John Wayne often saved the day in dozens of Westerns and war dramas, but there were plenty of great movies where The Duke wasn’t the hero. As far back as the late ’20s, John Wayne was getting into gunfights, but after he shot to stardom in the ’30s with Stagecoach, he became a superstar on the silver screen and a larger-than-life hero that upheld justice by deciding right from wrong with a pair of six-shooters. After his career stabilized, he was able to experiment a little with his on-screen persona and occasionally share top billing or even play a villain.
From the ’40s until the ’60s, it was rare for actors to branch out too much from the role they occupied with the big studios, who felt audiences were used to only seeing them one way. Some of the best performances of Wayne’s career came from being allowed to add nuance, complexity, and flaws to his performances rather than continue to occupy mythological status to his fans. As times change, these are the roles where The Duke’s talent shines, though there’s no doubt his career taken as a whole is what made his inedible mark on Hollywood.
1. The Wake Of The Red Witch (1948)
A rare non-Western for Wayne, The Wake of the Red Witch finds him playing the corrupt and callous Captain Ralls, who scuttles the Red Witch after his employer, a Dutch shipping baron (Luther Adler) steals and marries the woman he loves (Gail Russell). While Wayne’s character is complex, Capt. Ralls is a cruel man with an almost diabolical obsession with Angelique, and is often driven to drunken rages in which he beats his crew. The entire movie is shown through the eyes of a member of Ralls’ crew (Gig Young), who has a birdseye view of his deplorable behavior in the name of love.
2. Stagecoach (1939)
Stagecoach was Wayne’s breakout role, but he was one of several prominent actors of the time all appearing as passengers on a stagecoach through inhospitable Apache territory. It was the first of several collaborations with John Wayne and director John Ford wherein The Duke played an outlaw called the Ringo Kid opposite a saloon girl (Clair Trevor), a liquor salesman (Donald Meek), and other colorful characters. Through the ensuing adventure, the group learns to rely on one another and not judge each other based on appearances, particularly true for Wayne’s charming rogue.RELATED:John Wayne’s First Lead Role Set His Career Back A Decade
3. In Harm’s Way (1965)
In the Naval drama In Harm’s Way, Wayne shared billing with Kirk Douglas, and the pair played two Navy mavericks during Pearl Harbor without a lot of the bravado typical of The Duke’s wartime movies. Wayne’s Captain Torrey is undisciplined and often succeeds by luck rather than true skill, which not only causes him to be demoted but forces him to reconcile with his estranged son (Brandon de Wilde). Just as he strikes up a romance with a nurse (Patricia Neal), Cmdr. Eddington (Douglas) has a mission for him that will help salvage his reputation.
4. The Sons Of Katie Elder (1965)
In The Sons of Katie Elder, John Wayne stars alongside singer Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, and Michael Anderson Jr. as four brothers determined to avenge their parent’s death. They come to find their family ranch has been swindled from their deceased parents over a card game, and trouble follows them all around Clearwater, Texas until the epic final showdown. Wayne, post surgery for lung cancer during filming, gives a layered performance as the eldest son and gunslinger, and offers a glimpse of the indefatigable character he would play in his next collaboration with director Henry Hathaway in True Grit.
5. The Longest Day (1962)
The Longest Day is one of The Duke’s epic war movies from the early ’60s, focusing on the trials and tribulations of D-Day from the perspective of both the Allied armies and the German point of view. Wayne plays Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort and shares the screen with a sprawling cast of famous actors including Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Robert Ryan, and Sean Connery. Vandervoort is a reflection of the film’s vibe overall; it is a stripped-down, no-nonsense war movie informed by individuals who had served in WWII, and as such was not pro or anti-conflict, simply concerned with getting every reality about war thoroughly presented.