It’s always been the case that if a major star works with a director once and has an experience to remember, they’ll make a point of reuniting with them on multiple films. John Wayne may have found his muse in John Ford, but there was another filmmaker he was very fond of he didn’t think got their due.
‘The Duke’ and his most famous collaborator became virtually inseparable over a decades-long partnership that yielded some of the greatest movies in Hollywood history. Wayne and Ford were not only close friends but also shared a mentor/protege and father/son relationship that frequently brought out the best in both.
If 100 people were asked to name the first director that comes to mind when they think of the iconic star, then it would be a huge surprise if any less than 99 of them instantly named Ford. That’s pretty much the point Wayne was trying to make when he sought to shine a spotlight on another member of his inner circle, who he was adamant deserved to be placed on a higher pedestal than they were.
While there might be an element of bias in play, considering they made six features together between 1957 and 1969, it also can’t be overlooked that Henry Hathaway directed ‘The Duke’ to the crowning achievement of his professional life when he steered him to an Academy Award win for ‘Best Actor’ in True Grit. Hathaway’s one and only Oscar nomination came three decades previously when he made the ‘Best Director’ shortlist for 1935’s The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and even though True Grit didn’t make a splash in any of the other major categories beyond Wayne’s prize, the leading man was thrilled nonetheless.
“The thing that makes me happy is that Henry Hathaway is getting some credit,” he told Roger Ebert. “For years, Henry got the thankless jobs at Fox. They’d give him the problem pictures with three stars whose contracts all expired in six weeks. Henry was known as a craftsman, but his stature wasn’t recognised. On this picture, he did a hell of a job.”
True Grit would mark their final dalliance following Legend of the Lost, North to Alaska, How the West Was Won, Circus World, and The Sons of Katie Elder, but ‘The Duke’ was clearly willing to defend Hathaway to the hilt as one of the most underrated, overlooked, and unsung directors the industry had at its disposal.
He was certainly prolific after taking the reins on 65 features between 1932 and 1974 – with 13 of them starring either Wayne or seven-time star Gary Cooper – but rarely did he get his flowers. However, he was right up there alongside Ford in the estimation of True Grit‘s focal point, and praise doesn’t come much higher than that.