As usual, all titles are linked to my reviews, where applicable.
1. The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Four brothers (including John Wayne and Dean Martin) reunite at their mother's funeral and work together to find out how their parents lost their ranch. I've probably seen this more often than all the other movies on this list put together.
2. Operation Pacific (1951)
Commander Duke Gifford (John Wayne) leads a submarine crew on a bunch of adventures (most of them based on actual WWII events) and tries to win back his ex-wife (Patricia Neal). I never, ever get tired of this movie.
3. Rio Bravo (1959)
A sheriff (John Wayne), his recovering alcoholic deputy (Dean Martin), a crippled old man (Walter Brennan), and a young gunfighter (Ricky Nelson) hold off a host of bad guys bent on springing a murderer from jail. About as perfect as a western gets.
4. Angel and the Badman (1947)
Penelope Worth (Gail Russell) might not be quite an angel, but then again, Quirt Evans (John Wayne) isn't quite a bad man either. Her family takes him in when he's wounded, and he does everything in his power to make sure they don't regret that decision even though he's up against some pretty desperate characters. If you don't think John Wayne's name and "romantic" belong in the same sentence, you need to see this movie.
5. The Quiet Man (1952)
An Irish American (John Wayne) moves into his ancestral Irish home and falls in love with a spirited young woman (Maureen O'Hara), but a misunderstanding with her brother (Victor McLaglen) threatens to ruin their marriage. Filmed on location in Ireland and such a sweet, sassy story.
6. North to Alaska (1960)
Gold-mining partners (John Wayne and Stewart Granger) vie for the attention of a former dance hall girl (Capucine) and fight off claim jumpers led by her slick-talking ex-boyfriend (Ernie Kovacs). Much more comedic than the other movies on this list. This is the first John Wayne movie I can remember seeing.
7. Hondo (1953)
Hondo Laine (John Wayne) encounters a woman (Geraldine Page) and her young son living alone on their remote ranch right as an Indian uprising is about to start. It's got a very sweet and unexpected love story, and also lots of action.
8. The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Sgt. Stryker (John Wayne) takes a group of Marines from boot camp to the battle of Iwo Jima. This is one of John Wayne's sadder, more multi-faceted characters.
9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
A greenhorn lawyer (James Stewart) stands up a vicious outlaw (Lee Marvin), and what everyone believes happened during that shoot-out launches his stellar political career. Also, he marries John Wayne's girl, which is really most unfair. This has one of my favorite plot twists ever. And both Wayne and Stewart turn in strong performances.
10. The Searchers (1956)
Bitter, angry Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) spends years and years searching for his niece (Natalie Wood), who was kidnapped by Indians as a child. Probably John Wayne's finest performance. Even if you don't like westerns, you should see this once because it's a masterpiece.
Happy birthday, dear Duke!
I think we own Operation Pacific! After my grandpa died, my grandma gave us a lot of his movies--most of them were WWII films and westerns, and I think Operation Pacific was one of them. Gonna have to watch that.
ReplyDeleteJust might show the boys Rio Bravo tonight! I was trying to figure out what to watch with them. (Friday night is our 'old movie' night.)
I want to see Hondo, after reading the book.
John Wayne kinda breaks my heart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. :(
Great tribute post! I've only seen four of these, but I want to watch almost all the others.
Eva, awww! You could 100% watch Operation Pacific with the little guys at some point. It was my son's favorite movie when he was like seven. We watched it at least once a month, which is how I know I don't get tired of it ;-)
DeleteI hope they dig Rio Bravo :-D And you should see Hondo!
Honestly, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is the saddest movie on here. So sad. ::sniffles::
Happy birthday, John Wayne! The world would not be the same without his movies. I still haven't seen Operation Pacific, or Angel and the Bad Man. :-D
ReplyDeleteDKoren, so true :-) I can't believe you haven't seen Angel and the Bad Man!!!! (Or Operation Pacific, since you love submarines, but we have discussed that one a few times...)
DeleteI always confuse Tall in the Saddle (which I have seen) with Angel and the Bad Man, for some reason. They're not remotely the same! I think my list would be all Westerns except for Quiet Man and Donovan's Reef. :-D
DeleteDKoren, aha! And I never confuse those two because I saw Angel and the Bad Man repeatedly as a teen, but didn't see Tall in the Saddle until I was in at least my 20s.
DeleteThere is a reason he's famous for his westerns, and that is because his westerns are awesome :-D
The tough part of a list like this is you have to leave something great off of it. Everything on your list belongs on just such a list (personally, I'm not a fan of North To Alaska, but that's for another time) For me, I don't think I could make this list without Stagecoach, They Were Expendable, Red River, and (guilty pleasure) Big Jake. But that's just me :)
ReplyDeleteCrap...I forgot The High and the Mighty. See what I mean :)
J-Dub, I KNOW! I prevaricated over slots 9 and 10 for a couple of days, taking things on and off again. Stagecoach was a contender for me, and so was The High and the Mighty. And also She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Chisum. And The War Wagon. And and and and... maybe I should have done a top 20 ;-)
Delete("prevaricated" in this case meaning lying to myself that I wasn't going to have The Searchers and Liberty Valance here because I kept saying they were too famous and I was only liking them because of that, but I finally gave in to the truth that I actually DO like them that much, lol)
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