John Wayne _ The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn [44]
Ray Milland looked back, “During Reap the Wild Wind, I got on very well with Wayne, partly, I think, because when we were working underwater, we had only each other to rely on and it cemented our camaraderie. Sadly, our friendship didn’t last.”
When I pressed him to tell me why their friendship was short lived, he said, “It was over a woman.”
Pressed a little more, he said, “Just a few months before Pearl Harbor, we went to Mexico City with Ward Bond, Fred MacMurray, and Bo Roos. We were there for two reasons: one, to explore the possibility of buying a movie studio there and, two, to get drunk. The second goal we achieved with far greater success than the first.
“There was a particular lady there, a rather voluptuous Mexican woman called Esperanza Baur Diaz Ceballos. She was a beautiful actress and someone I cared to call upon whenever I was in Mexico.
I made the mistake of introducing Wayne to her, and they got—
well—friendly and I got mad! End of story.”
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Esperanza was nicknamed Chata, which, translated literally from the Spanish, means “pug nose,” but in Mexico it was a term of endearment, being a version of “sweetie” or “cutie.” Her background has always been something of a mystery. Paul Fix said, “She was no film star. At best she was an extra, and at worst she was a prostitute.”
All Wayne cared about was that she was beautiful, sultry, fiery, and she could match him drink for drink. “She was uninhibited in every way,” said Fix, “but most of all in bed. I think Duke found her more exciting than even Dietrich, and that’s saying something.
Unfortunately, he mistook excitement for love. And they had so much in common, they seemed a good match. Josephine was a great woman, but she and Duke never were a good match.”
Wayne returned to Hollywood and was recalled to Universal for The Spoilers, again with Marlene Dietrich, whose ardor for Duke had finally cooled, and Randolph Scott. It was a story set in the Yukon at the time of the Klondike gold rush that had been filmed a number of times during the days of silent films. It had been remade with sound in 1930, and was now being remade again in what would be its most famous version. Its highlight was a brutal and lengthy fistfight between Wayne and Scott. The two actors did most of their own stunts, despite problems Wayne was a beginning to experience with his back, which had become weakened over the years by him doing too many of his own stunts.
Then something happened that threatened any future success Wayne was counting on. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on 7
December 1941, and America entered the Second World War.
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The War Years
It was now early in 1942, and Wayne was in a dilemma. Many Americans were enlisting to fight in the war, including a number of actors, film directors, and cameramen. The controversy over why Wayne did not enlist has never subsided. His critics have always maintained that none of his excuses for staying at home and building his career while Americans were fighting and dying for their country held up in the light of his purported patriotism.
The subject of Hollywood actors enlisting in the Second World War needs to be put into perspective. Most of the people from Hollywood who joined up were filmmakers, like John Huston and William Wyler. They risked their lives to record the war on film and were often in the battle lines. John Ford did likewise, capturing on film the battle of Midway.
It is true that a number of actors enlisted, but very few of them actually saw combat. They were considered too valuable to lose in war. Most of them were