0:00:18 > 0:00:23Strong, tough, hard-working, straight-talking -
0:00:23 > 0:00:25these were the qualities Americans saw
0:00:25 > 0:00:29when they watched John Wayne fill the big screen,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32and over a 50-year career, those qualities turned him
0:00:32 > 0:00:35into one of the great American icons.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40Known affectionately as Duke, he starred in over 175 films,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and though they weren't all Westerns,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46that is the genre with which he is for ever associated.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49The image of him high in the saddle with a gun in his hand
0:00:49 > 0:00:51is one that became familiar
0:00:51 > 0:00:55to generation after generation of cinemagoers the world over.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Famously, John Wayne was not his real name,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04as he explains here in our interview from 1969.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07My right name is Marion Michael Morrison,
0:01:07 > 0:01:13and the studio decided that it was not American enough for a boy
0:01:13 > 0:01:18who was going to play Breck Coleman in The Big Trail back in 1929.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23So, the studio heads were put together
0:01:23 > 0:01:26and they came up with the name John Wayne.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28But long before I had the name John Wayne,
0:01:28 > 0:01:34I was going to school in Glendale and I had a dog named Duke,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and the dog would follow me as far as the fire station
0:01:37 > 0:01:39on the way to school in the morning
0:01:39 > 0:01:43and wait at the fire station for me to return in the evening.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46And the firemen all knew the dog's name, but they didn't know mine,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48so they called the dog Big Duke and me Little Duke.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52- That was a few years ago. - What did you study at Glendale?
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Well, at Glendale high school I was just a...
0:01:55 > 0:01:57In Glendale, it was just grammar school and high school.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I went to University of Southern California.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01I took a pre-legal course.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Did you ever intend to be a lawyer?
0:02:04 > 0:02:05Yes, I...
0:02:07 > 0:02:11I think I would have enjoyed the occupation, but...
0:02:13 > 0:02:14..while I was going to school,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19I was offered a job in the summertimes working at the studios.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24I met Mr John Ford, and I enjoyed working with him
0:02:24 > 0:02:29and watching him mould a scene and meld the people to the scene.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33And then I go back to school and look around at these kids and I say,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37"This kid's father is a lawyer,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41"this kid's uncle is an established lawyer,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43"and they're going into those offices
0:02:43 > 0:02:45"and one of them will take me
0:02:45 > 0:02:48"and then I'll be writing briefs in the backroom for 10 or 15 years,"
0:02:48 > 0:02:53and it didn't look quite as appealing or as exciting as pictures.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58So, when I was offered the acting job,
0:02:58 > 0:03:03I accepted it, never realising that it would end up a career,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06but thinking it might establish me
0:03:06 > 0:03:10so's that I could get into the production, and finally direct,
0:03:10 > 0:03:11which I wanted to do.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Why was it cowboy films in particular that interested you?
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Well, it wasn't a case of what it interested in me,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21it was a case of that which I fit in best.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25I...was of...
0:03:25 > 0:03:32six foot four, which is a fairly tall man at the time in pictures, and...
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and all the leading ladies were small, so I...!
0:03:35 > 0:03:37You know, you don't...
0:03:37 > 0:03:40You're all bent over like this with those leading ladies.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44So, I fit the background of Westerns better.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47And in those days, they needed...
0:03:47 > 0:03:50You know, they didn't spend quite as much money on doubles and things
0:03:50 > 0:03:54as they do today, and they expected you to be rugged enough
0:03:54 > 0:04:00to do a little of this stuff, so I fit that category.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02So, I guess that's why I got started in them.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Have you seen any of the films you made, those early films?
0:04:05 > 0:04:07- Have you seen any of them recently? - I try not to see them.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Stagecoach is always considered the turning point in your career.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13- Yes, it certainly was.- Why?
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Well, it was the first time that I was able to be
0:04:18 > 0:04:20a part of a picture in which...
0:04:22 > 0:04:24..the reaction became important.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26You know...
0:04:26 > 0:04:29they say action pictures and A pictures...
0:04:31 > 0:04:35..but in these action pictures that we made, earlier,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39you had to explain the story, tell where you were going,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42explain, you know, we'll...
0:04:42 > 0:04:44the heavies are going Dodge Gulch,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48so we'll cut across Red Gulch and meet them ahead of time.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Then you'd ride out and you'd say, "Well, this is Red Gulch,"
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and then they'd say, "There they come now,"
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and you never had a reaction to any situation.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58It was just all action.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And nobody has a chance to get much of their personality
0:05:02 > 0:05:06into a picture under those conditions.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10But in Stagecoach, the story was told with a camera
0:05:10 > 0:05:14rather than by the mouthing of the leading men.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16You must be offered a lot of parts.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19What determines you in choosing a particular one?
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Personal story, as a rule.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Sometimes... you're stuck, you know,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and it's getting time for an assignment to come up,
0:05:30 > 0:05:36and you accept stories that are not completed, but as a rule,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38whenever that happens, you run into a mess.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41But I haven't learned my lesson completely yet.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- I still do it on occasion.- What parts would you downright refuse?
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Anything mean and petty. I think...
