How Did You Become A John Wayne Fan?

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  • Hello everybody...my story is one you have heard many times before...my Father was a fan of his movies, and I remember watching them on British Television as a child....

    Recently, decided to watch them all again...and all these memories came flooding back....damn...I'd forgotten just how good he was....

    Found this site by accident while surfing for John Wayne photos...and think I may never leave...and I've just arrived !!!!!!



    Well, we are sure glad that you found us by accident. I think most of us do, but that's great. I believe I found this by accident as well, when I was goggling myself, looking for anything John Wayne and well the rest is history. That was 7 years ago. It might have been some other search engine, now that I think about it. :))):

    Cheers :cool: Hondo Duke Lane



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

  • I saw my first JW movie when I was 11 years old and I set through it five times. Back then, if you went to the movie, you could go in at anytime during the movie and you could stay still the theater closed. I stayed still it closed. The movie was "A Lady Takes a Chance" with Jean Arthur. I thought he was the most handsome guy I had ever seen.

    :wink_smile: I loved the unruly lock of hair that kept falling down in his face. I have been collecting his movies for a long time. Now I am trying to find the real early ones and some of his TV appearances.

    As I got older, I understood that he was a man that had real character. He believed in and stood for the kind of things that make this country great. I guess I have always been a fan but this is my first attempt to make it official

  • I was always aBig WESTERN fan,going right back to the early days of RAWHIDE on TV. My Dad used to Bike Ride, with me on the back as a Toddler, along the narrow Country roads of County Down,Ireland. When we passed Cattle in the Fields,We used to Sing The RAWHIDE THEME. It was a Magical Time and Vivid Memory for me,moreso cos Dad has passed away.

    Thank The Lord that I am Old enough to have Seen most of my JW Movies at THE CINEMA/MOVIE HOUSE.Despite the Current Trend towards HOME ENTERTAINMENT Systems,The Old Nite out at The Movies Experience was "Something else!!!".

    My all Time Favorite Movie is THE QUIET MAN which is SPECIAL for many reasons,it was Shot in the WEST of IRELAND in 1951 and featured THE JOHN FORD STOCK COMPANY, includig The FAMILIES of the many Stars and Crew.Maureen O'Hara missed out on The OSCAR for her unique performance as JW's Wife, Mary Kate dannaher/Thornton. Apparently $15,000 would have secured her Nomination and ultimate Collection of the ACADEMY AWARD. Maureen chose to waive that Privilege and surely is in line for a belated LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from her peers in The AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE. This would be so Fitting in this her 90th Year.

    JW and Maureen tried to Buy THE WHITE 'O MORN Cottage from The Movie,to Preserve it for all time.It's a Tragedy that The Cottage was allowed to fall down and die. It's in the hands of American Owner Greg ebbit,whether We shall ever see a RESTORATION.

    Duke and Maureen had a SPECIAL Relationship on Screen that is Timeless.
    JW has IRISH ROOTS traceable back to his Great Great Grandfather who Lived and worked in TEMLEPATRICK,County Antrim. So my Two Favorite Movie Stars are of IRISH STOCK.

    I'd love to get a hold of Harry Carey Junior's Book "Company of Heroes - My Life with the John Ford Stock Company".This is a unique Narrative on the institution that was the FORD REPERTORY FAMILY which Graced so many Celluloid CLASSICS.

    I'm very PROUD to be a Member of this worthwhile FanClub in Honor of One of Hollywood's Greatest sons.

    Jimmy Kennedy

  • Hi Jimmy


    WELCOME to The JWMB-
    The Original John Wayne Message Board
    where fans come to have fun!


    Please take a look around,
    we're a friendly bunch of folks,
    and there is a wealth of information to see,
    regarding the great man.


    You may find these links useful:-



    John Wayne:- A Newbies Guide to Duke


    Link to Duke's Movies, Co-Stars- Pals Of The Saddle and Movie Locations


    Thank you for your comments regarding the forum,
    and we hope that you enjoy yourself here.
    Indeed we have several members in Ireland and Northern Ireland,
    one particular member lenrehn who is a specialist in all things
    The Quiet Man



    Quote

    My all Time Favorite Movie is THE QUIET MAN which is SPECIAL for many reasons,it was Shot in the WEST of IRELAND in 1951 and featured THE JOHN FORD STOCK COMPANY, includig The FAMILIES of the many Stars and Crew.


