Don’t ever trust a man who doesn’t like john wayne.... how the duke saved the corps

[PropAddict]

^^^^Citation Needed.

Good actor, I like his movies (The Searchers, FTW), but I can't find anything to validate the truth of this story. The only Doolittle Board or Committee that comes up in my Google-Fu is 1867 one about Indian Affairs.

Also, I just can't bring myself to idolize a guy who intentionally obtained multiple preferential draft classifications/deferments during the war, so that he could make movies about fighting in wars.

But maybe my personal definitions of "heroic" and "morally noble" differ from yours, flaps.

 

[flaps]

concur, props
i checked with snoops. didn't find anything.

obviously never met the guy. just sayin' his movies were instrumental in fostering general purpose patriotism.
don't much care for tom cruise but i like what 'topgun' did for tomcats.

 

[Cron]

Good actor, I like his movies (The Searchers, FTW), but I can't find anything to validate the truth of this story. The only Doolittle Board or Committee that comes up in my Google-Fu is 1867 one about Indian Affairs.

Well, there is some truth to all of this. Even though the existence of the Marine Corps was actually cemented with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947, the movie helped turn public opinion (and effectively that of Congress) in favor of the Marines for years to come. The documentary that's on the "Sands of Iwo Jima" DVD touches upon it. This book talks about it, also.

Ah, . :tophat_12

 

[Fog]

Surprised True Grit got no mentions. It was a great movie except for Glen Campbell's awful performance. IMHO, while serving the purposes of the war effort, most of John Wayne's WWII films were pretty thin stuff - especially seeing them as an adult after first having seen them as a kid in the late 40's & early 50's.

 

[flaps]

i thought they did an excellent job with the recent 'true grit' flick.

 

[brownshoe]

Surprised True Grit got no mentions. It was a great movie except for Glen Campbell's awful performance. IMHO, while serving the purposes of the war effort, most of John Wayne's WWII films were pretty thin stuff - especially seeing them as an adult after first having seen them as a kid in the late 40's & early 50's.

Yup. Mostly "swagger." But that's what he was good at. I do enjoy his movies, but I agree with you (thin). Though, I do especially like "In Harm's Way."

Steve

 

[Fog]

Flaps & Brownshoes: I agree w/ both of you. TG2 was better than the original, if only because Matt Damon played the Texas Ranger role so much more convincingly than Glenn Campbell. Does anyone remember They were Expendable? It was an early WWII flick about PT boats in the Philippines. I thought it was one of Wayne's best war flicks. FWIW.

 

[KBayDog]

Was never much of a fan of True Grit. It had a great soundtrack, and Robert Duvall was a badass, but the movie itself was rather flat. I can't help but think that the Academy gave him his Oscar as a make-up for ignoring him for nearly half a century.

As far as his "old-man cowboy" movies go, I have to go with The Shootist. Opie Cunningham aside, it's a badass flick with a great shootout...and quite fitting that he dies in his last film. The Cowboys is good, too, but a little dark. (Again, shit-hot soundtrack by a young John Williams, who was already a decade and a half into his musical scoring career.)

 

[brownshoe]

Flaps & Brownshoes: I agree w/ both of you. TG2 was better than the original, if only because Matt Damon played the Texas Ranger role so much more convincingly than Glenn Campbell. Does anyone remember They were Expendable? It was an early WWII flick about PT boats in the Philippines. I thought it was one of Wayne's best war flicks. FWIW.

I'd forgotten the movie. Thanks!

Steve

 

[Lawman]

If only because the cast actually did all their own stunts. Which means yes, John Wayne sat on the front of an old pickup truck going 40-50 mph in a metal seat welded too the fender with nothing more than a leather strap across his waist and a pole and rope to wrangle some uncooperative African wildlife. They also wrangled a Rhino for that movie... Balls... Big brass ones.

Oh yeah... and stone cold fox.

 

[CAMike]

brownshoe- History is a real....? SWO's with 14 inch thick torpedoes running the Navy. At least in our mid 20th century patriotic movies.

My God I wish it were true. Instead we have sexual diversity training. I weep too.

 

[Fog]

brownshoe- History is a real....? SWO's with 14 inch thick torpedoes running the Navy. At least in our mid 20th century patriotic movies.

My God I wish it were true. Instead we have sexual diversity training. I weep too.

My thoughts exactly!! I think we had fighting sailors in WWII (officers & EM). What we have today is something different. I think half the problem today is that a blackshoe officer (110X) can never lead any combat activity unless he's at least a 10-yr LCDR. Diversity training does not win wars. It does, however, emasculate lots of potential warriors.

 

[BigRed389]

My thoughts exactly!! I think we had fighting sailors in WWII (officers & EM). What we have today is something different. I think half the problem today is that a blackshoe officer (110X) can never lead any combat activity unless he's at least a 10-yr LCDR. Diversity training does not win wars. It does, however, emasculate lots of potential warriors.

Of course not. A 1100 is pretty much the most useless designator in the Navy.

 

[helolumpy]

How can no one bring up Flying Leathernecks? The Duke flying a fighter at Guadalcanal... he was an Air Warrior in that movie!

I'd also throw a 'half-vote' to Flying Tigers, more so because I just love the P-40 with that paint scheme!

 

[Fog]

How can no one bring up Flying Leathernecks? The Duke flying a fighter at Guadalcanal... he was an Air Warrior in that movie!

I'd also throw a 'half-vote' to Flying Tigers, more so because I just love the P-40 with that paint scheme!

Wayne was too tough on Robert Ryan in Flying Leathernecks. In Flying Tigers he was, unfortunately, an Army puke.