For John Wayne fans today 05/26/07...

[John_fromNY]

For anyone who is a John Wayne fan ... in honor of his 100th birthday... the Encore Westerns Channel is doing a John Wayne marathon ... 100 hours of John Wayne's western films today.

[WalterB]

John, this old fart has been watching John Wayne movies all week on TCM. Where the hell would we be if John Wayne hadn't been there to defeat the indians, best the outlaws, win WWII. And, his final, of course, The Shootist. I mean, that man's presence still stands to be beaten. If you ever get the chance, stop by Winterset, Iowa, his birthplace. And, by the way, also the location of "The Bridges Of Madison County." The house used in the film still stands, I think, and, altho, the bridges really didn't have anything to do with the movie, Winterset is also famous for 7 covered bridges, maybe 6 now, as one burned, I seem to remember. They are preserved for history. You can't drive on them anymore, but you can visit them.
Encore Westerns Channel? Where the hell do you get that?? I've never heard of it. :shock:

[John_fromNY]

Yes, in between the movies...they mentioned his home in Iowa where he was born. They made it into a museum. They also discussed how he received his nickname Duke ...interestuing story, that one. Anyway, this behind the scenes show also had interviews with a few of his sons, Michael, Patrick, and Ethan and his daughter, Marisa and a few actors who worked with him: Andrew Prine, Robert Caradine and Christopher Mitchum... during yesterday they showed True Grit in the morning ... I missed that. Then the movies I did see: Chisum during the afternoon ... And The Searchers, The War Wagon in the evening.

I had hoped to see the El Dorado, Cahill: US Marshall, The Sons of Katie Elder, Rio Bravo and The Cowboys but there just weren't enough hours in the day. But they'll be on all day and night today and on Monday too...

Another tie-in between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are the actors Ben Johnson and Bruce Dern. Ben Johnson, a native of Oklahoma, was in both Chisum and also in Hang 'Em High, playing Wayne's good friend in Chisum and the deputy marshal in Hang 'Em High . Bruce Dern, known for playing outlaws, was in both the The Cowboys, and The War Wagon and in Hang 'Em High as well. I believe he was also in Rawhide too.

About Hang 'Em High and El Dorado. They are also other favorites of mine. Probably # 3 and # 4.