When your husband is a John Wayne junkie like mine is, you really can’t avoid seeing lots and lots of John Wayne movies. In short order you find yourself looking forward to appearances by Wayne movie regulars like Harry Carey, Jr, Victor McLaglen and even Strother Martin. After repeatedly seeing Wayne movie credits you begin to suspect that the only one who could really direct a John Wayne film was John Ford. Then you discover the films that Wayne made with Howard Hawks.
Of course I continue to love watching what many consider to be Wayne-Ford masterpieces like “The Quiet Man”, “The Searchers” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence”. While there is no doubt that John Ford was instrumental in creating the Wayne legend, I have discovered over many years of Wayne watching that there are indeed other directors who had a significant part in building John Wayne’s stature as a Hollywood film giant. For me, Howard Hawks stands out. Whenever John Wayne meets Howard Hawks you can rely on a quality product.
It think I became convinced of the power of this pairing the first time I saw “Red River”. The fact that I have now seen that movie more than a dozen times has not subtracted from the simple truth that for me this is one of the all time best vehicles for John Wayne. It is a long movie filled with lots of cattle, lots of dust and some excellent acting. Giving John Wayne the chance to play off Walter Brennan as his lifelong friend and Montgomery Clift as his “adopted” son provided Wayne with a real acting challenge. Of course in “Red River” Wayne played the part of the hardened rancher, a man who was no stranger to hard work or hard times, but under Howard Hawks direction Wayne in the end is also given the opportunity to take us deeper into the character of Tom Dunston. Then Wayne exposes a tenderness that was kept below the surface through most of the story. I am willing to sit through a cattle drive that starts in Texas and ends in Abilene when the trade off includes a surprising encounter with the inner Dunston.
More than ten years after the 1949 production of “Red River”, Howard Hawks teamed up with Wayne in what became a classic in the film credits of both men. The film was “Rio Bravo”. There was les intrigue in this rather straightforward western. In what boils down to a prolonged shoot out between the “good guys” and the “bad guys”, Wayne plays a gun-smart sheriff. And that could have been the whole story but Hawks used that very basic formula to also reveal more about the sheriff Wayne plays. He crafts the movie around four relationships that allow Wayne to expose the full person of the sheriff, as well as the range of his acting ability. He is asked alternately to connect with an old friend (Dean Martin) who is in the process of getting sober, a handicapped deputy ( Walter Brennan), a reformed dance hall girl ( Angie Dickinson ) and a throw-in, up and coming Ricky Nelson. Watching Wayne pivot around between these four and also get the bad guys never ceases to be a real treat.
In “Hatari” Howard Hawks gave John Wayne an opening to be something other than a cowboy or a war hero. Of course as always Wayne plays a charater somewhat larger than life, but Wayne has to battle for attention with the incredible scenic background which Hawks also somehow puts center stage. Even when I get lost in the rather wandering plot of “Hatari”, I can’t pass on the opportunity to see Wayne in an African setting. Watching “Hatari” is always fun because in it Hawks creates opportunities that reveal both the comedic and the romantic sides of John Wayne. Hawks spins the story of “Hatari” around lots of wildlife footage, tremendous elephant scenes and a wonderfully catchy tune, While this has to be one of the most playful films to star John Wayne, it is also the one in which Hawks allows Wayne a chance to stretch his stereotype. And Wayne responds.
After some fifty years of watching his films, I still find John Wayne a compelling actor. HIs mere physical size gives him a certain dominance in any scene. But there is no doubt that working with outstanding directors helped to make John Wayne much more than just a big screen cowboy. For me one of the best of those directors was Howard Hawks .
