December 2018 34 The Pony 2nd Hand Store We Collect & Deliver Your Merchandise FREE LOCAL DELIVERY AVAILABLE 662 W. Wickenburg Way Wickenburg • Open Monday–Saturday thepony2ndhandstore.com 928-231-2730 • 928-232-2019 We Carry Quality 2nd Hand & New Merchandise Your Home Furniture Supplies Store Specializing in Appliances Jane and Peter Kibble pony2ndhandstore@outlook.com From 1931 to 1939, Duke did 39 B westerns. Along the way, he would also star in three serials as well. It was his friend of over 10 years, director John Ford, who gave him his big break playing the Ringo Kid, in “Stagecoach” (1938); the studio wanted Gary Cooper but Ford resisted. Indeed Ford gave him his big break but Wayne’s talent and charisma gave him longevity and he still appears on the Top Ten Most Popular Actor lists. The Duke has become so iconic that his name has become a noun. When someone says, “Don’t make me go John Wayne on ya’” we all know what they mean. By 1935, John Wayne was a bonafide star, although not as he had hoped. He was now a popular screen cowboy, and while we usually think of Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, The Three Mesquiteers or any popular silent era holdovers during this period, John Wayne was kept busy starring in western after western for Lone Star, Mascot, Warner Bros., and Monogram, sometimes working for these studios simultaneously. When Herbert J. Yates acquired several Poverty Row studios like Chesterfield, Tiffany, Lone Star, Mascot, and Monogram to form Republic Pictures, he took Wayne with him. By Charlie LeSueur Charlie LeSueur, AZ’s Official Western Film Historian. Encore Fellow @ Western Spirit, Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. 480.358.5178, azfilmhistorian@gmail.com, silverscreencowboyz.com JOHN WAYNE An Unlikely Star, Part 4 Clockwise from top: Iconic intro of Ringo in Stagecoach; Rider's of Destiny; The Man from Monterey w/ his horse Duke; The Duke has become so iconic that his name has become a noun.