Post by loucapitano on Jun 14, 2014 12:49:53 GMT -5
I just finished the newest John Wayne biography. It joins about a dozen bios written by family, friends and contemporaries and I believe it does a fairly good job. I don't think it added much that I didn't already know from prior writings, but it certainly praises where deserved and gently critiques where necessary.
For purposes of the Alamo Forum, I found the chapter and other references to his Alamo movie quite deep and comprehensive. The author grants that Wayne was obsessed by making an Alamo movie from at least 1950 and did all sorts of "back-flips" to see it come to the screen under his direction. Mr. Eymain points to a fact the James Edward Grant's screenplay was written several years before filming and he was not amenable to revisions that should have been made as the shooting dates approached. There is no doubt, John Wayne was obsessed and possessed by the Alamo until the day he died. For that, I can overlook the nauseating "blow feathers" scene and the "child's birthday." There was a heck of a movie buried in the final treatment. I think many of us see that and appreciate his efforts.
One theme the author follows throughout the biography is that JW always considered his own identity as "Duke Morrison." John Wayne was a persona he developed and played throughout his career. Wayne was the kind of man he wished he could be. Strong, dignified, brave, single-minded and all American. Many of us grew up believing that about John Wayne. This book did nothing to destroy that image for me and I found it profoundly readable and a little sad that such a man was taken from us so soon and so young...only 72.
Lou from Long Island
For purposes of the Alamo Forum, I found the chapter and other references to his Alamo movie quite deep and comprehensive. The author grants that Wayne was obsessed by making an Alamo movie from at least 1950 and did all sorts of "back-flips" to see it come to the screen under his direction. Mr. Eymain points to a fact the James Edward Grant's screenplay was written several years before filming and he was not amenable to revisions that should have been made as the shooting dates approached. There is no doubt, John Wayne was obsessed and possessed by the Alamo until the day he died. For that, I can overlook the nauseating "blow feathers" scene and the "child's birthday." There was a heck of a movie buried in the final treatment. I think many of us see that and appreciate his efforts.
One theme the author follows throughout the biography is that JW always considered his own identity as "Duke Morrison." John Wayne was a persona he developed and played throughout his career. Wayne was the kind of man he wished he could be. Strong, dignified, brave, single-minded and all American. Many of us grew up believing that about John Wayne. This book did nothing to destroy that image for me and I found it profoundly readable and a little sad that such a man was taken from us so soon and so young...only 72.
Lou from Long Island
