The Great John Wayne

John Ford + John Wayne = Greatness Never Seen Before (and we'll never see again)

This movie, more than any other, shows his amazing acting chops. The ever so subtle level of sadness he brings to the character of Brittles is amazing. And I don't mean he plays it sad, indeed the contrary is true; but he pulls sadness out of the viewer, for the sad life of the captain- family dead, aging, army throwing him out, no direction to his later years, he plays it stoically, but there's almost a palpable sadness about him.

And he did all this while playing someone 20+ years older than he was. This is the movie he should have won best actor for.

..Joe

The tired old "John Wayne always plays himself" gripe is usually uttered by people who ignore much the same of Clark Gable, James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, and on and on. There was a market for "name" actors who "played themselves" or who stuck to type in playing the kind of characters onscreen that was expected of them by their fans.

That being said, Wayne frequently DIDN'T "play himself" and was a much finer actor than he's usually given credit for. Even according to a certain IMDb troll who generally speaks ill of John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, etc., he once admitted to me in a private conversation that Wayne gave perhaps his most Oscar-worthy performance as Captain Nathan Brittles in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON. (I would add the Duke's work in RED RIVER, THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA, THE SEARCHERS, THE COWBOYS, and THE SHOOTIST.)


Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!