John Wayne: The Westerns

John Wayne: The Westerns

David Morrell isnâ€™t only an acclaimed thriller author and the creator of Rambo. Heâ€™s also a former professor of American Studies who writes in-depth profiles about film and music legends who changed our culture.

Few film actors had the lasting popularity of John Wayne, especially in westerns. During his lifetime, Wayne was a top-ten box office star for twenty-four years. Three decades after his death, a 2012 Harris poll continued to place him among the top 5 most-liked film actors. In this comprehensive essay, award-winner David Morrell analyzes Wayneâ€™s career in westerns and explores his fascinating personality, including his Latin studies in high school and his skills as a chess player. Even Wayneâ€™s most knowledgeable fans will be surprised by this insightful study.

Morrellâ€™s fascination with Wayne motivated him to use this iconic actor as the inspiration for the main character of a historical novel LAST REVEILLE, which dramatizes Americaâ€™s 1916 invasion of Mexico, supposedly to pursue the Mexican bandit, Pancho Villa, but actually to practice military exercises for Americaâ€™s entry into World War I.

Critical reaction:

â€œJohn Wayne: the name still conjures political reaction and cinematic fascination. In this excellent e-essay, author David Morrell (First Blood) presents a thorough and evenhanded consideration of Wayne and his Westerns, from THE BIG TRAIL (1930) to THE SHOOTIST (1976). Heâ€™s precise about the narrative problems in THE SEARCHERS, insightful regarding the remarkable emotional range Wayne demonstrates in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, and mystified at the meaning critics find in RIO BRAVO. While also examining Wayneâ€™s drinking (16 martinis before a Thanksgiving dinner), smoking (five packs a day on THE ALAMO) and expertise as a chess player, Morrell allows us to appreciate and understand how Wayne, â€˜an undeniable phenomenon,â€™ helped create that unique film category: John Wayne Westerns.â€
â€”Tom Clagett, ROUNDUP MAGAZINE (WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA)

David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. A former professor of American literature at the University of Iowa, he has written numerous New York Times bestsellers, including the classic Brotherhood of the Rose spy trilogy. The main character in Morrellâ€™s western novel, Last Reveille, was inspired by Wayneâ€™s career.

â€œDavid Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.â€
â€”Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair

â€œMorrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his on rules and leaves you dazzled.â€
â€”Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author of 77 Shadow Street
Country USA
Manufacturer Morrell Enterprises
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2012-04-05
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Morrell Enterprises
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2012-04-05
Format	Kindle eBook

John Wayne: The Westerns

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