Your Favorite Ward Bond Role?

Hi Irish, We were discussing favorite scenes before. Ward's death scene as Yank on The Long Voyage Home, (I posted a pic of his blowing his last smoke ring ever), and the "Speech" to Corbett in Gentleman Jim were mentioned. However, those are just scenes and I believe here you wish to discuss his best full roles.

So far, my favorite is Drums on the Mohawk.......he is a joy to watch in this film. I have many others, but would probably have to chose The Searchers next. I will let some others post theirs before I put up a few more of mine. If I can JUST get this audio/video clip thing to work.....should be fun! KEITH

By the way, that was a real arrow apparently stuck into something underneath Ward's shirt. If you watch the movie again, see how quickly he takes it out.....wouldn't want to burn that handsome face, LOL!.

=http://s1269.photobucket.com/user/Hawkswill/media/Drums%20Along%20the%20Mohawk/WardFlamingarrow.png.html]

I am not as much ofan over all movie buff as most of you and am most familiar with Bond's work with Duke but one of my all time favorite scenes in a Duke movie doesn't even have Duke in it. The conversation between Lieutenant Colonel Thursday and Sergeant Major O'Rourke about how Mickey "happened to get into West Point" in Fort Apache is classic with the old Irish trooper getting the best of the aristocratic Colonel while being completely respectfull in tone all the while.

Oh Batjac, that is one of my favorite SCENES also. I laughed so hard! Here it is:
Lt. Col. Thursday: This Lt. O'Rourke - are you by chance related?
RSM Michael O'Rourke: Not by chance, sir, by blood. He's my son.
Lt. Col. Thursday: I see. How did he happen to get into West Point?
RSM Michael O'Rourke: It happened by presidential appointment, sir
Lt. Col. Thursday: Are you a former officer, O'Rourke?
RSM Michael O'Rourke: During the war, I was a major in the 69th New York regiment... The Irish Brigade, sir.
Lt. Col. Thursday: Still, it's been my impression that presidential appointments were restricted to sons of holders of the Medal of Honor.
RSM Michael O'Rourke: That is my impression, too, sir. Will that be all, sir?

KEITH

My favorite Bond movie is Fort Apache.

His Sgt Major O'Rourke in Fort Apache is first rate, but, I'll go with his role as the Reverend-Captain in the Searchers. Bond at his second banana besT. Especially his lines with Pat Wayne as the "shavetail" young Lt.

BOY! WATCH THAT KNIFE!

YOU JUST WATCH ME, BOY! I'M THE HARDCASE YOU'RE DEALING WITH OUT HERE, NOT THOSE CHILDISH SAVAGES!

Tall In The Saddle And The Quiet Man Only The Valiant as a drunken soldier.for a scene stealing the fighting sullivans as LT of the recruit's into the navy as the sullivans men join the navy

Quote from WaynamoJim

His Sgt Major O'Rourke in Fort Apache is first rate, but, I'll go with his role as the Reverend-Captain in the Searchers. Bond at his second banana besT. Especially his lines with Pat Wayne as the "shavetail" young Lt.

BOY! WATCH THAT KNIFE!

YOU JUST WATCH ME, BOY! I'M THE HARDCASE YOU'RE DEALING WITH OUT HERE, NOT THOSE CHILDISH SAVAGES!

Heh heh, i'd forgot about that one.

Get ready to break open your piggy banks, boys and girls. Twilight Time Video has announced that a blu ray of "Drums Along the Mohawk" will be released on 9/10/13. It will also contain the special - Becoming John Ford.
No news on the price yet, but TT is pretty expensive, so I'm guessing around $30.00. The good news is that their discs are extremely well done.

We deal in lead, friend.

Sgt. Major O"Rourke, Rev. Capt. Samuel Clayton, and Cmdr. Pop Perry from Operation Pacific. Those are my top three!

Quote from wtrayah

Sgt. Major O"Rourke, Rev. Capt. Samuel Clayton, and Cmdr. Pop Perry from Operation Pacific. Those are my top three!

Hi Bill, Good ones all and in my tops for him. Have you seen Drums on the Mohawk? If not, check it out. HAGO, KEITH

Quote from Hawkswill

Hi Bill, Good ones all and in my tops for him. Have you seen Drums on the Mohawk? If not, check it out. HAGO, KEITH

No! Haven't seen that one Hawkswill! But i'm sure if you recommend it, it must be a good one!

IMHO, this movie had Bond's best role.

Quote from Stumpy

IMHO, this movie had Bond's best role.

