El. knyga: John Wayne's Way: Life Lessons from the Duke

Marion Morrison of Winterset, IA, moved to Southern California in 1914 at age seven. He went to the University of Southern California on a football scholarship, which led to bit parts in the movies, and was noticed and rebranded as John Wayne. In 1939, the director John Ford made him a star in the movie Stagecoach. Wayne made two dozen films with Ford and remained a renowned actor until his death in 1979. Eliot, who has written biographies of Cary Grant, Clint Eastwood, and Walt Disney, studies Wayne as an auteur. Eliots focus is on the filmshow they got made, their messages, the acting, and the critical and public response. He particularly highlights Waynes politics. Unlike most of the big stars of that time, Wayne did not serve in the armed forces in World War II, and Eliot traces his superpatriotism and anticommunist fervor to that fact. The actor detested the 1952 Western High Noon, starring Gary Cooper, as thoroughly un-American and repeatedly pushed a hard-line message in his films such as The Alamo (1960) and The Green Berets (1968). Its a readable, solid book based on library research. Screenwriter and playwright Brodes book is a well-illustrated guide to the Dukes films, describing each with a short life lesson (e.g., the lesson from 1968s Hellfighters is 'A mans gotta do what a mans gotta do; his woman must either accept and live with that or cut and run.' VERDICT Eliots book is a great account of the stars life more for film buffs in general than for fans of Wayne. Brodes well-done work will make an excellent present for those who love Waynes films. * Library Journal * This volume is a chatty, often humorous or pithy, overview of John Wayne and Wayne's characters in film. The author explores the film legacy of the Duke, providing commentary on the lessons learned from the archetypes of the West. * Communication Booknotes Quarterly *