John Wayne’s daughter-in-law oversees release of ‘Hondo’ on widescreen Blu-ray

The general public hasn’t seen “Hondo” ride across a wide screen since its initial 1953 release. Even then, most small-town theaters hadn’t yet converted to CinemaScope-size projection. Consequently, most John Wayne fans have only seen the film in the old square format on screens both large and small. But the Duke’s daughter-in-law has finally done […]

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Iowa’s bold claim to John Wayne

WINTERSET, Iowa — In the tiny living room of the tiny clapboard house where John Wayne was born, our tour guide explained that “The Duke’s” family moved to this town southwest of Des Moines in 1906 so his father could work in a pharmacy. They left in 1911 for Wayne’s father to take a similar […]

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Long Live the Duke

John Wayne: Gone for 30 years, and still with us. An NRO Symposium Thirty years ago today, John Wayne died. Yet Americans continue to identify him as one of their favorite actors. To commemorate his life, we’ve asked a panel to discuss the man, his movies, and his legacies. ANDREW KLAVAN Any movie with John […]

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The Duke’s co-star

A movie pilgrimage to Monument Valley MONUMENT VALLEY, Ariz./Utah—He remembered the first time he saw this place. It was October 1948, and the chill of high-country autumn had already set in. He was here to work with Victor McLaglen and Ben Johnson and John Agar and Arthur Shields and John Ford and the tall guy from […]

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DUKING IT OUT

‘Festival Proves That John Wayne’s Range extended Beyond the Western’ By Nick Clooney Let’s try the Hollywood word game. I say “Laurel and Hardy”, you say “Comedy.” I say “Gene Kelly”, you say “musical”. I say “John Wayne”, you say “Western”. Perhaps we should take a closer look at that last one. I ‘ve been […]

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