Clint Eastwood’s failed try and collaborate with John Wayne | Films | Entertainment | EUROtoday

Western film fans have a couple of icons – however not many get near the extent of fame Clint Eastwood and John Wayne reached whereas starring in movies of the style.

John Wayne left a legacy of over 80 western hero tales, together with The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959), True Grit (1969), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Hondo (1953), earlier than passing away of abdomen most cancers in 1979.

For his half, Clint Eastwood is famend for his iconic portrayals in quite a few movies of the style, together with the Dollars Trilogy with Sergio Leone, Hang ‘Em High (1968) and Pale Rider (1985), and later directed and starred in classics like Unforgiven (1992) and Cry Macho (2021).

Despite having their stardom years overlap while working in the same industry and niche, the pair curiously never worked together in a film – and several theories have been raised to try and explain the apparent rivalry.

Eastwood was already a household name and had started to try his hand at directing. He then released (and starred in) High Plains Drifter (1973), which John Wayne, a seasoned veteran, was highly critical of.

After the success of his directorial debut films, he was keen on taking on more projects. Then came about The Hostiles, a script he had received from Larry Cohen. It was meant to tell the story of a gambler and an older rancher who are forced to work together as they fend off bandits.

Seeing that as an opportunity to work with one of the legends of his industry, Eastwood sent the script to Wayne, hoping he would consider playing the older man – but the response was not very warm.

“John Wayne once wrote me a letter saying he didn’t like High Plains Drifter,” Eastwood admitted. “He said it wasn’t really about the people who pioneered the West. I realised that there were two different generations, and he wouldn’t understand what I was doing.”

Eastwood didn’t hand over, as a substitute rewriting and revising the script, once more in search of Wayne’s approval. The veteran’s response, in response to his son Michael Wayne, was to throw the brand new script into the ocean from the deck of his boat, as he set free: “This piece of sh** again.” The venture was subsequently achieved with out Eastwood’s involvement.

Wayne’s rejection of The Hostiles script didn’t come as a shock given his well-documented stance on the Western style. His movies usually offered a transparent ethical divide, with heroes standing as untouchable symbols of righteousness.

The cowboy was not only a character in Wayne’s world however a determine representing honor, justice, and resilience. In that side, Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter was a departure from the established order, embracing a darker, extra ambiguous portrayal of the West.