0:05:51 > 0:05:55I've established a character on screen that may be rough,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58may be cruel...
0:06:00 > 0:06:03..may have a different code than the average person,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06but it's never been mean or petty or small.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11A film where Wayne had decided exactly which role he got
0:06:11 > 0:06:15was The Alamo, another epic Western that he not only starred in,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18alongside Richard Widmark and Laurence Harvey,
0:06:18 > 0:06:23but produced and, for the first time, directed as well.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26In 1960, he was in the UK for its opening,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and he spoke to Robert Robinson on the programme Picture Parade,
0:06:30 > 0:06:35starting with the subject of the movie's length.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Now, the film is itself just over three hours long.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Did it need to be this long?
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Well, I felt that it needed to be that long.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48We wanted to develop each character,
0:06:48 > 0:06:54particularly the Travis character, who was not well-known to audiences.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Naturally, they've heard of Bowie and Crockett,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00and they've developed a picture of him.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04But in order to set Travis, we probably took longer than we...
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- Travis was played by Laurence Harvey.- By Laurence Harvey.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12And we thought he was magnificent in the picture.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Actually, now that we've seen Ben-Hur out and Spartacus,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20and they're saying, "Too long, too long, too long,"
0:07:20 > 0:07:26perhaps we should have tempered the time, cut it down.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31Actually, I used my baby in the film
0:07:31 > 0:07:35and I think I gave her a little too much footage.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37It's probably a little sentimental.
0:07:37 > 0:07:43And I had a sequence in which I wanted to set the...
0:07:43 > 0:07:45the tenor of feeling of the men at the end,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and I had Parson's death.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51But the Parson was not too well-known to the audience.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56So, actually, I feel that maybe those two sequences
0:07:56 > 0:08:00we could have done without them, and we may cut them.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04You produced and directed and took the leading part in the film.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Well, I took one of the leading parts in the film.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09It looked like THE leading part to me.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14Well, I think that Travis was the pivotal character off of...
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Travis was actually the man with the dedication
0:08:18 > 0:08:23and he's the man who turned the other men into heroes.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Most of the men came in
0:08:25 > 0:08:31as just healthy, rough, lusty men of the period, and...
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- They're always the more interesting, aren't they?- Oh, always.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38But anyway, you had these three major responsibilities.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Did they worry you?
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Not until after I was about halfway through the picture.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46I'll tell you something, when you first start off,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49you're kind of a lamb, you know, in a thing like this.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53And I just assumed that I would have no troubles.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55About halfway through the picture,
0:08:55 > 0:09:00I realised that although I had known my crew for years,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02and knew each personality,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06I hadn't known Mr Harvey and I hadn't known Mr Widmark,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10and whether or not we would chemically adjust to each other.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13And about halfway through, when everything was going well,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16and I realised how well it was going,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18I started thinking what could have happened,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21and I spent a night shaking, I'll tell you!
0:09:21 > 0:09:24You referred earlier to your small daughter.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Did we you find it difficult to direct her,
0:09:26 > 0:09:28to make her act, in a way, because...?
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Well, actually, she was three years old,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and you can't expect too much of a three-year-old.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38And at about four and a half, they start to get bashful.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41She wasn't really bashful at that time
0:09:41 > 0:09:44and she had enough reasoning power to remember a line.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50But I think I went overboard a little with the young lady.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54But that, I guess, is a father's prerogative.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Is it a difficult technique to act in front of cameras
0:09:57 > 0:09:59which you're also directing?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Well, actually, what we would do
0:10:03 > 0:10:07would be to come in and rehearse a scene and set the scene.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10I've found that in lots of pictures
0:10:10 > 0:10:13where actors have something to do with the direction,
0:10:13 > 0:10:18that things become so pat, it loses its spontaneity.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22And we were very conscious of clean performances,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24but there's something that isn't realism
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and there's something that isn't motion picture-style.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Accidents, lots of times, make for good scenes in pictures.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36And when you're out there, you often think, "Oh, cut,"
0:10:36 > 0:10:38because you figure something's gone wrong.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43But actually, I overcame that feeling
0:10:43 > 0:10:47and a lot of scenes that I was worried about when we shot,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49when we'd look at them in rushes, were fine.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- You let the accidents stay in? - Always.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Now, I know that you are a protege of John Ford, the director.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Did you have his assistance on this film?
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Well, he is certainly my mentor,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and I had all of his enthusiasm and his good wishes.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07He came down to visit us a couple of times on the sets,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11but he was very careful to stay in the background,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14realising that these people, you know,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16it might affect their performance.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20You have one and a half million dollars invested in this venture.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Do you feel that that is a calculated risk?
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Well, it was a calculated risk because of the medium.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34It requires spending a great deal more money to get it on the screen.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39I wish I could have made it for 100,000, you know,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41but it just was impossible.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45To do this picture the way that I believed it should be done
0:11:45 > 0:11:47just cost that much money.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49You've been at the top of your profession, Mr Wayne,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52as an actor, for about a quarter of a century,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55although that has a more historical ring than I mean it to have.
0:11:55 > 0:11:5725 years.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I don't wish to embarrass you, but can you tell me,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02quite apart from your capacity as an actor,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04what do you think your appeal is?
