As you all know, John Wayne was first offered the role of Harry Callahan, but had to turn it down because of an injured hand.
My question is, do you think the film with Wayne in it would have been any good?
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That story, including the injured hand, belonged to 'The Chairman of The Board'-Frank Sinatra.
NM
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Well, Wayne did a few cop films in the 1970s...But no one could have beaten Eastwood.
shareHey dillweed got a beef with the Duke? Take to HIS board, don't go wasting our bandwidth.
NM
According to an old interview on Turner Classic movies, Robert Mitchum was the first to turn down the role and, per the DVD commentary, it was also offered to Sinatra and McQueen. Never heard of Wayne being in the mix.
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nosiree! it was Wayne, Sinatra, McQueen, and Newman with rights of first refusal. Legend has it that Wayne thought there was too much violence.
What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?
something tells me that your "band" has little "width"
What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?
"F-ck John Wayne.
He couldn't hold Eastwood's jock."....well said.
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What I found quite ironic is the fact that John Wayne turned down this role on the basis that the violence was "unjustified and glorified"!
That coming from the same guy who shot 'The Green Berets' and dozens of westerns where he basically spent his time killing native-americans, is at least a bit incongruent if not hypocritical.
Yeah, that's sort of like the older brother who sees nothing wrong with beating on you, but if someone else tries it, he'll pound them!
shareafter the success of this movie he changed his tune and made a couple of "maverick" cop films a few years later.
shareThis is from an old guy, who has seen and read pretty much everything about this series...
The role was written for John Wayne, but the studio first offered to Frank Sinatra because he was the big thing in Hollywood. When Sinatra hurt his hand, it was then offered to John Wayne. He didn't like 'being offered Sinatra's rejections' so he said no. (The violence was a secondary reason, that he later stated he regretted.) Robert Mitchum turned it down next, calling it 'junk'. Oddly enough, they also offered it to Burt Lancaster. I'm so glad he turned it down. Steve McQueen didn't want to do another cop film. (He had just done Bullitt, which was fantastic, but he would have been a terrible Harry Callahan.) Paul Newman was the last to turn it down, but suggested they give it to Clint.
And then there was perfection...
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I heard Robert Mitchum was also considered.
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There's a rumor that John Wayne wanted a part in 'High Noon', but was turned down for it, so he bashed it out of spite. Not sure it that's true, but it would explain why he would come up with such a lazy, baseless criticism.
If you watch the John Wayne films McQ and Brannigan (the only cop films he ever made) you can see how he might have played him.
shareWayne was QUITE a rogue in McQ, what with him shooting a guy in the back & wielding a MAC-10 in a gunfight. Imagine Rooster Cogburn as a cop in Seattle.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
I saw 'em; didn't like 'McQ' (the 'Dirty Harry where nothing happens); I did like 'Brannigan', but it wasn't really that Harry-est.
MCQ had a great chase sequence - that was totally missing from Dirty Harry, the finale compared to MCQ or Bullitt was anti-climatic.
shareI love the 'Dirty Harry' final! So intense it makes ya rip-up your the arm of your couch while watching it. I liked the car chase in 'Bullitt' as well. I vaguely remember the chase in 'McQ' being good, but it was one of very few decent scenes.
It was Sinatra, ya moron.
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