A Personal Opinion


I think if John Wayne had not won an Oscar the year before in True Grit he might very well have been nominated for this movie.However,I don't think he would won over George C. Scott for Patton.Scott deserved that Oscar whether he wanted it or not.

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George C. Scott was brilliant as Patton! As much as I love the Duke, I would have to agree with you.

I love both movies! They are some of the best of the best of movies!

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I heard Scott Eyman (John Wayne: The Man Life and Legend) say in an interview last Thursday that John Wayne could have won an Oscar for "Red River" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and that he should have won one for "The Searchers." I agree with his assessment. I also think that his performance in "The Shootist" was worthy of an Oscar nomination, perhaps a win. I also think that Mr. Eyman was right when he said that the Duke was overlooked for the Oscar because he was seen as just "John Wayne," that B movie cowboy.

He may well have been the most underrated movie actor ever.

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I agree with you 100%,& will add this,Wayne's staunch conservatism also might have been the reason for his snubbing at the Oscars.Hollywood has always been very far left.

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Back in the studio days the executives that owned and managed the studios were much more conservative. In many ways they were politically liberal, especially in terms of civil rights and the Bill of Rights. However, they were economically conservative because they had businesses to run and socially conservative because that business was dependent public approval. Many of them were Jewish, which fueled their desire for enforcement of the Bill of Rights and desire for the protection of individual rights. Anti-Semitism was much stronger in those days. All of that is to preface that the studio days of Hollywood were much friendlier to conservative viewpoints.

The breakdown of the studio system allowed the youth to take charge and drive the agenda. All of a sudden the conservatism that had allowed them to develop their views on the world was all wrong. Those "old men" were responsible for all the ills of the world. They remembered the "McCarthy Witch Hunt," but forgot that the Rosenbergs, Alger Hiss, and Klaus Fuchs really were spies for the Soviets and that they were not alone. The 1960's and 1970's saw a new 'Black List' created in Hollywood against anyone who was "too conservative." I think by "too conservative" they meant anyone that was conservative, open about it, and demonstrated the potential to become popular.

Remember how careful Tom Selleck was to keep his political opinions to himself until he was too important to the box office bottom line to retaliate against.

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Excellent stuff guys. Duke always gave fine performances but my top two are Red River and The Shootist. I'm pleased his last film was a classic IMO and the great man went out in style. I went to see Chisum when it first came out and have loved it ever since. Duke and his mate the ever dependable Ben Johnson are in fine form.

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I agree with you guys but I think one of his best films was "The Long Voyage Home," in 1940. Not sure if it was Oscar worthy, but I love that film. One rare occurrence with Arthur Shields and brother Barry Fitzgerald appeared in the same film.

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I must tell you with great embarrassment that I have never seen T L V H. Must watch it next time it's shown. Directed by Ford with Duke I believe playing a Swedish sailor! Shields and Fitzgerald were also together in the wonderful The Quiet Man. IMO a Ford classic. Andy McLaglen who directed Chisum used a lot of Ford touches in his Westerns. His dad Victor was part of the Ford stock company.

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CHISUM is an entertaining movie, but worthy of an Oscar for Wayne? He isn't phoning it in the way he would within a couple of years, but THE COWBOYS and THE SHOOTIST are THE top-of-the-line, why the hell didn't he get nominated for this performances he gave in the Seventies.

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Absolutely Sir. He should at least have been given one for The Shootist. Bet his old mate Richard Boone who also starred in T S would have loved him to get it.

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