MovieChat Forums > North to Alaska (1960) Discussion > Duke flips his lid?!?!

Duke flips his lid?!?!

posted 18 years ago by tween_us
16 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else notice what appeared to be John Wayne briefly without his hairpiece in the fight with Ernie Kovacs in the last five minutes of this film?

When I first saw it, I definitely thought either Duke's hairpiece got knocked off when he was hit, or else he wasn't wearing it under his hat to begin with.

But after doing a frame-by-frame advance, it was inconclusive; it may have been a stuntman that was balding and not Duke at all.

The IMDB "goofs" section lists it as a "revealing mistake," but I'm not so sure.

Any insights?

[–] cashmccall321 17 years ago

Sorry guy, but I don't think it's a stunt double - JW was balding, and almost always wore a piece. Inexcusable mistake from an editing standpoint, though.

[–] lovesick80 17 years ago

Yep...I think it was the first punch in the last fight scene...Ernic Kovacs punched the Duke and knocked off his hairpiece! John Wayne noticed this right away and turned and ducked pretty fast so the camera didn't catch too much of it, but you can see it if you're looking for it. I know I must've watched that about five or six times before my mom pointed it out to me...and I'd never noticed it before!

[–] sean_finch314 17 years ago

The Duke was not bald! The Duke was perfect! You are all going to hell!

[–] Maherdabum 17 years ago

Sorry Sean, the Duke's scalp was shinier than a chrome hitch!

[–] Homer900 16 years ago

Sean, the Duke wore a toupee. I know its tough to believe, but the best of us men are naturally bald, the rest have to shave their heads to achieve greatness...

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LatigoMeans 16 years ago

Just saw this last night, and it sure looks like his toop was either missing or knocked off. And I have noticed in many films, especially the later ones, that he is obviously wearing a toop. And not a very good one.
It is clearly visible in scenes showing the back of his head.

This by no means diminishes the Duke in my opinion. Hair or no he is still the man.

~LjM
Step on it! And don't spare the atoms!

[–] armigerous-1 16 years ago

I'm watching it right now on AMC...and from what I could tell he simply forgot to wear his rug under his hat...when Frankie Cannon hit him,the hat came off but there was no toupee that went flying....just a semi-bald Duke

[–] ecarle 16 years ago

There is a photograph in existence of John Wayne, without his hairpiece and pretty much flat-out bald -- signing autographs for U.S. soldiers in Vietnam.

Evidently he felt he had to be "honest" with those guys. Or maybe a hairpiece was a potential danger near a combat zone? He might trip on it...

[–] Homer900 16 years ago

When the Duke traveled to Harvard, I believe in 1974, he had good humor and even rode in on a National Guard armored personnel carrier. It was a Q&A session with the students and I remember on the documentary one of the questions was about his hair and if it was real. The Duke replied that it was real hair, just not his real hair! Great stuff.

[–] kcrosser 15 years ago

I first had seen this movie at the theater when I was a kid. Then have watched it every time it is on. Last night for the John Wayne salute on Western tv was the first time I had noticed the rug flying off with the hat! I thought I was seeing things so I rewound it a bunch of times and yup, there was Duke minus some hair. I too knew he wore a piece, but I was suprised the editing didn't correct this blatant mistake!

[–] Marlburian 13 years ago

Or may be he found it too hot to wear in Viet Nam? But did he look old without it! I like to speculate when an actor started wearing a toupee, usually soon after the first signs of baldness appeared, I think. John Wayne's hairline showed a suspicion of receding c1946. When playing Spig Wead in "The Wings of Eagles" in 1957 he left his rug off for the sake of realism. As he got older his toupee seemed to get less and less convincing.

Marlburian

[–] card53 11 years ago

My best guess is that the Duke started wearing a rug in Flying Leathernecks (1951). In his previous picture, Rio Grande (1950), it looks more like his natural hair. And, yeah, it was getting thin.

His rugs looked less natural in later years, but then so did most men's hairpieces by the 1970s. They used a light mesh around the hairline for toupees up through the mid-to-late '60s. It made for a more natural appearance, as if the hair was growing from the scalp. Rugs no longer had that from-the-scalp look once the longer hairstyles came along shortly thereafter.

Guys like the Duke, Sinatra, and Shatner all had good-looking rugs through the '60s. And they all looked a little ridiculous throughout the '70s.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

he was bald

[–] winterview 16 years ago

Vanity does not become the Duke . . .

[–] Xcalat3 15 years ago

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...