...and for me also

Ward Bond was such a wonderful actor. He left us before I was born so I can only say that I got to enjoy his past work. And work he did. I see that he did 274 films and most of them were supporting roles. My problem is I keep finding him in movies I didn't know he was in and enjoy what he has done. Here is my ranking of characters I think were his best roles.

20. First Outlaw ~ Buck Benny Rides Again
19. Policeman ~ The Grapes of Wrath
18. Yank ~ The Long Voyage Home *
17. Adam Hartman ~ Drums Along the Mohawk
16. Cmdr. John T. 'Pop' Perry ~ Operation Pacific *
15. Major Seth Adams ~ Wagon Train (TV series)
14. 'Boats' Mulcahey C.B.M. ~ They Were Expendable *
13. Morgan Earp ~ My Darling Clementine
12. Perley "Buck" Sweet ~ 3 Godfathers *
11. Detective Tom Polhaus ~ The Maltese Falcon
10. Tom the Yankee Captain ~ Gone With The Wind
9. Sgt. Maj. Michael O'Rourke ~ Fort Apache *
8. Chief Petty Officer Dowdy ~ Mister Roberts
7. Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton ~ The Searchers *
6. Buffalo Baker ~ Hondo *
5. Pat Wheeler ~ Rio Bravo *
4. Ike Botkan ~ Sergeant York
3. John Dodge ~ Wings of Eagles *
2. Father Peter Lonergan ~ The Quiet Man *
1. Bert the Cop ~ It's A Wonderful Life

Sorry, it was not a Duke movie but he was the best in It's a Wonderful Life. If he had lived I bet he would have been in To Kill A Mockingbird which is my favorite movie, made back in 1962. He died in November 5, 1960. I keep making changes and keep finding some wonderful movies he has made. So I started out with a top 5, moved to 10 and again at 15 before I finally made it a Top 20. Just can't seem to stop. And want to see more of these movies that I haven't seen him in. What a wonderful life he had, just cut too short.

(*) ~ movie with John Wayne.

Cheers Hondo

Gentleman Jim

You have some great movies there Hondo. I, of course have them in a much different order, but then........I am of the female sex....maybe that makes a difference, LOL. I was surprised to see Rio Bravo listed near the top as he has such a very small part in it. I suggest you watch Drums Along the Mohawk, Operation Pacific, and They Were Expendable again when you have time. In the last, Ward was in the movie a great deal more than I saw at the beginning.......he is not as noticeable because he could not move around until he was shot and they gave him a crutch. Real life, as he could not walk without one yet after almost losing his leg. Pappy made sure he got lots of coverage in his first movie back from recovery.......and the last person seen in the movie is Ward looking into the sky to see the plane with his commander and Duke headed to safety. In Drums, Ward was pretty much in a co star role to Hank Fonda. I believe that kiss to the old widow was probably the longest in the history of movies up until that time, LOL! You could really tell that Ward enjoyed his role in Drums!

There are quite a few others, but here are just a few that Ward is very good in and can still be found without to much ado.
A GUY NAMED JOE SPENCER TRACY AND WARD IS IN THE WHOLE MOVIE LOVE THIS ONE
BLOWING WILD GARY COOPER AND WARD. VERY DIFFERENT ROLE FOR WARD....SHOWS HOW WARDROBE CAN HELP TO REALLY CHANGE A CHARACTER.....I KEPT THINKING OF WARD
AS CARROLL O'CONNOR PLAYING ARCHIE BUNKER. AND IF YOU KNOW ME, AT ALL, THAT IS A PRETTY DIFFICULT THING TO THINK OF!
CHINA DOLL EXCELLENT WARD MOVIE.....WITH VIC MATURE. THIS IS THE ONE THAT WARD, AFTER BEING HURT ON THE WAGON TRAIN SET, WORKED A WHOLE DAY OF DIALOGUE WITH
A BROKEN HIP BONE SO VIC COULD CATCH HIS SCHEDULED PLANE FOR HIS NEXT MOVIE. IN FRAME BY FRAME, YOU CAN SEE THE INTENSE PAIN HE IS IN WHEN SITTING DOWN
BUT NOTHING OF THAT SHOWS IN THE NORMAL MOVIE SPEED. WARD IS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP SOME OF HIS SOFT, GRAVELY VOICE INFLECTIONS THAT WILL LATER BE
USED QUITE OFTEN IN WAGON TRAIN WHEN CONSOLING OR EXPLAINING SOMETHING TO A PASSENGER ON HIS TRAIN.
PILLARS OF THE SKY JEFF CHANDLER AND WARD. GREAT LITTLE MOVIE SHOWING WARD'S DIVERSITY IN A ROLE. CAN'T IMAGINE HOW JEFF CARRIED HIM AS HE DID...........MUST HAVE HAD LEGS
OF STEEL, LOL.
GENTLEMAN JIM ONE OF HIS FINEST AND MOST MOVING SCENES AT THE END OF THE MOVIE......EXCELLENT.
HITLER DEAD OR ALIVE MOST DEFINITELY NOT AWARD MATERIAL. BUT THE ONLY MOVIE, I BELIEVE, WHERE WARD RECEIVES TOP BILLING, ALTHOUGH HE SHOULD HAVE FOR WAGON MASTER AS
HE WAS PAID A GOOD DEAL MORE THAN ANY ONE ELSE IN THE MOVIE. WARD IS THE STAR THROUGHOUT......AND REGARDLESS OF A RIDICULOUS SCRIPT, HE DOES A
WONDERFUL JOB WITH THE MATERIAL GIVEN HIM, (Hitler).
THE LONG GREY LINE WARD PLAYS THE MASTER OF THE SWORD AT WEST POINT
ON DANGEROUS GROUND WARD PLAYS A MAN BOUND ON GETTING VENGENCE FOR HIS DAUGHTER

