Lonesome Dove

I absolutely loved Lonesome Dove. Robert Duval was great! A great job done by Rickey Schroeder also, best I've seen him do untill he later co-starred in NYPD Blue on television. While there were little parts of the story that lagged, I don't think it should have been shortened any. Great characters and interwoven story lines make this a great western that can be watched over and over. On a side note, I onced asked a very knowledgable Duke fan about a rumor I heard that "Lonesome Dove" was originally a script offered to John Wayne. He offered to research it and this is what he told me he found out.

Howdy Mark,

Thanks for sending in this question; it was a real challenge getting all the details for this answer. I also got to work in an area of Duke Trivia that I hadn’t gotten into before. (Projects he didn’t do.)
"Lonesome Dove" was originally written in 1971 by Larry McMurtry as a movie script. He intended John Wayne to play role of Woodrow F Call, James Stewart to play Augustus "Gus" McCrae, and Henry Fonda to play Jake Spoon, with Peter Bogdanovich directing.
John Wayne turned it down, and the project was shelved. Why? Good question. Non of the people that I normally talk with nor in any of the reference books can I find a comprehensive answer as to why the Duke turned it down. One source said it was because of the choice of Peter Bogdanovich was a director. The Duke was not happy with the special Bogdanovich had done on John Ford, "Directed by John Ford" (1971). But a director can always be replaced so I couldn’t see it being that. Another one said that Wayne had begun to limit himself to one major project a year and that he had just finished "Big Jake" and was heavily involved with "The Cowboys". So he couldn’t fit it in. I guess you can just choose which one you wish to use.
Ok, now what about Clint Eastwood? Well the Duke turning down the script was not the real end of the story. The story was offered to another Actor/Director the up incoming Clint Eastwood. Eastwood also turned down the project which leads me to believe that the script just wasn’t written well enough or had some flaws that McMurtry was able to work out during the writing of his 1981 novel upon which the mini series was based.

If this is true, what a movie that would have made, eh? Either way, I loved it and recommend it to those who havn't seen it. Mark

I think "Lonesome Dove" is one of the greatest westerns ever made. Excellent acting by the entire cast and it's very true to the original novel. A true classic

Hello, Phantomstranger. If you enjoyed the novel, Lonesome Dove, than you might enjoy reading the other novels Larry McMurtry wrote following Gus and Woodrow's life befor and after Lonesome Dove (if you havn't already). The First one to read is Dead Man's Walk. The second is Comanche Moon. Lonesome Dove is the third and The Streets of Loredo is the last. I have read them all, and they are all a great read. Mark

If Fonda , Stewart , and Duke turned it down it could be for the reason they were too OLD.
In the early 70's these guys were in their 60's.

Take a serious look at Liberty VAlance..... both were a little long in the tooth for the parts.
Rick

Do you mean too old to make the movie or too old for the parts played? In the story, the characters of Gus, Call and Spoon are retired Rangers and the age of Duke, Stuart and Fonda would have been appropriate. I think those three would have made it very memorable. Too bad it never came to be. Mark

Hello All
Hello Hondo Duke Lane I liked Robert Duvall when he played Boo Radley in to Kill a Mockingbird and all his work that I have seen. I thought Lonesome Dove was a great series. The problem is now I'm thinking it would be nice to own it and Christmas is months away. This board can be hard on the budget. Thanks for the word on the books Duke Fan 1, so many good ones only 24 hours in a day. Nice info on historey of the series development. Just had a radical thought, what about a convention of board members at some central location with JW movies, gueste speakers and group discusions of topics?

Hello All
Hi Hondo DL Thanks for the word on L Dove that has to be a great price. Sorry I don't have an answer on how the series got it's name. Kilo