I’ve been watching John Wayne movies lately. Just watched the Howard Hawks-directed trio of Rio Bravo and its two variations - El Dorado and Rio Lobo - in sequential order.
They are all good in their own way. If I had to combine them, I would take the Dean Martin character from Rio Bravo; the James Caan character from El Dorado and the Jack Elam character from Rio Lobo.
Maybe because Deano is more believable as a recovering alcoholic, but I think he bests Robert Mitchum in the role as the down-and-out lawman who the Duke helps out. But then the young James Caan as the knife-wielding "Mississippi" out does the guitar-strumming Ricky Nelson as "Colorado" in Rio Bravo. And the wild-eyed Jack Elam is in top form as the crusty old guy with the itchy trigger finger who helps to guard the prisoner.
That got me to thinking about my John Wayne movie collection which is substantial but nowhere near complete. I own the following John Wayne movies on DVD:
Rooster Cogburn (‘75)
Big Jake (‘71)
Rio Lobo (‘70)
True Grit (‘69)
The Undefeated (‘69)
The War Wagon (‘67)
El Dorado (‘66)
In Harm’s Way (‘65)
The Sons of Katie Elder (‘65)
McLintock (‘63)
Donovan’s Reef (‘63)
Hatari! (‘62)
How the West Was Won (‘62)
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (‘62)
The Comancheros (‘61)
The Alamo (‘60)
North to Alaska (‘60)
Rio Bravo (‘59)
The Searchers (‘56)
The Sea Chase (‘55)
Blood Alley (‘55)
The High and the Mighty (‘54)
Island in the Sky (‘53)
Hondo (‘53)
The Quiet Man (‘52)
Rio Grande (‘50)
Angel and the Badman (‘47)
Plus the following movies in a 4-disc collection:
Hell Town (‘37)
Winds of the Wasteland (‘36)
Paradise Canyon (‘35)
Rainbow Valley (‘35)
Texas Terror (‘35)
The Dawn Rider (‘35)
The Desert Trail (‘35)
Blue Steel (‘34)
‘Neath the Arizona Skies (‘34)
The Lawless Frontier (‘34)
The Lucky Texan (‘34)
The Man From Utah (‘34)
The Star Packer (‘34)
The Trail Beyond (‘34)
Randy Rides Alone (‘34)
West of the Divide (‘34)
Riders of Destiny (‘33)
Sagebrush Trail (‘33)
Desert Command (‘33) (‘46)
His Private Secretary (‘33)
Shadow of the Eagle (‘32)
The Hurricane Express (‘32)
There are many more Wayne movies.
The ones at the top of my want list include:
Red River (‘48)
Stagecoach (‘39)
They Were Expendable (‘45)
Fort Apache (‘48)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (‘49)
Sands of Iwo Jima (‘49)
The Horse Soldiers (‘59)
Flying Leathernecks (‘51)
The Fighting Seabees (‘44)
Back to Bataan (‘45)
Operation Pacific (‘51)
The Shootist (‘76)
Brannigan (‘75)
McQ (‘74)
Cahill: U.S. Marshall (‘73)
The Cowboys (‘72)
Green Berets (‘68)
Chisum (‘70)
Hellfighters (‘68)
The Train Robbers (‘73)
Legend of the Lost (‘57)
The Fighting Kentuckian (‘49)
Wake of the Red Witch (‘48)
Flames of the Barbary Coast (‘44)
Dakota (‘45)
Tall in the Saddle (‘44)
A Lady Takes a Chance (‘43)
The Spoilers (‘42)
In Old California (‘42)
Flying Tigers (‘42)
The Dark Command (‘40)
The Three Godfathers (‘48)
