July 2018 40 So much has been written about John Wayne, I hesitated to add anything more. However, most fascinating to me is 1930 – 1940, which has never had the coverage it deserves and is possibly the most important time of John Wayne’s career, and his fight against the Hollywood caste system. Not only did he become a star against the odds, but he did it without being groomed by a major studio. Director Raoul Walsh first saw potential in the young prop man and extra for Fox Pictures giving him the lead in 1930’s “The Big Trail,” it didn’t work. It would take another nine years for his next shot at the big time with filmmaker John Ford, but is there more to the tale than this simplistic timeline? From a potential star to supporting actor to ending up playing a corpse in Columbia Pictures “The Deceiver” (1931), it would seem at this time that John had reached rock bottom; he survived to become one of the most successful ‘B’ western stars of the 1930’s, a good sign that he would never have a chance of becoming a lead actor in ‘A’ films. Marion Mitchell Morrison never thought of himself as John Wayne, quite the contrary, when a fan said to him, “I never thought I would ever meet John Wayne,” Duke replied, “Neither did I.” Born Marion Robert Morrison, his mother Mary liked the name Robert so much, she gave her second son the name when he was born five years after Marion; Duke’s mother never made any bones about preferring young Robert over Marion, whose middle name was changed to Mitchell, sometimes confused as Michael. Young Marion was dubbed “Little Duke” by local firemen due to the fact that he was always seen in the company of his Airedale, Duke. Tom Mix is generally credited with getting Marion’s foot in the film door, along with fellow USC football teammates including Wardell Edwin Bond. Duke would go on to disclaimed this notion, saying that Mix promised the USC football coach he would give the players off-season jobs on his films in exchange for tickets to their games. Upon showing up at Fox, the team was ignored by Mix and given menial back lot jobs. It was director Raoul Walsh, who saw young Marion working the back lot, and decided to take a chance on the handsome and sturdy young man, giving him the lead in a big budget ‘A’ film, “The Big Trail.” Walsh changed Marion’s name to 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, www.silverscreencowboyz.com JOHN WAYNE John Wayne; taking the name Wayne from American hero, ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne, and the first name, ‘John,’ deeming it more all-American than Anthony. For “The Big Trail,” theaters would have to install new large screen equipment for “70mm Grandeur,” as opposed to 35mm, for the audience to get the full effect; most of the theaters, however, couldn’t afford this expensive process due to a little thing at the time called the Depression. Next month, Part 2 from “John Wayne, That’ll Be the Day.” RELAXING HOME FOR RENT 3 BEDROOM / 2 BATH 1500 SQ FT / SLEEPS 8 3 NIGHT MINIMUM Full-Time, Local, Horse Property Specialist 472 E. Wickenburg Way, Ste. 102 Wickenburg, AZ 85390 Susan Abare, Real Estate Consultant Direct: 928-713-7472 Abarewickenburghomes.com Fax: 623-243-1295 Email: sabare@awardrealty.com The complete collection of early John Wayne serials (cliffhangers) Left: John at USC Right: The Black Watch (1929) Duke Morrison as prop boy and uncredited extra. John's Ford's first sound film Above: John Wayne, "B" cowboy star Left: The Big Trail (1930) An Unlikely Star, Part 1