John Waynewas among the most popular and well-known actors of the 1940s and ‘50s, to the extent that almost every role he adopted in his later career was the protagonist of the film. Wayne’s star power alone was enough to entice most audiences to watch his new projects, regardless of the story or the filmmakers that were attached. It was a kind of Hollywood draw that’s rarely seen today, and it meant thatJohn Wayne’s best moviesalmost always had him at their core.
However,John Wayne’s movies weren’t always Westerns or war filmsand didn’t always feature Wayne at the forefront. The actor had a surprising range that wasn’t often seen in mid-century Hollywood. It was much more common for stars to carve out their niche within the industry and stick to it - but althoughWayne certainly found his niche in Westerns and war films, he was always willing to step out of his comfort zone and try something new. This made him one of the most versatile stars of the time, even when he wasn’t absolutely top billing in a particular project.
10Three Girls Lost (1931)
Directed By Sidney Lanfield
Three Girls Lostwas one of John Wayne’s first credited roles, and his character is far from the macho heroes that he would later come to play so frequently.The film centers around three young girls who abandon their small townand leave their previous lives behind in search of fame and fortune in the big city, where they encounter a series of figures who prove that glitz and glamor aren’t everything it’s made out to be.
All 11 John Wayne Movies From The 1970s, Ranked
John Wayne is an icon of Western cinema, whose final decade of films featured some of his best work, including The Shootist and Rio Lobo.
InThree Young Girls, Wayne plays Gordon Wales, the neighbor of one of the titular girls who introduces her to a local gangster and triggers her slippery descent into crime and secrecy. It’s a thrilling story of deceit, love, and crime that embodies all the melodramatic theater of the era, giving Wayne a complex and multi-faceted role that’s very different from his trademark.
Maker of Men
Cast
Maker of Men is a sports drama released in 1931. The film follows Bob, who faces rejection from his father, Coach Dudley, his girlfriend, and his school due to his lackluster football skills. Determined to prove his worth, Bob joins a rival college team with the goal of defeating his father’s team.
Although it’s one of the actor’s lesser-known projects,Maker of Menis surprisingly one ofJohn Wayne’s most rewatchable and entertaining films.It’s much less intense and dramatic than the projects he later gravitated towards, centering instead around a football coach and his son who are torn apart when the son decides to play on a successful rival team. It’s filled with great drama, thrilling sports action, and even some comedy that’s held up surprisingly well.
Maker of Menis far from the traditional John Wayne movie, but the actor still manages to shine in his brief turn. He plays the character of Dusty Rhodes, a supporting character who plays an interesting role in tearing this family even further apart and hammering home the intensity of such low-stakes sports. It’s a great watch for anybody who’s unfamiliar with Wayne’s work, simply because it’s so different from everything else.
Texas Cyclone
Texas Cyclone: Set in a small western town, Texas Cyclone follows Texas Grant, who is mistaken for the deceased Jim Rawlins. To help Rawlins' wife, Helen, save her ranch from Utah Becker, Grant assumes Rawlins' identity, leading to confrontations that could determine the fate of the land.
Texas Cyclonewas one of John Wayne’s very first Westerns, and while he didn’t land the main character, his role was arguably even more entertaining to watch. The story centers around a man named Texas Grant who stops at a small town in the American West during his travels, where he’s shocked to learn that everybody there recognizes him as a suspected dead man. From there, the film slowly unravels this mystery withfascinating relationships, dynamic characters, and surprising twists.
Wayne plays a character named Steve Pickett, an honest resident of the small town who develops a close friendship with Texas Grant and helps him with his duties once he’s fully adopted the identity placed on him.
Wayne plays a character named Steve Pickett, an honest resident of the small town who develops a close friendship with Texas Grant and helps him with his duties once he’s fully adopted the identity placed on him. It’s a very entertaining and well-writtenJohn Wayne Western that nobody ever talks about, but it’s a pivotal moment in the star’s career.
7Two-Fisted Law (1932)
Directed By D. Ross Lederman
The second of John Wayne’s collaborations with filmmaker D. Ross Lederman in 1931,Two-Fisted Lawis a very different kind of Western that finally gives Wayne the more mature, bravado role that he’d later become renowned for.The story follows an American rancherwho finds himself the victim of a complex scam by a group of crooked farmers, forcing him to take revenge, settle the score, and prevent them from swindling the other residents of his town.
Wayne’s role inTwo-Fisted Lawis admittedly small, but the actor still leaves an impression whenever he’s on the screen. It’s easy to see the beginnings of his Hollywood charm in this project, working alongside a filmmaker that he’s familiar with and beginning to find his footing in the Western genre. It’s not one of Wayne’s most well-known or popular projects, but it’s undeniably one of his most formative.
6Lady & Gent (1932)
Directed By Stephen Roberts
Lady & Gentwas a classic Hollywood drama that incorporates everything audiences had come to love about going to the movies: high-stakes drama, romantic relationships, beautiful visuals, and a sweeping score that soundtracks the entire narrative.The story follows two very different individuals, a retired fighter and a beautiful nightclub singer, who are faced with the challenge of raising their friend’s newly orphaned son. While it’s not one ofthe defining John Wayne movies, it’s certainly one of his most underrated.