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Well, we are in the business of making motion pictures.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16And motion pictures...allow action.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22And although top pictures, I believe,
0:12:22 > 0:12:27are stories of people and their reactions to situations,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29but once you have played a scene
0:12:29 > 0:12:33and put those reactions on the screen,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36then with our medium of motion picture,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41you can pull back and show them scenery and break up monotony.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45And naturally, the field of outdoor pictures,
0:12:45 > 0:12:51which I have been in, lend itself to that medium.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55And as a consequence, probably people have come away pleased
0:12:55 > 0:12:58with the type of pictures that I've been in.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- That's a very modest answer, Mr Wayne.- I didn't mean it modestly,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05but I really do think that that has a great effect.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Because you play tough guy parts in films, do you find that
0:13:09 > 0:13:12people in the street try and pick quarrels with you?
0:13:12 > 0:13:16No, actually, the kind of tough parts that I've played
0:13:16 > 0:13:21have not been really aggressive toughies on the screen.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25When I first came into the business and had to wear real long hair
0:13:25 > 0:13:28for a lot of pioneer parts when I was young,
0:13:28 > 0:13:33a few of the fellas tried to get into conversations with me
0:13:33 > 0:13:35that might have got them in trouble,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38but I managed to talk my way out most of the time.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40It wasn't just the tough guy image
0:13:40 > 0:13:43that went everywhere with John Wayne.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Over the years, he also became increasingly well-known
0:13:46 > 0:13:51for his strong right-wing views and die-hard Republican politics.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54In the 1950s, he was a prominent supporter
0:13:54 > 0:13:57of the House Un-American Activities Committee
0:13:57 > 0:14:00and its efforts to remove communists from the film industry,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03something he discussed in a prickly encounter
0:14:03 > 0:14:07with Michael Parkinson in 1974.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Can I talk to you now
0:14:09 > 0:14:11about another much publicised aspect of your life,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14- which is the sort of political views that you hold?- Mm.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15I'd like to particularly ask you, as well,
0:14:15 > 0:14:17because it's related to the film industry,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20about that period in your career in Hollywood
0:14:20 > 0:14:23when you were to the forefront of the people
0:14:23 > 0:14:28who were blacklisting the alleged communist members of the industry.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33- That's not a true statement. - Well...- We were not blacklisting.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35- They were... - Well, you were naming...- No.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38They were blacklisting. We didn't name anybody.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43We stayed completely out of it and said, "We are Americans."
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Anybody that wanted to join us was fine.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51We gave no names out to anybody at any time, ever.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54But when you look back at that now, John, this space of time,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58I mean, are you proud of what happened in Hollywood and that time?
0:14:58 > 0:15:01I think it was probably a very necessary thing at the time
0:15:01 > 0:15:02because...
0:15:04 > 0:15:08..the radical liberals were going to take over our business...
0:15:09 > 0:15:14..and you wouldn't have had any pictures like that then.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17No, but seriously, though, I mean, were they in a position,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20the people who got kicked out of Hollywood, surely they...?
0:15:20 > 0:15:22- Who were kicked out?- Well, the people...- Wait a minute.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24- Tell me who was kicked out. - Well, the people who left.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28- Let's take, for an example, Carl Foreman.- Yeah, Carl Foreman.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- There was Dalton Trumbo. - Carl Foreman, Dalton Trumbo.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34- Look what happened to Larry Parks. - About...
0:15:34 > 0:15:39Larry Parks admitted that he had been a commie and he went on working.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40Well, he didn't work for some time.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Well, he hadn't worked a hell of a lot before that, had he?
0:15:43 > 0:15:45- Well, no, but I mean...- No.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47But, I mean, these aren't people, surely,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51are they, who you would expect to take over the industry?
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Well, at the time, it seemed rather serious.
0:15:56 > 0:16:03And they were getting themselves into a position where they could
0:16:03 > 0:16:05control who would do the writing.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09But isn't it...
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Isn't it right that people of all shades of opinion should be able to
0:16:13 > 0:16:17make movies whether they be extreme right-wing or extreme left-wing?
0:16:17 > 0:16:22Definitely. Any time that it is their opinion, fine.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27But the trouble there was that they were spouting by rote...
0:16:29 > 0:16:31..somebody else's way of life.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34That's all right for those fellas over there. That's the way
0:16:34 > 0:16:36they want to live but we don't have to have it in our country.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- No, you could say, of course... - That was our point of view.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Yes, but you could say that your point of view was reflecting
0:16:43 > 0:16:45the capitalist way of life, the American way of life.
0:16:45 > 0:16:52I don't think that capitalist is such an unpopular word, you know, it's...
0:16:54 > 0:17:00In 200 years, we have taken a wilderness and
0:17:00 > 0:17:04built a factory that feeds the world, a farm that supplies the world
0:17:04 > 0:17:06and a farm that feeds the world.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13And we have been doing our best to help everybody out that we can
0:17:13 > 0:17:17so I think it's a pretty good way of living.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19I read an interview that you gave, John,
0:17:19 > 0:17:24in which you said that you objected to High Noon, to the film itself.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26You said it was un-American.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28I saw that film and, I guess,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30a lot of people here in this audience will have seen that film
0:17:30 > 0:17:34and I, for the life of me, can't see what is un-American about it.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35Well...