    JW and Maureen tried to Buy THE WHITE 'O MORN Cottage from The Movie,to Preserve it for all time.It's a Tragedy that The Cottage was allowed to fall down and die. It's in the hands of American Owner Greg ebbit,whether We shall ever see a RESTORATION.


    Duke's Movie Locations- Ireland (The Quiet Man)


    Quote

    .....and featured THE JOHN FORD STOCK COMPANY, includig The FAMILIES of the many Stars and Crew.


    The John Ford Stock Company


    Quote

    I'd love to get a hold of Harry Carey Junior's Book "Company of Heroes - My Life with the John Ford Stock Company".This is a unique Narrative on the institution that was the FORD REPERTORY FAMILY which Graced so many Celluloid CLASSICS.


    Take a look at
    Pals Of The Saddle- Harry Carey Jr.


    A personally signed edition of Harry's book(one of which, I am proud to own)
    used to be available directly from him, but depending upon his health,
    I am unsure of that these days!!
    Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company
    is avalable direct from Harry or
    Amazon.co.uk:

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 18 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • I have always admired The Duke for as long as I remembered. I didn't see one his movies until about 3 years ago. I was instantly hooked.


    John Wayne reminds us of what real men were like. Be good to people, stand by your word, be proud, and don't take crap from anyone. Men now in days are seriously lacking some of those qualities. I'm trying to raise my son with those things in mind because kids have little respect now in days.


    Now I'm a avid collector of JW's movies, plates, and neat stuff I can get my hands (and wallet) on.


    Thanks for the site, lots and lots of great info. (maybe to much, I don't want to know bloopers.. kinda ruins it for me) :D


    -jason

    Edited once, last by 909punk ().

  • Hi 909punk,


    and also to you


    WELCOME to The JWMB-
    The Original John Wayne Message Board
    where fans come to have fun!


    Please take a look around,
    we're a friendly bunch of folks,
    and there is a wealth of information to see,
    regarding the great man.


    You may find these links useful:-

    John Wayne:- A Newbies Guide to Duke

    Link to Duke's Movies, Co-Stars- Pals Of The Saddle and Movie Locations


    Jason, you'll have to close your eyes
    when you get to the Bloopers bits.
    Before the bloopers were more well documented,
    we had threads where many members added
    their own observations.
    It's entirely up to personal choice ,
    how you wish to use or not use the information made available!


    Look forward to hearing more from you.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • Thanks Keith :D


    As a Arizona resident, It's great to see some of the locations that were filmed here.


    Monument Valley is calling my name. I MUST go there! Thanks to JW's movies, I have been captivated by Arizona history with the Apache Wars, Mining, and early settlements.


    All good stuff.

  • Hello and welcome to the forum, 909punk and Jimmy. Glad you found us. Feel free to look around and jump in wherever your interest takes you.

    Mark

    "I couldn't go to sleep at night if the director didn't call 'cut'. "

  • My first post/


    I became a Duke fan waaay back in the 60's watching TV westerns with my manly-man uncle on Sundays. He was a duke fan and a fan of westerns in general. I didn't have a dad, so he was my male role model growing up--my uncle, that is.


    Recently, thanks to a TCM western night a couple yrs ago [or was it AMC?] on TV, I fell in love with B westerns. I didn't see many Gene Autry or Roy Rogers westerns before then, but I was hooked. I'm a film guy anyway [NYU film school] and I'm a fan of cinema history in general...silent film, screwball comedies, comedy shorts, etc.


    Since then, I've been researching B westerns with no real purpose in mind, but to entertain myself. Obsessed is a word that comes to mind.


    Anyway, I discovered a DVD of early Wayne films pre-Stagecoach that I found fascinating--that Wayne was swimming in the poverty-row pictures that would soon be dominated by Gene Autry is amazing to me. Gene is fun and all, but Wayne is a man. Gene seems too doughy to take seriously as a movie hero. Roy Rogers was more in the Wayne mold.


    And since I live the SF valley in the Los Angeles area, I knew there were old movie ranches nearby...though I didn't know where exactly. These were ranches that were used to make movies in the B western golden age....some with western town sets. Roy had one, Gene had one [Melody Ranch], Crash Corrigan had one, Disney had one, Republic had one, etc.


    So it was a few months ago, I was looking for a place to hike and lose some weight. I thought I'd stick to the north end of the SF valley...close to the hills/mountains to find some good hiking trails.