The problem with many of Wayne’s Westerns is that the stories can feel quite similar and repetitive, as the genre developed a formula and rarely dared to stray too far away from it. However, with these kinds of sentimental dramas,the writers had much more freedom to try new ideas and fresh conceptsthat audiences perhaps hadn’t seen before. That’s what madeLady & Gentso popular at the time, and it’s the romanticized Hollywood love story that keeps it so enjoyable today.
Baby Face
Baby Face, directed by Alfred E. Green, follows a young woman who leverages her sexuality to ascend the social ladder during the early 1930s. As she navigates this path of ambition, she begins to question whether her newfound status will ultimately lead to personal fulfillment.
Baby Facewas arguably John Wayne’s first step into the noir genre, which grew in popularity enormously throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s.The film starred Barabra Stanwyck as Lily Powers,exploring the character’s exploitation of sex and romance to climb the social ladder and advance her financial status. Wayne appears briefly as one of Powers’ lovers, but his role in this project is admittedly very minor.
Censorship saw plenty of iconic films banned in the USA, butBaby Face’s gripping story and immense popularity kept it in the discussion for many years.
What’s so fascinating aboutBaby Faceits is open and transparent discussions of femininity and sexuality. This made it a huge talking point of the pre-Code era of filmmaking, before censorship was widely applied to all Hollywood releases and these discussions became more widely restrained. Censorship sawplenty of iconic films banned in the USA, butBaby Face’s gripping story and immense popularity kept it in the discussion for many years.
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
The Life of Jimmy Dolan follows champion boxer Jimmy Dolan, whose public persona contrasts his troubled private life. After a fatal altercation, Dolan flees and finds refuge on a farm for disabled children, managed by Peggy. As he bonds with Peggy, he begins to reevaluate his past choices.
There’s no denying thatThe Life of Jimmy Dolanis one of John Wayne’s lesser-known projects, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing of merit in this classical Hollywood drama.The film stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr as the titular character, an acclaimed boxer who finds himself accidentally culpable for the death of a reporter at one of his matches. After an intense legal battle that he manages to win, another lawman hunts down the celebrity boxer and sets out to prove his crime for good.
The Life of Jimmy Dolanhas all the drama and twists that audiences could have wanted from this kind of film, butthe project hasn’t aged all that wellin the years that followed. Some of the storytelling is very messy, the performances aren’t as committed as they could have been, and the visual style is nothing new.
The Spoilers (1942)
Once John Wayne’s career had fully taken off in the mid-1930s, it took until 1942 for the Hollywood star to adopt another supporting role and sacrifice the lead to somebody else. This project wasThe Spoilers, a big-budget Western from Universal Pictures that told the story of an Alaskan prospector who gets into a tangle with an American lawman over the affections of an elusive saloon singer.
The 1940s housed some of themost influential Western movies ever made, asfilmmakers began to subvert the audience’s expectationsand try some new ideas that had previously been considered too bold and risky. One of these ideas was to blend the high-stakes action of the Western genre with a tamer, more sentimental romance that helps balance the tone of the storytelling - andThe Spoilersdoes this perfectly,
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is a 1942 film that follows the ambitious Charles ‘Pittsburgh’ Markham as he aggressively pursues financial success in the steel industry. His relentless drive affects his relationships and ideals, leading to loneliness. The story unfolds as fate offers him a second chance after a significant setback.
Pittsburghis a very interesting project for 1940s Hollywood, in that the story has no clear protagonist. There’s a case to be made for several of the main characters to be the “lead”, just as there’s a case to be made that none of them are. John Wayne is certainly the most recognizable member of the cast, but the project is essentially an ensemble.The film follows several figures whose lives all center around Wayne’s character Markham, a greedy coal miner who exploits others to his benefit.
Pittsburghis one of Wayne’s least traditional and most experimental projects, but it worked in his favor and was fairly successful with audiences.
Although the story revolves around Markham, the other characters in this tale are just as important to the progression of the narrative. It’s almost the story of a place rather than any of the people in it, as suggested by its vague title.Pittsburghis one of Wayne’s least traditional and most experimental projects, but it worked in his favor and was fairly successful with audiences.
They Were Expendable
They Were Expendable, released in 1945, portrays a squadron of PT-boat crews in the Philippines grappling with military challenges and strategic conflicts following Pearl Harbor. The film explores their efforts against Japanese forces amidst the Navy’s indifferent stance towards their missions.
They Were ExpendablewasJohn Wayne’s third collaboration with John Ford, the hugely popular filmmaker who essentially monopolized the Western genre throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s. They’d previously worked together onStagecoach, which arguably made Wayne the star that he was destined to become, and the lesser-knownThe Long Voyage Home.
10 John Wayne Movies For Western Beginners
From breakthrough classics to late-career gems, these essential John Wayne Westerns provide the perfect introduction to The Duke’s legendary career.
They Were Expendablewas another huge success that cemented this hard-working duo as an all-time great collaboration, telling the story of a naval commander who fights to get his ship battle-ready at the beginning of the Second World War. It’s arguably the only time John Ford castJohn Waynein a non-lead role, as he quickly recognized the actor’s screen presence and capitalized on it for years to come.