ONLY THE VALIANT GREG PECK, WARD, AND A NOTABLE CAST. WARD IS SUPER. AND, HE SINGS QUITE A BIT IN THIS MOVIE. (HE HAD AN EXCELLENT VOICE WITH INCREDIBLE RANGE). SOME
MOVIES HE WOULD HARMONIZE IN BARITONE AND THEN SWITCH TO LEAD......LATER HARMONIZING IN TENOR. HE SINGS IN QUITE A BIT MORE MOVIES THAN I EVER
REALIZED.

There are a great deal more. But these are some of the better ones where he had a fairly large if not almost co starring part. If you get these and want some more, just let me know.....I will give you some more little if at all publicized ones. If you have trouble getting them...........also let me know.....should be able to help you out. Some pictures in the next email. KEITH

Quote from Hondo Duke Lane

Ward Bond was such a wonderful actor. He left us before I was born so I can only say that I got to enjoy his past work. And work he did. I see that he did 274 films and most of them were supporting roles. My problem is I keep finding him in movies I didn't know he was in and enjoy what he has done. Here is my ranking of characters I think were his best roles.

20. First Outlaw ~ Buck Benny Rides Again
19. Policeman ~ The Grapes of Wrath
18. Yank ~ The Long Voyage Home *
17. Adam Hartman ~ Drums Along the Mohawk
16. Cmdr. John T. 'Pop' Perry ~ Operation Pacific *
15. Major Seth Adams ~ Wagon Train (TV series)
14. 'Boats' Mulcahey C.B.M. ~ They Were Expendable *
13. Morgan Earp ~ My Darling Clementine
12. Perley "Buck" Sweet ~ 3 Godfathers *
11. Detective Tom Polhaus ~ The Maltese Falcon
10. Tom the Yankee Captain ~ Gone With The Wind
9. Sgt. Maj. Michael O'Rourke ~ Fort Apache *
8. Chief Petty Officer Dowdy ~ Mister Roberts
7. Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton ~ The Searchers *
6. Buffalo Baker ~ Hondo *
5. Pat Wheeler ~ Rio Bravo *
4. Ike Botkan ~ Sergeant York
3. John Dodge ~ Wings of Eagles *
2. Father Peter Lonergan ~ The Quiet Man *
1. Bert the Cop ~ It's A Wonderful Life

Sorry, it was not a Duke movie but he was the best in It's a Wonderful Life. If he had lived I bet he would have been in To Kill A Mockingbird which is my favorite movie, made back in 1962. He died in November 5, 1960. I keep making changes and keep finding some wonderful movies he has made. So I started out with a top 5, moved to 10 and again at 15 before I finally made it a Top 20. Just can't seem to stop. And want to see more of these movies that I haven't seen him in. What a wonderful life he had, just cut too short.

(*) ~ movie with John Wayne.

Cheers Hondo

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Well, I got a note that said Paula had posted......came to the link, it said "Gentleman Jim", but now.....it is not there. So, this is from that fantastic scene from Gentleman Jim. You have to click on the picture to get the audio with it.....still haven't figure this out yet, LOL. KEITH