0:17:39 > 0:17:42..a whole city of people
0:17:42 > 0:17:45that have come across the plains
0:17:45 > 0:17:47and suffered all kinds of hardships
0:17:47 > 0:17:50are suddenly afraid to help out a sheriff
0:17:50 > 0:17:53because three men are coming into town that are tough.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58No, he goes to them and pleads them, he goes into the church
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and, for some reason,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02the women are all sitting on one side of the church and the men
0:18:02 > 0:18:06are sitting on the other side of the church and he pleads his case.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08And the men say, "No, no, no."
0:18:08 > 0:18:12And women get up and say, "You're yellow, you're cowards."
0:18:12 > 0:18:16I don't think that ever happens in the United States.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Then at the end of the picture,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22he took the United States Marshall badge, threw it down,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24stepped on it and walked off.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30- I think those things are just a little bit un-American.- Really?- Yeah.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It's amazing, you see, cos I've seen that film not once but,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35- oh, four or five times. - Well, you saw those things.
0:18:35 > 0:18:42Do they strike you as being a true picture of the Pioneer West?
0:18:42 > 0:18:48- No, but...- Or a picture of what Carl Foreman or somebody
0:18:48 > 0:18:52would like to give our children the impression?
0:18:52 > 0:18:53No, but similarly,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56I'm sure a lot of the movies that have been made about the West
0:18:56 > 0:18:57that you would approve of
0:18:57 > 0:19:00were similarly not a true picture of the West
0:19:00 > 0:19:02nor of American society.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05I just took it to be, you know, a dramatic exposition of something
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and certainly not a knock at the American way of life.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I'm amazed, you know, when I read it in the research, I thought,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14"My God, this is an extraordinary ultra-reaction."
0:19:14 > 0:19:15Well, actually...
0:19:17 > 0:19:20..you must realise what was going on at that time in our business.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23- Well, I was going to ask... - There was a heated...
0:19:23 > 0:19:25There was a heated thing going on.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31There were a lot of people that were fine writers
0:19:31 > 0:19:33that were getting...
0:19:33 > 0:19:36weren't being used and it was rough on them
0:19:36 > 0:19:41and that why I took up for that side because Maury Riskin
0:19:41 > 0:19:45who was a Pulitzer Prize-winner couldn't get a job
0:19:45 > 0:19:48because he didn't think exactly like these fellas.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52That's what started it. Not us trying to throw them out.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55I suppose they could turn around, conversely, and say, of course,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58then they couldn't get a job afterwards.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Well, they did pretty well.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03What about your...?
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Switching from that slightly to your political views
0:20:07 > 0:20:11about the modern political views about the modern scene in America.
0:20:11 > 0:20:17- You, of course, are a friend and supporter of President Nixon.- Yes.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Has, in any way, what's happened over the recent months
0:20:21 > 0:20:23altered your point of view about him?
0:20:23 > 0:20:27No, it has brought to light what
0:20:27 > 0:20:31any thinking American must realise
0:20:31 > 0:20:34and that is that
0:20:34 > 0:20:37politics in our country are not...
0:20:38 > 0:20:42..shall we say, the most beautiful part of our American life.
0:20:42 > 0:20:49And instead of blaming politics for what is going on - the good
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and the bad politicians don't want to get mixed up in that -
0:20:53 > 0:20:55they're blaming leadership.
0:20:55 > 0:21:02Now, this man came in, first he tried to keep in all the liberals
0:21:02 > 0:21:07and all the Conservatives and tried to make one big family.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Then the liberals started double-crossing him
0:21:09 > 0:21:11so he turned to the others.
0:21:11 > 0:21:18Then they got high-hat and started running affairs
0:21:18 > 0:21:21in a very high-handed fashion, which they shouldn't have done.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24It was wrong. It was a terrible abuse.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28But it wasn't the leadership of our country.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31It takes three years for a man to get his hands on the reins
0:21:31 > 0:21:34of government after he gets in there and in the fourth year
0:21:34 > 0:21:36he is in a campaign again.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Now, what did this man do for us?
0:21:38 > 0:21:45He brought home 525,000 kids from Vietnam that two very popular
0:21:45 > 0:21:49presidents couldn't do and he had to do it the unpopular way -
0:21:49 > 0:21:52by making the decision to mine Haiphong Harbour.
0:21:53 > 0:21:59Then when they started playing pawns with our prisoners of war,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02he made the awesome decision of
0:22:02 > 0:22:05bombing Hanoi and did and brought them home.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09He opened up a detente with China, which the conservatives didn't like.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11I think he's...
0:22:11 > 0:22:16I think he should be at the top of his glory right now
0:22:16 > 0:22:20and, instead of that, because of some political thing,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23they are belittling this man.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26But the political... It's more than a political thing, isn't it?
0:22:26 > 0:22:29It involves criminal acts.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- Yes.- But, I mean, you can't have the president of the United States
0:22:33 > 0:22:35or indeed the president of any country to be seen
0:22:35 > 0:22:38in that kind of company, can you? Because if they do that...
