Having established himself as a widely renowned symbol of American nationalism, John Wayne transcended the ontological boundaries of a Hollywood hero and became a national icon. As a staunch supporter of Joseph McCarthy’s campaign of political persecution in the country, Wayne didn’t just garner the criticism of his colleagues. He was the man who attracted the attention of world leaders, including Joseph Stalin who reportedly wanted him dead.
Throughout his career, Wayne lashed out against many notable figures in the industry because he perceived them to be “un-American”. In fact, that was his favourite allegation to levy against anything he disliked. Famously, he once called Steven Spielberg and told him not to make his 1979 war comedy, 1941, because Wayne felt that the script went against American sensibilities. He turned down the opportunity to star in it and called it “the most anti-American piece of drivel he had ever read in his life”.
During a conversation about the project, Spielberg recalled the details of his phone conversation with Wayne and the latter’s complaints about the comedy: “He called me the next day and said he felt it was a very un-American movie, and I shouldn’t waste my time making it. He said, ‘You know, that was an important war, and you’re making fun of a war that cost thousands of lives at Pearl Harbour. Don’t joke about World War II’.”
Another notable example is Wayne’s contempt for Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, the iconic 1952 western which starred Gary Cooper. He thought that the movie was an allegory about blacklisting and he called it “the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life”. However, there’s another project that drew even stronger criticism from Wayne who insisted that it is a disgrace because it “makes a mockery” of the US military.
Titled They Came to Cordura, Robert Rossen’s 1959 western features Gary Cooper as a Major who is labelled as a coward. He is tasked with the difficult assignment of accompanying some of his “braver” colleagues who are about to receive the Medal of Honour through dangerous territory. Adapted from Glendon Swarthout’s novella, the movie questions the idea of military valour which did not sit well with Wayne at all.
Attacking the film’s political messaging, Wayne said it should never have been made: “How they got Gary Cooper to do that one! To me, at least, it simply degrades the Medal of Honour. The whole story makes a mockery of America’s highest award for valour. The whole premise of the story was wrong, illogical, because they don’t pick the type of men the movie picked to win the award, and that can be proved by the very history of the award.”
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