John Agar


John Agar appears in this film somewhere. After many viewings, I still can't figure where he is.

Does anyone know?

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[deleted]

Thanks!

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He's also the trooper coughing in the rain outside Joe Masters' office as Wayne says: "Two of them won't see Christmas." We don't see Agar again, so it is supposed that his character died.

"Windage and elevation, Mrs. Langdon. Windage and elevation."

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He can also be seen opening his mouth about to say something to John Wayne and Ben Johnson right as Roman Gabriel rides up (several days late) at the "meeting point" after the war. He's also seen walking along with them a couple of minutes later. He has a full, salt and pepper beard. I wondered for many years where he appeared myself, so it was good to finally figure it out!

Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway. John Wayne

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I was a friend of John's and can clear this up pretty easily.

All of the above is correct. John was one of Duke's Union soldiers, along with Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. Since they were all playing cavalrymen, I think Duke and Andy McLaglen thought it would be nice to reunite the surviving male stars of John Ford's SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON in its 20th-anniversary year.

For years I watched pan-and-scan prints of this film on television and just assumed that John (who is billed far above many supporting players who have significant supporting roles) had been completely cut out of the film. (Now that's a widescreen print is out on DVD, you can spot the bearded John on horseback alongside Dobie and Ben in a number of places, although he doesn't have any dialogue.)

When I first met John in 1993, I asked him about this. He said that he was definitely one of the dying soldiers. His character made it through the start of the cattle drive (there's a book called JOHN WAYNE AND HIS FILMS that features a nice shot of Duke and John together, both on horseback, in their post-war cowboy gear).

Since Harry and Ben's characters would make it through the picture, Duke and McLaglen gave John a nice one-on-one death scene with Duke. John said it was one of the best scenes he ever did with Wayne. He never actually saw the footage, but he said Lee Meriwether saw it and said it was one of the best scenes in the film (I saw here in L.A. recently, and she confirmed this).

Unfortunately, since the film was long anyway and the scene didn't necessarily advance the plot, John's death scene ended up on the cutting-room floor. Lee Meriwether said, "I've always thought that was such a shame, because John was wonderful in it, and it really showed the compassion of Wayne's character toward his men."

As much as I love THE UNDEFEATED, it's not likely to be issued in a special edition with missing scenes restored, but I hope I'm wrong. I'd love to see the scene that John did with the Duke -- the scene that establishes why he was in the movie in the first place!

Hope that helps,
Terry Pace

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Thanks, Terry!

I love reading about all the diffrent aspects related to John Wayne movies in particular, and most movies in general.

Do you have any tid-bits about Fort Apache, or Sands of Iwo Jima?!?!?!


Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway. John Wayne

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I had always hoped John Agar would end up with a bigger role in one of Duke's films. I enjoyed his foreman role in Big Jake, but he could easily have played the sheriff in Rio Lobo (Mike Henry's part), the Christopher George part in Chisum, etc. It would have been nice to seem him matched up with Duke in a role
similiar to their earlier films together. But, I'm sure he was happy to get the roles he did get, and was always glad to work with Duke.

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[deleted]

You're an ass!

I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy





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I read in a book by John Wayne's wife Pilar that John Wayne never forgot his friends and tried to find work for them in his projects. Such loyalty is to be commended.

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It was great that John Agar,Duke,Ben and Dobe were together again in the film. Must admit I had a job recognising John. Loved them in Yellow Ribbon too.

Thanks for your message Terry. Really interesting.

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I was a friend of John's and can clear this up pretty easily.


I just watched it again and it struck me his part was strangely small with very little dialogue.

Really interesting story! Thanks for that!

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Took me ten years to read your reply. Wonder if you have any information on what happened to Richard Mulligan's character. He's credited as "Dan Morse" but he appears to have been cut out of the movie. There is no Dan Morse in the movie.

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