0:22:38 > 0:22:42I don't think anybody has seen him in that side of company.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46It's true that the party did do some idiotic things
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and they are going to jail for it
0:22:50 > 0:22:53but I think it is pretty unfair to
0:22:53 > 0:22:58try to bring our president into it.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00You don't think he should be impeached then
0:23:00 > 0:23:01as a lot of Americans do?
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Well, to have an impeachment is probably the only way that
0:23:07 > 0:23:08they'll ever clear his name
0:23:08 > 0:23:11because each day a new little piece of something comes out,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14they try to twist it around.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Only by either a grand jury
0:23:18 > 0:23:20or by an impeachment
0:23:20 > 0:23:24can he be cleared up to where people will
0:23:24 > 0:23:26either believe in him or not believe in him.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30The latest poll shows that eight out of ten Americans now
0:23:30 > 0:23:33have lost confidence in Nixon.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36I mean, that's a very, very different situation than it was,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38what, two years ago, isn't it?
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Yeah, and if that is true, too, you know.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Well, I mean, it's a poll published in America. The Harris Poll.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47I mean, polls, I know, are not infallible
0:23:47 > 0:23:48but they give a fair indication.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Right, right, I'm sure that there is a...
0:23:52 > 0:23:54It is quite a bit that way.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Are you bored with this conversation now?
0:23:57 > 0:24:02No, I'm not bored but I do know
0:24:02 > 0:24:05that they have taken advantage of this man and that
0:24:05 > 0:24:09he probably should have just stood up at the very beginning and said,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12"Anybody that's has done something wrong will go to jail."
0:24:12 > 0:24:14He didn't do it soon enough.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16He believed in the fellas he had around him
0:24:16 > 0:24:20in spite of the fact that when you have...
0:24:20 > 0:24:26in a year's time they mushroom up millions of dollars to do
0:24:26 > 0:24:29a campaign, you know there is going to be some misuse of funds,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32misuse of power
0:24:32 > 0:24:38and it suddenly is all focused on this one man.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42If his controversial views sometimes earned him a rough ride over here,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44in the eyes of many people back home,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48they would help to consolidate his image as a hero.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Something explored in a programme called
0:24:51 > 0:24:53The Great American Picture Star.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Chicago in the summer of 1976.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Like many American cities in the year of the Bicentennial,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03people are looking for home-grown heroes to honour.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07In the city hall, they confer the freedom on an actor
0:25:07 > 0:25:10who, perhaps more than most, portrays the ideal American -
0:25:10 > 0:25:11John Wayne.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:25:19 > 0:25:21For the town hall office workers, it is
0:25:21 > 0:25:25an opportunity to come face-to-face with a Hollywood legend.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27For Mayor Richard Daley, it is
0:25:27 > 0:25:31a chance to honour a man whose view of America is close to his own.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35We admire him because he's a great American.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40One of the outstanding men in this country that is constantly talking
0:25:40 > 0:25:43about our country and its people
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and are reassuring in the bicentennial year that we do
0:25:47 > 0:25:48live in a great land
0:25:48 > 0:25:52and there is nothing like it any place in the world and we all should
0:25:52 > 0:25:55get together and start boosting it instead of tearing it down.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01So, John, on behalf of the people of Chicago and by virtue
0:26:01 > 0:26:07of my authority as mayor, I would like to present you this medallion
0:26:07 > 0:26:12of merit on the visit to our city
0:26:12 > 0:26:14and make you an honorary citizen.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17And I know you will come back in the next election and vote.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19APPLAUSE
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Thank you, Mr Mayor.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26In America, with no royalty and, after Watergate,
0:26:26 > 0:26:31less of a regard for politicians, people need someone to hero worship.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Hollywood has traditionally filled the gap.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38- MAN IN CROWD: - Duke, you're the greatest!
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- ANOTHER MAN:- You are a real American and what could be better?
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- THIRD MAN:- John, wonderful to have you here.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45Thank you. It's great being here.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48The alumni of the University of Notre Dame,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52an institution renowned throughout America for its sporting prowess,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55heap even further honours on the great American.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Ladies and gentlemen,
0:26:57 > 0:27:03this is truly a great honour to present this award to
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Duke Wayne tonight, who is no doubt of the most popular
0:27:06 > 0:27:10and respected movie actor of all time.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12APPLAUSE
0:27:12 > 0:27:14He has been made entertainer of the year -
0:27:14 > 0:27:17a greatly sought-after award.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Bob Hope was the 1975 recipient.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25But not everywhere is the prophet treated with such honour.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Notably, when he braved the winter snows and snowballs of Harvard Yard
0:27:29 > 0:27:33in Boston to field questions from a less respectful university.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37To his credit, he gave as good as he got.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39The students came to jeer and stayed to cheer.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44- STUDENT:- How do you feel about students smoking LSD?
0:27:44 > 0:27:45LAUGHTER
0:27:47 > 0:27:48APPLAUSE
0:27:51 > 0:27:56I'm just happy that you all weren't here 200 years ago.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58They'd have never got that tea into the harbour.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00LAUGHTER
0:28:00 > 0:28:02APPLAUSE
0:28:07 > 0:28:09- ANOTHER STUDENT:- Is it true that your toupee is real mohair?
