Top five John Wayne films

The many motion pictures of John Wayne are too many to keep an accurate count of, since he was also a director and producer of films. Selecting a top five is difficult. This article discusses some candidates for the list of top five John Wayne films.

John Wayne biography

John Wayne's biography shows that John Wayne's real name was Marion Robert Morrison, although his middle name was changed when his brother was named Robert. In childhood, he was dubbed as 'Duke', which he preferred.
Marriages He was married three times and divorced twice. The wife that survived him, after his death from cancer in 1975, was Pilar Wayne. They were married for twenty five years. John Wayne the cowboy John Wayne's photos often show him dressed as a cowboy, because he acted in more westerns than any other genre. He rode horses well, and learnt stunt riding. He had drifted into acting after losing his sports college scholarship.

John Wayne filmography

The John Wayne filmography includes over 250 motion pictures altogether, many of them as a bit-part player during the 1930s. He was also a director and producer of movies, some of which he also starred in.
Wayne the man's man John Wayne films were made in all genres, but Wayne generally played very masculine characters. He usually played a 'quiet' man, i.e. one who resorted to actions rather than words, and appealed to working class audiences as a 'man's' man. Select filmography The Quiet Man (1952) is a romantic comedy set in a highly fictionalised Ireland, while Blood Alley (1955) is an adventure film where he is a sea captain in China. War movies The Sea Chase (1955) is an unusual World War 2 drama role for Wayne because it features a Nazi ship's captain fighting to get his vessel home, in contrast to Operation Pacific (1951) set in the world of submarines at war with the Japanese. The High and the Mighty (1954) features Wayne as an aviator, while Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) featured marines re-enacting a real battle that ensured Wayne a place in movie-making history.

Top five John Wayne westerns

Stagecoach (1939) was a critical and box office success that made John Wayne a star. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) features spectacular Monument valley, but also the end of soldiering, an important theme in the post-war world.
Racism and western politics The Searchers (1956) raises racial prejudice against mixed marriages and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) is about civil law and politics changing the West. It was hailed by many as the last classic western, but nobody told Wayne, who went on to make several more before his death, including
Oscar-winning True Grit (1969).