As far as icons of the western cinema world, it’s hard to look beyond the impact of John Wayne. Sure, Wayne’s right-wing politics and frequently dodgy remarks cast a dark shadow over his legacy, but as far as the film performances themselves are concerned, there’s no denying that The Duke remains an absolute monolith of American film long after his death in 1979.
Known and loved for playing highly masculinised roles in a number of western and war movies, Wayne contributed to a vast 142 movies throughout his career. At one point in his early adulthood, it looked as though the Iowa-born actor might go on to be a professional football player, but a bodysurfing injury was the film world’s gain, and before long, Wayne had established himself as a star actor.
As a key figure on the American film circuit, Wayne was naturally afforded the opportunity to work with some of the most prominent directors of his time. He made The Big Trail with Raoul Walsh in 1930, Red River with Howard Hawks in 1948 and signed off his career with a performance in Don Siegel’s 1976 film The Shootist. However, such collaborations paled into insignificance when it came to The Duke’s work with John Ford.
The Wayne-Ford cinematic relationship has transcended the ages of motion picture history. However, to begin with, Wayne had to bide his time to become Ford’s most trusted actor. In Mother Machree, Hangman’s House and Four Sons (all released in 1928), Wayne had uncredited extra roles, as he had in a number of early Ford movies. A small (but still uncredited) role in Ford’s 1929 film Salute showed more promise, but it was ten years before his breakthrough role in the director’s legendary 1939 film Stagecoach.
From there, though, the actor and the director never looked back and one of the most iconic creative partnerships in the history of American cinema grew from strength to strength. The 1940s saw Wayne appear in Ford’s films The Long Voyage Home, They Were Expendable, Fort Apache, 3 Godfathers, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, which were all decent efforts but couldn’t top came in the next decade.
Boasting Rio Grande, The Quiet Man and The Searchers, there’s no doubt that the 1950s saw what might be termed the golden era of the Wayne-Ford partnership, while The Wings of Eagles and The Horse Soldiers topped the decade up into their equally most prolific. In 1962, Ford and Wayne delivered their final film together, The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, which capped off a decades-long collaboration of admirable quality. All in all, Wayne and Ford made 14 movies together (in which Wayne was properly credited), showing that they clearly had so much respect for one another’s talent.
But which is the best movie John Wayne made with John Ford?
Most would argue that among the best films that Wayne made with Ford are the likes of Stagecoach, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance. Stagecoach was an important film for Wayne in the fact that it featured the role that really kicked his career into action, but as far as the best film in terms of its overall quality, it’s hard to look beyond the brilliance of The Searchers.
Released in 1956, The Searchers saw Wayne play Ethan Edwards, a bigoted middle-aged Civil War veteran tasked with finding his abducted niece. Taking place in the Texas-Indian wars, Edwards has a deep-seated hatred for Native Americans, with Ford tapping into and exposing the racist views of the time. In addition, Ford used Monument Valley as the backdrop for the film, captured beautifully in VistaVision, making The Searchers one of the most visually impressive Ford-Wayne movies as well as one of the most artistically admirable.
Sure, there are other claims for the best movie that Wayne and Ford made together, but all things considered, The Searchers seems to stand out. Between Stagecoach and The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, Wayne and Ford made 14 movies with one another – The Duke in front of the camera and Pappy behind in – but when it comes to the pick of the bunch, look no further than their magnificent effort of 1956.