John Wayne _ The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn [2]
When I turned up on the Brannigan location, I came armed with a small tape recorder given to me by film critic and author Alan Frank, who wanted me to collaborate with him on a book about film epics, and he urged me to tape any interviews I could get.
I had it in mind that I might someday write a book on Wayne, although I was more concerned about recording whatever Wayne said to me for my own personal posterity. Fortunately, he allowed me to record some of our conversations in his trailer, but from time to time, when the subject became too personal or confidential, he’d switch the machine off, and then when we were back to talking 21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page xii xii
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movies once more, he’d switch it on again. The words I didn’t get on tape I wrote down at the earliest opportunity. Each day while I was on location, I jotted down virtually everything Duke said to me.
Somewhat ironically, Wayne suggested that since I wanted to be a writer, I should make the most of my knowledge of cinema and try my hand at a book. I said “Well, really, I’d like to do a book on you.”
He said, “Why not? Give it your best shot.”
A few days later he turned up with a long list of names and phone numbers; people like Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, George Sherman, Maureen O’Hara, Claire Trevor, Paul Fix, and many others he said I ought to talk to. He said, “These people can tell you everything you want to know about making pictures, and about me.” Consequently, I spent a lot of nights making transatlantic phone calls.
More than once he said, “Don’t forget to call up those people I made a list of for you. They’ll be expecting to hear from you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t forget.”
There have been other biographies about John Wayne, most of them—with the exception of memoirs by his wife Pilar and daughter Aissa, as well as an account by Wayne’s last secretary Pat Stacy—
written by people who didn’t actually know or meet Wayne. I think I got to know him quite well.
When I became a journalist toward the end of 1974, I began making concerted efforts to interview anyone who had ever worked with Wayne. When news came in 1979 that Wayne had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, I decided I needed to prepare a tribute, so I contacted all those I had originally called in 1974 who still survived.
I also made contact with others, most of whom were willing to talk, some just prior to his death, some right after. I was working at Photoplay at the time and was asked by the editor to compile a tribute to John Wayne. But the one I wrote was never published.
I have continued to collect firsthand material on Wayne, and so almost thirty years after I met him, I’ve finally got around to writing my book on the Duke.
It took a long time for all sorts of reasons, but I became convinced the time was right just after the terrible disaster of 11 September 2001. As I watched the events of that day and the aftermath over the 21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page xiii FOREWORD
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following weeks, as I heard stories of lives lost and of men and women who performed incredible acts of heroism, it became evident that old-fashioned American patriotism was flourishing. It made me think of John Wayne, what he spoke about and the message he put across in his films, especially in The Alamo.
Of course, John Wayne was just an actor. He didn’t really die fighting at the Alamo, or win the battle for Iwo Jima. And yet, to the people of America, he was and remains a symbol of all that America should stand for. And not all of it was an illusion, despite what his critics say. He stood by his beliefs, and he fought for freedom not just