John Wayne was a terribly opinionated man who sometimes gave voice to some truly terrible opinions. The politically conservative movie star, who skipped out on World War II while several of his equally famous peers, like Henry Fonda and James Stewart, bravely served, did not think highly of people who looked and lived differently than he did. It’s practically cliche at this point to cite the notorious interview he gave to Playboy in 1971, but it is impossible to responsibly consider the man’s life without noting that he believed “in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.” In the same conversation, he also called “Midnight Cowboy,” which won Best Picture in 1969, “a story about two f***.” Roger Ebert once wrote that Wayne was profoundly “unenlightened,” which leaves open the possibility that he might’ve been less of a bigot had he lived in a different era. As an admirer of the man’s films, I would like to believe this is true.
Not all of John Wayne’s opinions were trash. For example, in 1977, when he was asked by The People’s Almanac to participate in a poll wherein previous Academy Award winners named their top five favorite movies and performers, he responded with some genuinely interesting answers. While it’s hardly stunning that the prideful star placed two of his own films on his list (“The Searchers” and “The Quiet Man”), at least he didn’t stubbornly make a case for passion projects like “The Alamo” (an interesting failure) and “The Green Berets” (one of the worst movies ever made).
When it came to his five favorite actors, he managed to not name himself. I’m actually surprised by one of the names he left off, but his top choice makes a good deal of sense.
The Duke revered the work of Spencer Tracy
Over five decades, John Wayne never generated more palpable romantic chemistry with a co-star than he did with Maureen O’Hara in “Rio Grande,” “The Quiet Man,” “The Wings of Eagles,” “McLintock!” and “Big Jake,” but he did not consider her one of the five greatest actors of all time. He did, however, put his “Rooster Cogburn” co-lead Katharine Hepburn at number three on his list (though he spelled her name wrong). He ranked Hepburn above Laurence Olivier and Lionel Barrymore, but just below Elizabeth Taylor.
At number one with a bullet was Spencer Tracy. Wayne was a huge fan of Tracy’s work, and, according to Scott Eyman’s biography “John Wayne: The Life and Legend,” tried to get him cast as the veteran copilot in “The High and the Mighty.” Tracy accepted at first, but backed out at the last second (as was his wont throughout his career). Obviously, Wayne didn’t hold this against the star, who is probably best remembered for the string of classics he made with Hepburn. If you’ve never seen “Woman of the Year,” “Adam’s Rib” or “Pat and Mike,” you are depriving yourself of joy.
I’m curious as to what Wayne thought of my favorite Tracy performance in John Sturges’ “Bad Day at Black Rock,” where he plays John J. Macreedy, a one-armed veteran who drops in on a tiny California town looking for the father of the Japanese-American soldier who saved his life in World War II. Even though he sat out the conflict, Wayne made numerous films celebrating the sacrifices of the men who defeated the Axis powers. But Sturges’ movie is in part about the stain of Japanese-American internment camps in the United States during WWII. Wayne was on record about not liking movies that were critical of the nation’s history (as he told Clint Eastwood), so this one might’ve rubbed him the wrong way.
Regardless, I can’t argue with the Duke’s selection here. Tracy was one of the best to ever do it.