John Wayne _ The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn [187]
When he died in 1979, his style of patriotism had become 21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:43 PM Page 351
THE ABSOLUTE ALL-TIME MOVIE STAR
351
somewhat outmoded, especially his seemingly negative attitude toward civil rights. But then came the war in Iraq in 1991, and Americans began to remember Wayne’s ideals about Americanism.
Then there was 11 September 2001, and America began to remember John Wayne more than ever. A long-playing record of patriotic poems and monologues he had made in the 1970s was reissued on CD and became a bestseller. The patriotism John Wayne had preached became the doctrine again for most Americans.
I mention all this, not to validate America’s position as the world’s superpower, nor to praise its morals—indeed, there have been enough events to prove that America is neither incorruptible nor omnipotent—but to merely point out that its ideals, while not necessarily invented by John Wayne, were certainly propagated by him. You don’t have to be an American to appreciate John Wayne, but you can understand why Americans appreciate and even revere him.
It is always sad when an actor you admire dies. We somehow feel that we know these people, even though few of us ever do meet them.
But I did meet John Wayne and I believe he was my friend. When he died, I really could not believe it was possible. I just assumed that he would once again pull through.
I never got to visit him, and I daresay he forgot all about me. But Claire Trevor told me, “If you’d suddenly turned up on his doorstep and said, ‘Remember me?’ he would have, and he would have told you to stay forever— or however long you wanted to.”
I have an abiding memory of Wayne to close this book with. It’s a memory that makes me smile.
You may recall that when on my first day on the set of Brannigan I told him I’d never met “a living legend” before. Being called that had made him laugh.
A problem arose concerning the filming of a car chase across Tower Bridge just as it was opening. I have no idea what arrangements had been made, but for some reason the police had stepped in and said that if they filmed on Tower Bridge, Douglas Hickox would be arrested.
Wayne had said to go ahead and shoot the scene, and he would take care of the police. I wasn’t able to be there to see this scene, 21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:43 PM Page 352
352
JOHN WAYNE
which involved professional stunt drivers, but, according to the film’s unit publicist, the scene went ahead, complete with the bridge being opened.
As the police moved in to arrest Douglas Hickox, Wayne ambled over to the British police officers and began signing autographs and chatting to them.
Finally, he said, “You don’t want to arrest my director, do you, fellers? Without him, I can’t finish the picture.” They let Hickox off with a caution—as if he was ever likely to film another car chase across Tower Bridge.
I would have loved to have seen it all happen, but I only caught the moment when Duke was told that the police had forbidden them to shoot on the bridge, and Duke had told them to shoot the scene anyway.
I said to Wayne, “Is that a good idea? Can you do that?”
He looked down at me kind of sideways, grinned and said, “Who the hell’s gonna argue with a living legend?”
21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:43 PM Page 353
Postscript
By sheer coincidence but perhaps appropriately, I completed this manuscript on 11 September 2002, in between joining the world in observing the silent tributes to commemorate the first anniversary of 11 September 2001.
So much of what I heard that day, from eyewitness accounts and moving tributes to fallen heroes, to the seemingly endless list of names read out in memoriam, reminded me of the words spoken by John Wayne as Davy Crockett in The Alamo: “It’s good to feel useful in this old world. To hit a lick against what’s wrong or to say a word for what’s right, even though you might get walloped for saying that word. I may sound like a Bible-beater yelling up a revival at a river-crossing camp meeting, but that don’t change the truth none: there