Early John Wayne

Posted on November 14, 2006 by sheila

A marvelous post in every way about John Wayne – and Ken Maynard, a stunt rider – It’s a marvelous post because of the information, the photos, the enthusiastic tone, and paragraphs like: “Ken’s stunt riding was like something out of Greek mythology. His near-total inability to act mattered not a lick. Neither did the epic-scale drinking, for his young constitution could stand abuse, and a few stiff belts only made him braver in the saddle.”

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2 Responses to Early John Wayne

  1. DBW says:
    November 14, 2006 at 4:56 pm

    This is great stuff. I remember reading a long piece on Ken Maynard years ago, but I don’t remember if it was part of a book, or a magazine article, or what. He was quite a character. Given the way the business of movies operates today, it’s hard to imagine the thin profit margin of those years, or the way they just threw the things together. As mentioned in the post, John Wayne did start to believe at one time that Westerns were a waste of time, and a dead road to success. Life is funny like that.

  2. red says:
    November 14, 2006 at 5:08 pm

    I know, right?? hahaha

    Funny how originally directors just did not know how to handle talkies – everything had to go inside, because they could then control the sound.

    It’s amazing how John Ford was able to make that leap. So many weren’t!

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