John Wayne _ The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn [47]
“Duke was such a charming man, he was too tame for me, so I wouldn’t have made a play for him. I guess I went for bad boys which is why I fell for Francis [Sinatra]. Duke and Francis didn’t get on for years.”
Although Reunion in France was not well received by either critics or the public, it was another opportunity for Wayne to express his patriotism in time of war.
Wayne managed to fit in one more film before the end of 1942, Pittsburgh, again with Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott, and again at Universal. The story mainly centered on Wayne and Scott as two coal miners, Pittsburgh Markham and Cash Evans, respectively.
Pittsburgh is driven by ambition to work his way to the top, causing a rift with his friend Cash, but after Pearl Harbor, the two patch things up and together they make a considerable contribution to the war effort and earn a citation of merit from the government. Dietrich was there merely to create some romantic tension. The moral of the story was that every American had a part to play in supporting the war effort, and it enhanced Wayne’s patriotic screen persona.
Paul Fix, who had a supporting role, continued to help Wayne improve his techniques. “Duke had developed a wonderful 21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:42 PM Page 86
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expression where he’d furrow his eyebrow,” said Fix. “Watch any John Wayne film and you’ll see it. It was very effective, but I could see that Duke was tending to overuse it. Because directors don’t care much for actors giving help to other actors, Duke and I devised a set of signals, and when I saw Duke arching his brow once too often, I’d make a signal to tell him not to do it this time. I also urged him to take to the stage in local theatres, but he shied away from that.”
Because Wayne’s contract with Republic allowed him to accept offers from other studios, he signed a six-picture deal with RKO. His first picture for them, A Lady Takes a Chance, offered a change of pace for Wayne at the beginning of 1943. He was second-billed to Jean Arthur in a light comedy about a New York band clerk (Arthur) who takes a bus west and meets a rodeo star (Wayne). It proved very popular at a time when life for everyone was grim. And it proved too that Wayne had a flair for light comedy.
Away from the studios, Wayne was trying to find a way to be a father to his four children. He visited them when he could, and he even socialized with Josephine. But when he brought up the topic of divorce, Josephine would not give way due to her strict Catholic beliefs.
It was around this time that Wayne brought Chata to Hollywood.
“I was just one of his friends who told him he was making a big mistake,” said Paul Fix. “She was great fun for him, but not someone to settle down with. You just knew she was trouble. John Ford told him he was out of his mind, but Duke told him to mind his own business, so Ford did and for the next few years Ford didn’t speak to Duke.”
Wayne moved out of Paul Fix’s house and into a penthouse apartment at the Château Marmont on Sunset Boulevard with Chata.
Paul Fix cautioned him to keep a low profile to avoid a scandal.
Said Fix, “He was like a different person. It was like he was telling everyone, ‘I’m a big star now and can do what I like with whom I like.’ But he wasn’t a big star yet, and the whole thing really upset Josephine. I know that Mary Ford and Barbara Milland [Ray Milland’s wife] rallied round Josephine and they openly criticized Duke for his behavior. I think his conceit was partly an outlet for his guilt at not being in the services, and he was letting himself live it up 21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:42 PM Page 87
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with Chata also as a way of drowning his sorrows over not being able to enlist.”
At Republic, Herbert Yates knew he had a potential scandal on his hands, which was rare for his studio. The bigger studios had people whose primary jobs were to clean up scandals, but Republic had never needed anyone to fit that job description. Wayne was his biggest star and he had to protect his investment. He