0:28:09 > 0:28:11No, sir, that's real hair.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Not mine but real hair.
0:28:13 > 0:28:14LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:28:14 > 0:28:17- THIRD STUDENT:- I don't care what they say about you, Duke,
0:28:17 > 0:28:18you're still a man.
0:28:18 > 0:28:19LAUGHTER
0:28:21 > 0:28:23- FOURTH STUDENT:- Mr Wayne, do you look at yourself
0:28:23 > 0:28:25as a fulfilment of the American dream?
0:28:28 > 0:28:31I don't look at myself any more than I have to, friend.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Nearly all of his contemporaries of either retired or died
0:28:34 > 0:28:38but even a brush with death in 1964 when he contracted lung cancer
0:28:38 > 0:28:40couldn't stop Wayne.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45After the operation, he immediately threw himself into an arduous film.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47Now he is in his 70th year,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50dogged by ill-health but still in the saddle.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54This summer, in Burbank Studios in California, Wayne was to be found
0:28:54 > 0:28:59putting the final touches to yet another cowboy movie - The Shootist.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01It's the final day's shooting.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03The director is Don Siegel,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06well-known for films like The Killers and Dirty Harry.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09On the set, Wayne is the professional's professional.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13Word perfect himself and generous to his fellow actor who may have
0:29:13 > 0:29:15difficulty sharing a scene with him.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Well, what's your proposition?
0:29:18 > 0:29:23Well, I'm prepared to offer you embalming
0:29:23 > 0:29:28by the most modern methods, by the most scientific methods.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32Bronze coffin, guaranteed good for a century
0:29:32 > 0:29:36regardless of the climatic or geological...
0:29:37 > 0:29:39- ..what?- Conditions.- Conditions.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43Geological conditions. My best hearse.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Oh, this is lunch, powerful lunch, you know.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49That's all right. That's all right. Take your time.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53It was on a back-lot set like this 50 years ago that Wayne
0:29:53 > 0:29:56and his football team-mate first found work.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01So, John Williams and I had put on the swing gang,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04which is the fellas who bring in the furniture so that the set
0:30:04 > 0:30:09decorator can say, "Put it there, put it there, put it there."
0:30:09 > 0:30:15And I stayed at that for a while and when Ford needed somebody to
0:30:15 > 0:30:19come herd the geese on his set, they sent me over there
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and from then on I worked in the property department
0:30:23 > 0:30:27and with Pappy Ford on his pictures.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29- INTERVIEWER:- Do you feel more at home when you're doing a Western
0:30:29 > 0:30:32than on any other sort of picture?
0:30:32 > 0:30:34No, you feel at home, you feel...
0:30:34 > 0:30:37When you have a good personal story
0:30:37 > 0:30:41and you feel everything fits together then is when you're relaxed,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43otherwise, you know,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47it's really a torture to work in a picture that you feel isn't
0:30:47 > 0:30:49going to be good and that
0:30:49 > 0:30:53you are a pawn in somebody's hand doing this thing.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57But I think this is going to be a good one.
0:30:57 > 0:30:58Unlike the younger superstars,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02who feel they don't owe their public any more than their performances,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Wayne is aware of who ultimately pays his salary
0:31:05 > 0:31:08and is unfailingly gracious to guests on the set.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12Yeah, well, you know, I felt so lousy this whole picture.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15It was only the day before yesterday I felt good.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21But it wasn't just on this picture. I just had a lousy year.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25- Well, let's hope from here on out... - I'm telling you, I feel great now.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27When you wake up, it doesn't matter
0:31:27 > 0:31:30if the sun is shining or anything, if you feel good...
0:31:31 > 0:31:35In the film, Wayne plays an aging gunfighter who is dying of cancer.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39He has summoned an undertaker to make his own funeral preparations.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44You're going to lay me out for the public to gawp at 50 cents a head,
0:31:44 > 0:31:49children 10, and when the curiosity peters out you're going to
0:31:49 > 0:31:52stuff me in a gunny sack and stick me in a hole someplace
0:31:52 > 0:31:54and hustle to the bank with the loot.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Mr Books, I assure you...
0:31:56 > 0:31:59No. Have you got a pencil and paper?
0:31:59 > 0:32:03The picture ends with Wayne's death. A bloody but a tasteful death.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12How do you like the red button holes?
0:32:12 > 0:32:14I remember him, red buttons.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17'The whole idea of our business is illusion'
0:32:17 > 0:32:21and they are getting away from that now.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26Putting electric squibs in livers and blowing them up slow motion
0:32:26 > 0:32:30and having blood all over everything. I mean...
0:32:32 > 0:32:36..it's not that there is more violence in pictures today,
0:32:36 > 0:32:41it's that it is done with such bad taste that people turn their
0:32:41 > 0:32:47stomachs, not their emotional insides are affected, it turns their stomach.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55I just don't want to play anything petty or small or mean.
0:32:56 > 0:33:02I don't mind being rough and tough and cruel but in a big way.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04No little, petty things.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07I like good personal story.