    Lo and behold, I came across Corriganville Park...the remains of Crash Corrigan's Movie ranch. I parked in the near-empty lot and started to explore. I didn't expect much, but I was surprised to find photo-markers that pointed out some of the ranch's main features. Of note are the Jungle Jim lake [a concrete-lined artificial lake that's not been filled with water since the 60's, I think]. I saw the "lake" in a Gene Autry western just today [The Old West].


    The western town is gone--the buildings having been burned down in two brush fires in the 70's---too bad. But the foundations are still there, so sharp-eyed fans like me can see where film cameras were set up from certain shots in the old films.


    Back to the John Wayne connection--one of the major sets on the ranch was the Fort Apache set from the John Ford/John Wayne film.


    Just yesterday I saw the set featured throughout a film called Escape from Fort Bravo [the sets were reused a buncha times in different films]. I had been hiking there just the day before. The terrain was familiar, but sadly the buildings are gone now.


    The day before, too, I was able to locate the area of the ranch/park where the underground bunker in Fort Apache was located--the trading post run by the corrupt Indian official in the movie. Of course, not much remains of the set except for a ditch.


    The original ranch was about 2,000 acres. Thanks to Bob Hope buying the ranch and selling parcels off to developers, only about 300 acres remain as a state park. It's still an amazing place, though--I think my favorite place on earth [next to my bed].


    I try to hike there at least twice a week. Five, if I can manage it.


    Down the road is what's left of the Iverson Ranch--where the famed Lone Ranger rock can still be seen [from the show's opening theme sequence]. Since I was a kid I wondered where that rock was. I was on the East coast then...who knew yrs later it'd be a few miles from my house?


    Kurt Hathaway
    film freak
    Western nut

  • Hi dukedood


    WELCOME to The JWMB-
    The Original John Wayne Message Board
    where fans come to have fun!


    Please take a look around,
    we're a friendly bunch of folks,
    and there is a wealth of information to see,
    regarding the great man.


    You may find these links useful:-



    John Wayne:- A Newbies Guide to Duke


    Link to Duke's Movies, Co-Stars- Pals Of The Saddle and Movie Locations


    Well that was some first post if there ever was one!


    So interesting to hear your insights about the great movie ranches,
    we at the JWMB have dedicated threads on the ranches, including,
    Duke's Movie Locations- Corriganville Movie Ranch
    Duke's Movie Locations- Iverson Movie Ranch
    profiling the two ranches mentioned.
    your input would be greatly appreciated

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 9 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Welcome aboard, dukedood. I bet is is fun trying to rediscover the old sites seen in films out there. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

    Mark

    "I couldn't go to sleep at night if the director didn't call 'cut'. "

  • I became a fan through a forum viewing of Hondo, the first movie starring John Wayne I ever saw. Let me tell you, I haven't looked back since! Got me hooked right away. Great movie, greater star.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  • My Dad was a huge John Wayne Fan. I grew up as a kid watching his movies. John wayne was a household name. As a kid there was always a JW movie on somewhere.

  • My first posting:

    As I read through all these posts I see a definite pattern that also directed my JW infactuation as well. John Wayne was a household star that was passed down from father/grand-father to son. My story is no different. Some of my very favorite memories is going to the theater with my dad to see a John Wayne flick.

    Later in life I saw two movies on cable I had never seen before, North to Alaska and Jet Pilot. It was then I realized that I had not seen everything JW did AND that my wife was wrong. She always accused me of already seeing whatever JW movie I was watching. Not true. So I bought a book with his filmography in it and started my collection.

    I first started taping movies from the TV. Later buying VHS tapes like many who have posted. Then getting DVD's. Then finding Franklin Mint stuff. And then came E-bay. Boy did my John Wayne collection explode then.

    Last month was the big auction selling all of John Wayne's personal items. I really, really wanted to get something personal of his that he actually owned. My favorite item was the big oak desk from his office. I just didn't have the $50K in my back pocket to get that, even though my wife said I could. How cool would it have been to buy something that HE actually owned and touched. I am so disappointed.

    Recently my wife kicked me out of the family room and I had to bring all my JW collection into a spare bedroom for display. I can't even fit it all in. Someday I will have a dedicated room in my home for JW memorbilia and to watch movies in. I keep dreamin'.

    I am thankful that I was able to write a short story for Tim Lilley in his Big Trail series. It ended up it was in volume 10, the last one Tim did. It is the story of "My John Wayne Day" when I was in LA. Since then I have visited more places where JW footprints have been left. And there are so many more places to go.

    Thanks for reading my story and I hope to post more.