How Did You Become A John Wayne Fan?

Hi

I have been watching JW movies since I can remember when. I know my Dad loved his movies and he always had them on when they showed up on TV.. How can you not get hooked !!

Watched a few on his birthday on DVD,,,fun part which ones LOL

So, watched Rio Bravo, Tall in The Saddle ,,,and for the heck of it a PBS special called Standing Tall

Starting watching him as a kid..Duke was a household word....grew up on westerns and still growing...

One of my earliest memories is weekend westerns at my Grandma's house on the farm where I spent my early childhood. Westerns usually meant John Wayne; and I became a fan of the simple straight talk and straight shooting Duke basically by the time I was old enough to walk and talk myself. Becoming a fan was just natural.

Became a fan...
I'm 61 and it had to be some 55 or so years ago. Am so glad I found this sight.

Welcome aboard @LarryR glad you found us too.

Welcome to the group, LarryR!

I was 4 years old when my father took our family to our first drive-in movie. The movie playing was "Hondo". I was lying on the deck of the rear window when it came on. Because it was a western, I was immediately enthralled. When Hondo picked up the kid and "taught" him how to swim impressed me enough that my brother and I went to a nearby pond and taught ourselves sometime later. But, when Duke said that Indians hated liars, that hooked me on him forever.

I have been looking for a long time for a dvd copy of John Wayne Standing Tall done by PBS in 1989 and narrated by James Arness. Does anyone know where I can find it?

The PBS special "John Wayne Standing Tall" was only available on VHS for a limited time. Unlike many of their other biographies, this one was never released on DVD. I still have a VHS unit just for this reason. There are several movies that were only made available on VHS that have not been put on DVD or Blu-Ray. Case in point - the roadshow (extended version) of John Wayne's "The Alamo". If you don't have a VHS copy of it, you may never get a Blu-Ray or DVD copy because the film elements are so badly deteriorated. You can only view the full version on Turner Classic Movies. Fortunately, I recorded it many years ago on VHS, translated to mva4 format and put it on DVD. Unfortunately, the soundtrack gets out of sync in the second half right after the "Intermission".

a few years ago, I lost my son in a terrible tragic accident. He had just graduated from high school and we took all our kids and their friends to the beach. He wasn't aware there were rip tides (we had just got there, still unloading the cars) and even though we had taken our kids to the beach since they could walk, he was caught in a rip ride and no-one could find him for 24 hours. 2 days after his funeral, my job decided to do lay offs and was left without a job and without my son. The accident had been all over the media both in Atlanta and Florida, and no-one was willing to hire a mother who just lost her son. Though I had excellent credentials, letters of reference from 6-7 judges, no one would hire me. So, I stayed home and started watching westerns. Only a few at first, but then I really got into them until eventually I would not watch any tv unless it was an old western show or movie. I specifically got roku for watching western shows and movies and luckily I have uverse so I have been able to amass a wonderful collection in my DVR. In watching all of the western movies, I would find that John Wayne was a recurring presence in my favorites. Then I started to specifically search for films with him. His movies have been a therapy for me that I've never discussed until this post. I will watch anything with John Wayne in it. I've tried reading anything I can get my hands on to learn more about the man. I can escape for a few hours when watching a John Wayne film. I have always had a curiosity about life in 2nd half of the 19th century. So it's only natural I reckon for me to appreciate any kind of books or movies related to that period. I can never turn a movie off starring John Wayne. I've seen some films 40-50 times, and I will keep watching them. Films like Rio Grande, shepherd of the hills, Angel and the bad man, Liberty Valance, undefeated, I could go on, but you all know the list. Every one is an American treasuries it's own right. I love this man. Love love love this man. A legend. An icon.

I can't even begin to imagine the tragedy you went through. God bless you.

I am glad that Duke has become a type kind of therapy for you. He does have a presence that demands your attention. And even though I have about all of his films on tape or DVD, I still stop when I come across a Duke film on tv. We fans are allot alike in that fashion.

Mark

thank you, Mark, for your kind words. It's an addiction, I admit, but it's not hurting anyone. I watched Hellfighters night before last and I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it. I think it's funny how varied the plots of some of his movies are, but HE made the movies enjoyable. Yep, my name is Shannon and I'm an addict. A John Wayne addict. (And I don't give a rat's @$$ who knows it!!

El Dorado will be on in a couple hours (10:15 am est)on starzwesterns if you have it. Woo hoo!!

Well, for me I grew up with him and now I'm looking back at old family photos and remembering how wonderful a man he really was. I wanted to also see if there are any new books or pictures of him with my Father, his best friend. They were so close that they are buried together. I thought that this site could give me a good idea as to what movies his fans liked and why they became fans.

SadieBell,

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Duke’s movies have been a source of many happy times for me and I wish the same for you.

Chickiverson,

I’d be interested to learn more about how your dad came to know Duke and their friendship. Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the forum, Chickiverson! We're glad you found your way here.

Please feel free to share any story you might have or share a picture or two of your interactions with Duke and his family. We all would love to learn a little about Duke's life off screen that we haven't read in a book already.

Mark

Ditto to what Mark posted! Welcome, make yourself at home here!

As a kid growing up in the late 60's and 70's, we had the three major networks, NBC, ABC and CBS. Before cable the only alternative was whatever UHF stations came in clear (via primitive antenna) UHF stations had no regular programming so at night and on Saturdays and Sundays they ran old movies. My sister and I shared the big TV and if it was her turn to pick she always picked crap, so I went to the other room and watched whatever movie was showing. Got to see John Wayne and Universal horror movies that way first and the two genres are my favorites now.

Hi All,
Happy to be here, and I would love to share a couple of pictures from back in the day. The first is one of my Dad and Uncle Duke

That is a fantastic picture, chickiverson! I would have loved to have seen Duke climb in and out of that wagon! Tight fit, I would say. lol Thank you ever so much for sharing this with us. Share more, if you so desire. No one here would mind.

Mark