Posts by rmeeuf

Hello,

I just wanted to let the community here know that I just published a new book on the Duke called John Wayne's World. The book examines Wayne's popularity around the world in the 1950s, asking why so many different cultures loved the Duke and what his popularity tells us about Hollywood and globalization in the 1950s. I talk about a lot of the major releases between Red River and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but I also discuss some of the lesser known works that Wayne shot abroad (The Barbarian and the Geisha (shot in Japan) and Legend of the Lost (shot in Italy and north Africa)). It's an academic book, so it is written primarily for other historians of cinema and the 1950s, but I'd like to think that is would be enjoyable for a general audience too, especially Wayne fans!

If anyone takes a look at it, I'd love to hear what other Wayne fans have to say about it. I'm a film historian at the University of Idaho, but I'm very interested in popular pleasures--why certain kinds of movies or stars become so important to a culture.

Thanks!

Hello all,

This is my first posting to the site, so talking about how I became a Wayne fan seemed a good place to start. To be honest, I'm pretty new to Wayne fandom. I'm only in my 20s and didn't grow up watching Wayne or even many westerns for that matter, but I'm currently in school to be a film historian and starting watching some Wayne westerns from the late 40s and 50s like Red River, the cavalry trilogy, Hondo, and others and got hooked. Especially in the academy, there is a pervasive idea that all of Wayne's work is virulently racist, sexist, imperialist, and any other "ist" you can throw in there, but when you go back and watch the movies there is so much complexity and nuance that often gets overlooked. So right now I'm working on a research project on the Duke's international appeal in the 1950s and what drew people around the world to Wayne fandom at the time. Speaking of which, anyone know a good way to get a look at international posters for Wayne's movies? Many of the studio archives in LA don't have those advertising materials. Anyway, glad to be here, and I look forward to posting again sometime.