As I sit here watching college football games on TV I thought It would be fun to list my favorite John Wayne Movies. These are not necessarily his best movies but the ones I like the most. In order to make the list the movie has to be one I have watched multiple time on DVD or cable TV. The list is in the order the movies were released to theaters and not the order of my preference. Here goes;
1. Stagecoach (1939) *
Director John Ford made John Wayne a Star. Wayne escapes from "B" westerns. Filmed in Monument Valley. See Picture of me at right in Monument Valley.
2. They Were Expendable (1945) *
Director John Ford makes a bitter sweet movie about the fall of the Philippines during
WWII. Ford was a Naval Officer during the war and new of what he directed. This is a
fine movie.
3. Fort Apache (1948)*
The first of the Calvary trilogy Part of it is filmed in Monument Valley.
4. Red River (1948)
Directed by Howard Hawks. A cattle Drive from Texas to Kansas.
5. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)*
The second of the Calvary trilogy. My personal favorite of all John Wayne Movies . Director John Ford evokes the camaraderie he experience in WWII in the navy. Filmed in Monument Valley
6. Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Best movie about the Marine Corps ever made.
7. Rio Grande ((1950)*
Last of the Calvary trilogy. John Ford trys out John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in anticipation of The Quiet Man.
8. The Quiet Man (1952)*
John Ford's movie of love for his parents Ireland. Wayne and O'Hara have never been better together.
9. Hondo ((1953)
A gritty western
10. The Searchers (1956)*
John Ford's Classic. Monument Valley has never looked better. One of the best day's of my life was spent in Monument valley. (see picture above)
11. Rio Bravo (1959)
Howard Hawk directed. Who can forget Dean Martin (the Drunken deputy) and Ricky Nelson(a young gunfighter) singing a song together as John Wayne and Walter Brennan look on in the sheriffs office. Wayne and Hawks remade this movie as El Dorado in1967. Filmed in Old Tucson near Tucson Arizona. A fun place to visit for John Wayne fans.
12. The Alamo (1960)
John Wayne directed the movie he always wanted to make. He put everything on the line to make this movie. I love the speech about the word "Republic I like the sound of that word"
John Wayne loved this movie and so do I. I never tire of watching it.
13. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
When legend becomes fact print the legend. John Ford made movies after this, but this was the last good one.
14. In Harm's Way (1965)
Fun episodic movie about the war in the Pacific during WWII. Who else but John Wayne could get away with the line "There goes a fast ship in Ham's Way"
15. The Green Berets (1968)
I put this movie in to bug my liberal friends. Best movies about Vietnam are Hamburger Hill and Mel Gibson's We Were Soldiers.
16. True Grit (1969)
John Wayne won his Academy Award for Best Actor.
17. The Cowboys ( 1972)
A good western for Wayne's later movies. Liberals didn't like young boys using guns to kill the bad guys.
18. The Shootist ( 1976)
Wayne's last movie. An over looked classic. A gunfighter dies of cancer. Goodbye Duke!
* DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD
Click on the title above for a link to my DVD collection
