John Wayne turned down one of the best Westerns of the 1950s for political reasons, and practically gifted Gary Cooper an Oscar as a result. Following his breakout role in John Ford’s classic Stagecoach, Wayne became one of Hollywood’s biggest names. He cycled through many genres during his decades-long career, from romantic dramas (The Quiet Man) to hard-nosed cop thrillers (McQ). Of course, John Wayne having fronted 80 Westerns sees him permanently linked to the genre.
Wayne made an almost embarrassing number of classics in the genre. The Searchers is considered by Spielberg and Scorsese to be the best American Western ever, while Rio Bravo was secretly remade twice by John Carpenter. Even Wayne’s final film The Shootist was a Western that featured one of his most vulnerable turns as a gunslinger dying of cancer. The star was also famous for passing on roles that didn’t align with his politics. This includes passing on Spielberg comedy1941 as he didn’t think World War 2 should be laughed at.
Gary Cooper Won An Oscar For High Noon, The Western John Wayne Rejected
John Wayne even accepted the Oscar on Gary Cooper’s behalf
John Wayne was the natural first choice for High Noon, but he swiftly passed. Wayne hated the main character and read the story as an allegory for the blacklisting happening in Hollywood at the time.
Another Western favorite from the 1950s is High Noon, where Gary Cooper’s Marshal is forced to defend a town from vengeful outlaws. A big part of the story involves Cooper’s Will Kane trying to enlist help from the townspeople, who turn him down until he’s forced to fight alone. In a break from Western protocol from this period, High Noon portrays Kane as vulnerable and stressed, instead of being a macho John Wayne-type who has no fear of death.
Being the biggest star of the genre, John Wayne was the natural first choice for High Noon, but he swiftly passed. Wayne hated the main character and read the story as an allegory for the blacklisting happening in Hollywood at the time. Cooper later accepted the role, with the film receiving praise and becoming a solid financial success.
Interestingly, Cooper was later awarded an Academy Award for High Noon but was unable to attend the ceremony. He asked his friend Wayne to accept it on his behalf, despite being aware of the star’s revulsion for the film. Nonetheless, Wayne picked up Cooper’s High Noon Oscar on his friend’s behalf, praising the star’s work before bizarrely joking that he wished he had accepted the role (via Oscars).
Why John Wayne Turned Down High Noon And Made Another Movie In Response To It
Wayne and John Ford’s Rio Bravo retells the same basic story with a very different tone
Wayne took particular issue with the blacklisting subtext of High Noon since he openly supported the practice. During this period, the House Committee of Un-American Activities had begun targeting Hollywood productions, being fearful of alleged communist propaganda being smuggled into them. As a result, the careers of many filmmakers were heavily impacted or ruined, including that of High Noon screenwriter Carl Foreman, since he refused to “name names” during his testimony.
Wayne not only found High Noon “Un-American,” but he hated the notion that a sheriff would run around town begging for help. That’s partly why Wayne and Howard Hawks teamed for their take on High Noon with 1959’s Rio Bravo, which cast the former as a sheriff besieged by outlaws. They’re looking to break their boss out of jail, but Wayne’s John T. Chance refuses to ask for help, even when others offer it. In keeping with Wayne’s more sentimental view of how the West, various townspeople come to Chance’s aid in the final shootout.
Rio Bravo is now a Western classic in its own right and one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite movies. The film has great characters (including career-best work from co-star Dean Martin) and dialogue, with some bursts of action thrown in. Rio Bravo and High Noon are both held in high regard, though the latter is a significantly darker tale than Wayne’s unofficial remake.
John Wayne Didn’t Win An Oscar Of His Own Until 1970
Wayne showed he had True Grit playing Rooster Cogburn
If Wayne had played the lead in High Noon, he likely would have insisted on a more manly rendition of Kane. It’s hard to say if High Noon would have netted Wayne an Oscar like it did for Cooper since they were very different performers. Despite being such a beloved star, Wayne wasn’t rated that high by critics, so it took many years for him to earn his first (and only) Best Actor Academy Award. Wayne won his Oscar for playing True Grit’s Rooster Cogburn, a gruff, drunken U.S. Marshal.
Wayne is quite hammy and over the top as Cogburn, which happens to suit the movie perfectly. The film is really a buddy comedy between Cogburn and the no-nonsense teenager who hires him, Mattie (Kim Darby), who wants to avenge her father. True Grit offered the star the chance to play a role that wasn’t just the typical Wayne character, with he even he felt the performance was some of his best work. Again, a John Wayne version of High Noon would have looked quite different, but maybe that could have netted him the Oscar much sooner.