0:33:07 > 0:33:13I don't care whether it's armchair or stand on top of a building or
0:33:13 > 0:33:16jumping off of it. If they jump off it, I don't do it anyway.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Indeed, his stand-in has already performed his dying fall.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23Although Don Siegel may be the director, Wayne makes
0:33:23 > 0:33:26sure that the camera captures his own demise with dignity.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29You're shooting up his nose.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I'm going to make God-damned sure you're not shooting up my nose.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40I mean, I can look at him right here and you're not shooting up my nose.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43But if you put him around over here and I'm looking at him,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45it's God-damned photographically...
0:33:49 > 0:33:51- Do you want to put the bullets in? - Don, Tom?- Yes.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55- You're right on his waist?- Yes. - Will it see the belt?- Yes, it will.
0:33:55 > 0:33:56OK.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58You're going to shoot just up my nostrils.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06Eventually, Wayne expires to his own satisfaction and the movie's over.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09The producers throw a party for the cast and crew.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14Some of the stars like James Stewart return for a farewell drink
0:34:14 > 0:34:15but the Duke has gone.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Exhausted at the end of the picture, he escapes
0:34:18 > 0:34:22to the only place in the world where he can really relax -
0:34:22 > 0:34:26his boat, the Wild Goose, a converted mine-sweeper.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27Since before the war,
0:34:27 > 0:34:31he has been coming here to the Pacific coast of Mexico.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34You know, when I step aboard this thing, I yawn.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37I am just completely relaxed the minute I step aboard.
0:34:37 > 0:34:43I don't have to dress up or be smiling or shaking hands or
0:34:43 > 0:34:47if I'm having any trouble with any of my family,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49I don't have to be sweet about it
0:34:49 > 0:34:51because there's a lot of people around.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56I can be a human being and not worry about an image.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Of course, I haven't had that much of an image where
0:34:58 > 0:35:00I have to worry about it anyway.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05And, luckily, I like people so I don't mind going to shore.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08You noticed it's a quiet, little, sleepy town.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11They don't bother you too much, particularly in Mexico,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14they are very respectful of another man's dignity.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19- INTERVIEWER:- There is some of the family aboard. Which ones are they?
0:35:19 > 0:35:23Well, Ethan, who is 14, Marisa, who is 10
0:35:23 > 0:35:27and Aissa, who just turned 20
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and is going to the University of Southern California.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34It's Easter week and they are going to stay down here for about a week.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39- How many children do you have altogether?- Seven.
0:35:39 > 0:35:40And what is the age range?
0:35:40 > 0:35:43Well, from 40 to 10
0:35:43 > 0:35:46and I have 20 grandchildren.
0:35:46 > 0:35:47Don't ask me to name them.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53On board the ship, perhaps a microcosm of the old America which
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Wayne would like to preserve, he directs his family
0:35:56 > 0:35:59and his crew and, indeed, our film crew with a firm hand.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Now, this is where we generally have lunch.
0:36:04 > 0:36:09We don't do this for every meal but we think about it.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12- Ethan, will you say grace?- Yes.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Lord, we thank you for this food and for letting us be able to come
0:36:18 > 0:36:23down here and have so much fun, God, cos most people can't do it.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28- We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, God. Amen.- Amen.
0:36:28 > 0:36:29Dig in.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34Here we go. Roast beef?
0:36:34 > 0:36:35How about you, Pat?
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Wayne is, in fact, separated from his third wife Pilar,
0:36:39 > 0:36:41who is the mother of the three youngest children.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46A crew of six run the ship with a professional captain at the helm.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50- Skipper.- Yes.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55Do you think we can get this bunch over to Isla Grande and back?
0:36:55 > 0:36:56I don't see why not.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59We only have the one rock we have to be careful of going in.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02- Yeah, but I mean we can get back by five?- Oh, absolutely, yes.- OK.
0:37:02 > 0:37:03Take her away.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10The apple of the Duke's eye is his youngest daughter Marisa.
0:37:10 > 0:37:16- We stop over there. Isla Grande. Isn't that pretty, out there?- Yeah.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18When was the last time you were here?
0:37:18 > 0:37:21Oh, I guess, when you're about that high.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28Those white rocks are always a pleasant sight for us
0:37:28 > 0:37:29aboard the Wild Goose.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32We have seen them many times and now, in this bicentennial year,
0:37:32 > 0:37:36is most important because below those white rocks
0:37:36 > 0:37:39are the redcoats.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Now, the redcoats, in this case, are lobster.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44That's where we get a lot of lobster, honey.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48And that is between Zihuatanejo and Isla Grande,
0:37:48 > 0:37:50- where we are going to go.- Oh.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52- I love you.- I love you too.- OK.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57The Wild Goose is bedecked with patriotic memorabilia.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Most telling are the various regimental plaques sent to
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Wayne from units fighting in Vietnam.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06They appreciated his support for them during that war.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08His patriotism has never wavered but today
0:38:08 > 0:38:11he is a little disillusioned with modern America.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15We are being represented by men who are kowtowing to minorities
0:38:15 > 0:38:17where they can get votes
0:38:17 > 0:38:22and I think it is bad for our country
0:38:22 > 0:38:26and I am sad to see minorities
0:38:26 > 0:38:29make so much of themselves as a hyphenated American.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33I wish they would all get to thinking that they're Americans,
0:38:33 > 0:38:38as they should and as they have luckily been born here
0:38:38 > 0:38:42and couldn't be better off in any other place,
0:38:42 > 0:38:46there shouldn't be so much whining and bellyaching.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48In the late '60s and early '70s,
0:38:48 > 0:38:51there was a period of considerable change.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Civil rights for blacks, equal rights for women.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Has this made America a better place?
