Posts from ethanedwards in thread „Duke's Movie Screen Deaths.“

I have moved the last three posts to here,
as we have a longstanding thread on this subject

Good job we never knew who the sniper was in Sands Of Iwo Jima
He sure wouldn't have rested easy either!!!

As we already had in the Movie Reviews a more recent larger
'sticky' thread on this subject
For continuity I have copied and merged the relevant
old and new posts together, here in the dedicated thread

Here is our review on
The Deceiver

Quote

The Deceiver was hardly a forward move,
in young Morrison's career!!
In the film he plays a CORPSE!!!.
as a stand-in for the body of
Ian Keith, who is murdered in the film's plot.

The story to how this happened,
is that a prop man, told Harry Cohn,
that Duke was having an affair with a Columbia actress
a favourite of the studio head!
As a result Duke's bit parts at the studio
were drastically diminished, so much so ,
he was on Cohn's 'S*** list,
As a result, Duke was treated as something best swept in the gutter!
In The Deceiver, Cohn let the actor know where
he stood in Columbia's pecking order,
by casting him as a corpse,
No lines, No movement- Just dead!!

It was major humiliation for a young actor,
who not long before was the star of The Big Trail!

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He was certainly alive in
Two Fisted Law

and although our filmography
has the Columbia films in this order

1931.THE DECEIVER
1931. RANGE FEUD- (Columbia)
1931. MAKER OF MEN- (Columbia)
1932. TEXAS CYCLONE- (Columbia)
1932. THAT'S MY BOY- (Columbia)
1932. TWO FISTED LAW- (Columbia)

They are indeed release dates and certainly
one can bet The Deceiver was his last!!

Even closer to home is this dedicated 'sticky' thread in the Movie section,
so for continuity, I have moved your posts across to here.

Here they are:-
1. Central Airport.
2. Reap The Wild Wind.
3. The Fighting Seabees.
4. Wake Of The Red Witch.
5. Sands Of Iwo Jima
6. The Alamo.
7. The Cowboys.
8. The Shootist.

And don't forget he was already gone,
in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.!

Here is the previous discussion on this

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March 1st 2003
bob

In How Many Films Did John Wayne's Character Die?
In how many films did Wayne's character die? Can you name the films?

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March 1st, 2003
Hondo Duke Lane
Bob,
Duke's character met with death in 8 of his movies. They are:

1. Central Airport
2. Reap the Wild Wind
3. The Fighting Seabees
4. Wake of the Red Witch
5. Sands of Iwo Jima
6. The Alamo
7. The Cowboys
8. The Shootist

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" had Duke already dead, but reflected on his life with the James Stewart character. Count it or not he did not die in the movie.

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March 14th, 2003
AEC23
Hey! What about the Sea Chase? They leave it open at the end whether the Duke and Lana Turner survive the explosion. What do you think?

Quote from kevin k

what about the sea chase?

kevin, if you look back at the beggining of this thread,
The Sea Chase is mentioned

Quote from kevin k

can we add the deceiver,he played a dead man?

kevin, thanks for your post, and you make a good point.
However, The Deceiver has never been included,
because in all the other films Duke at least appeared or even starred!

Quote from Hondo Duke Lane

Tell me about Central Airport. I am not familiar with the movie, and though Duke had a minor role, I don't know how his death was portrayed. I'd like to know more about that movie.

Cheers Hondo

Mike,
Central Airport is a rare one, but we don't have it listed as missing,
or unavailable.
Duke was way down the list as 'uncredited'!
He appears 56 minutes into the film
as an officer in a downed plane in the Gulf Of Mexico.
His screen time is short, some 32 seconds,
as he helps passengers onto the plane's wing and
drowns while helping a passenger.

Quote from Dukesfan

But we forgot one screen death here: John Wayne playing the son of a poor farmer, died in the B-Western movie Wyoming Outlaw (1939), produced by Republic. He was steeling deer because the poor farmers were cheated by politicians and had nothing to eat. The three Mesquiteers tried to help him, but after a prison-break he became an Outlaw and was hunted down and killed.

Wyoming Outlaw
Sorry, but Duke didn't meet his death in this movie,
as he was in fact,
Stony Brooke one of The Three Mesquiteers, who befriends,
the young farmer Will Parker, who had turned into an outlaw!
I can only assume, you may have mistaken,
this as Duke's character?

The complete movie has a runtime, of 56mins,
so it could be, that much shorter version you watched,
did not show the full story!

I agree with everyone else,
The Shootist and The Cowboys,
were sad and memorable scenes.

However, no one as mentioned the Sands Of Iwo Jima.

When watching the film again, we now know what is going to happen,
but I wonder how many of us were as shocked as myself,
when Duke was killed by a sniper!

For all Duke fans,
Duke's Screen Deaths are all sad!!
Which one, is your saddest, and most memorable?

Another good point,

but I still like to believe that Duke,
was washed up on some Norwegian shore,
in the arms, of a beautiful gal!!

1. Central Airport.
2. Reap The Wild Wind.
3. The Fighting Seabees.
4. Wake Of The Red Witch.
5. Sands Of Iwo Jima
6. The Alamo.
7. The Cowboys.
8. The Shootist.

And don't forget he was already gone,
in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.!