wayne's last decade is also fully explored, his Oscar winning role in True Grit, the poignant last movie, The Shootist, where his characters' struggle with cancer reflected his real life situation. Fully recommended.

A well done look at the Duke

His friends & fans simply call him Duke. More than 20 yrs. after his death he is still coming in 1st or 2nd in polls askings Americans who their favorite actor is. Why is this? Come on, he's dead already! Beginning in 1930 with THE BIG TRAIL & ending in 1976 with THE SHOOTIST, DUKE has been bigger than life, a symbol to the world of the ruggedness, tough independence, personal conviction, & courage that make up the American character. I love him not just because he was a great actor, but because he played roles that showed us an America to be proud of. He was the type of guy you wouldn't mind sitting with in a bar for a few drinks & , definitely, you'd love him at your back in a fight! The author of this book will help you understand & appreciate John Wayne the way I & millions the world over do. You will never look at John Wayne, the actor & the man, in the same way ever again. He is my favorite American Actor of all time, and, before I sold the collection a couple of years ago, I owned nearly all his films on Video. Not the best book out there, but still informative.

Outstanding

Though very in-depth in explaining each movie John Wayne appeared, the book lacks somewhat in explaining who John Wayne was. In comparison, Donald Dewey's recent biography of Jimmy Stewart gives the reader a more detailed examination of Stewart than Ronald Davis does of Wayne. Ronald Davis also relies too much on the self-centered Pilar Wayne, the third Mrs. John Wayne, for anectdotal information. Davis's use of interviews with Harry Carey, Jr. are quite valuable and illuminating. It's a shame that Davis didn't thoroughly interview other actors who shared the screen with Duke, including Ron Howard, about whom Duke thought highly or Kim Darby (Mattie in True Grit), who didn't like the Duke (remember, True Grit was filmed in 1968). Mr. Davis does an excellent job explaining Duke Wayne's desert years in the thirties doing one-reel westerns. One has to admire Wayne's persistance. One note Pilar Wayne reveals through Ronald Davis that puts Wayne in a very bad light and has changed my personal views toward him to the strongly negative, was Duke Wayne's insistance that a pregnant Pilar get an abortion. The baby was inconvenient as Duke was in the divorce court with number two wife Chata in a highly charged divorce battle. The baby was killed but Duke Wayne received a fairly good divorce settlement. A conservative icon, when the chips were down, was capable of a selfish, dishonest, sordid, dirty act. The Duke was a great actor and icon but was not a good person. He was not a great American.--Derek Leaberry