John Wayne’s youngest child, Marisa Wayne, is headed to the West Texas town of Snyder for this weekend’s second annual John Wayne Film Fest, spearheaded by actor/director Barry Tubb (Lonesome Dove, Top Gun).
To kick things off, actor Dean Smith will introduce the Howard Hawks film Rio Lobo. While the Duke was the lead, Smith played the part of Corporal Bide.
“We’re also having a big-screen showing of the original Lonesome Dove,” says Tubb. Of course, John Wayne was long dead when it was made.
“Yes,” says Tubb, “but last year when Larry McMurtry spoke at the festival, he let us know that he originally wrote Lonesome Dove as a screenplay for John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.” Lonesome Dove cast members Rick Schroeder and Barry Corbin are coming in for that screening. Also making the festival will be Fort Worth-raised Bill Paxton (Big Love, Titanic).
Ruth Mutch, daughter of Dallas philanthropists Edith and Peter O’Donnell, is sponsoring the film festival, a fund-raiser for the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.