0:38:56 > 0:39:00I am saddened by the fact that, although we were a matriarchy,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03I think we will not be any longer.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05I think opening doors
0:39:05 > 0:39:10and tipping your hat to ladies is probably a thing of the past.
0:39:11 > 0:39:17The forerunners of the women's liberation of today have
0:39:17 > 0:39:22taken that feeling away from the average American man.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26But what about the civil rights? I mean...
0:39:26 > 0:39:28What about the civil rights?
0:39:28 > 0:39:31- Well, we have 20 million blacks on this continent.- Right.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34It was necessary to extend rights to them that, perhaps,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38for the first 199 years were denied them in this free America.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44I guess that they have had a pretty tough break
0:39:44 > 0:39:48but not quite as bad as you
0:39:48 > 0:39:51and your do-gooder friends would have them believe.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55They live as well here as they live in any other country
0:39:55 > 0:39:58over that 199 years.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02True, I think they do have a right to more rights but it isn't a thing
0:40:02 > 0:40:08where the rest of the country should feel terribly guilty
0:40:08 > 0:40:11about anything because they have had a better life here
0:40:11 > 0:40:14and their fathers and mothers than they would have had any place else.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21And I want to see them have everything. I want...
0:40:22 > 0:40:26I don't squawk and crybaby and say,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30"I had to go without meals when I was 16 and 17 years old.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32"It's a terrible thing."
0:40:32 > 0:40:38I don't think that you should look back and whine and bellyache
0:40:38 > 0:40:41or try to hold somebody else guilty for everything you did.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Despite the ferocity of his views, he must know that his children
0:40:46 > 0:40:50are growing up in a new and changing and different America.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52But if ever the future generation need to be
0:40:52 > 0:40:55reminded of the spirit and values of the men who created
0:40:55 > 0:40:59their continent, they need only turn to the films of John Wayne.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Not just a film star
0:41:01 > 0:41:06but a real-life character played by Marion Morrison from Iowa.
0:41:06 > 0:41:12I think Marion Michael Morrison and John Wayne are the same person.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16I don't know. I mean, I don't know what the difference is.
0:41:16 > 0:41:22I probably am a little more careful in my public image than
0:41:22 > 0:41:26I would be were I Marion Michael Morrison
0:41:26 > 0:41:29but I doubt it. I have done...
0:41:29 > 0:41:34I have been on many an escapade under the name John Wayne that might
0:41:34 > 0:41:37make Aunt May turn up her nose.
0:41:37 > 0:41:38What sort of escapades?
0:41:38 > 0:41:44Well, I like to handle that who-hit-John, as you know,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47and do quite well and quite often.
0:41:47 > 0:41:54But as long as I do things that do not hurt other people
0:41:54 > 0:41:57either physically or their dignity,
0:41:57 > 0:42:02I will allow them to do it and I hope and pray
0:42:02 > 0:42:07that they will give me the same return feeling.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Well, I don't think it is too much to say that, in the eyes of
0:42:10 > 0:42:14the rest of the world, you represent perhaps the ideal American.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Are you aware of this? Can you step outside of yourself and see that?
0:42:18 > 0:42:19No.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25I think I represent, as I said,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28we are talking about personal identity.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33I think that a Frenchman looking at me,
0:42:33 > 0:42:38outside of when I play a clodhopper oaf or something,
0:42:38 > 0:42:43the characteristics of manliness that I try to keep on the screen
0:42:43 > 0:42:46are the things that every man would want, not just an American.
0:42:48 > 0:42:49The day has ended.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52The Wild Goose reaches her moorings for the night
0:42:52 > 0:42:56and John Wayne orders a farewell salute.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Shall we give them a little show? Have you got the sunset gun ready?
0:42:59 > 0:43:05Fine. The sun sets at 6.42, that's five seconds.
0:43:05 > 0:43:10Four seconds, three seconds, two seconds, one second.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Now, pick it up, pick it up.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23That's fine. That's fine. That's good.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25We don't have to have the finish cos we cut back to me.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Well, another day and, let's hope, another dollar.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38The Shootist turned out to be one of the most acclaimed
0:43:38 > 0:43:41films of John Wayne's career.
0:43:41 > 0:43:42It was also his last.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47Three years after its release, he died of cancer, aged 72.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52Posthumously, he received America's two highest civilian honours -
0:43:52 > 0:43:54the Congressional Gold Medal
0:43:54 > 0:43:57and the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
0:43:57 > 0:44:03awarded to formally recognise his status as an iconic American,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07the like of whom Hollywood is unlikely to produce again.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd