Rio Grande (1950)

It is by sheer accident that I have watched all of John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy in chronological order, the first two entries being Fort Apache (which I didn't review for some reason) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (which I remember better than I predicted). I also didn't intend to watch two Victor McLaglen movies in a row, but oh well.

In 1879, Lt Col. Kirby Yorke (John Wayne), owing largely to military obligations, has not seen his wife, Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara), or their son, Jeff (Claude Jarman, Jr.), since the Valley campaigns of 1864. Then they both show up at his Texas fort at once -- Jeff to serve as a trooper and Kathleen to try to get him out of it. This is not an ideal environment for a reunion, especially when the regiment has to defend settlers from a string of Apache raids.

Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

OK, so I got a head start on my war movie viewing for Memorial Day. This one may have caught my attention because of John Wayne getting an Oscar nod for it when he thought his She Wore a Yellow Ribbon performance worthier. As it is, some viewers think SoIJ is great, and some think Wayne is the only great thing about it. I'm sure four years after World War II wasn't great timing for public interest either.

The story begins with some U.S. Marines arriving in New Zealand in 1943. Sgt. John Stryker (Wayne) strikes me as a typical harsh sarge, but his men deem him unusually so. Most personally hostile to him are PFC Pete Conway (John Agar), son of a colonel whom Stryker liked but who wasn't a kind father, so Conway tars Stryker by association; and PFC Al Thomas (Forrest Tucker), on whom Stryker had snitched in the past. As a former sergeant major with a drinking problem, Stryker doesn't have the cleanest record himself. Nevertheless, his overall approach gradually wins the men's admiration, starting with the Battle of Tarawa. And you can guess the climactic setting.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

Ah, my first western viewing this calendar year. The timing felt right to me, since I was getting tired of foreign and indie flicks.

Shortly after Custer's Last Stand, Frontier Army Captain Brittles (John Wayne) is six days away from retirement. On screen, that can only mean that something eventful is going to happen first. Specifically, he receives orders to escort the commanding officer's wife, Abby (Mildred Natwick), and niece, Olivia (Joanne Dru), to a coach heading back east. Since several tribes are on the verge of war against the cavalry, this mission will require a larger party than usual.

The Cowboys (1972)

I hadn't meant to watch this so soon after my last '70s western. But when I read the Netflix jacket, the timing seemed vaguely appropriate: chasing a controversial western that John Wayne hated with Wayne's most controversial western from late in his career.

The title may sound generic for the genre, but the emphasis is on the last syllable: In the 1870s, when gold fever has taken all the usual local candidates for drovers out of the running, Wil Andersen (Wayne) resorts to recruiting 11 boys no older than 15 to help him drive cattle 400 miles. Yes, their parents approve. The only other adult on the journey is the cook, Jeb Nightlinger (Roscoe Lee Browne). Some other adults do offer their services, but Andersen rejects them for their initial dishonesty regarding their background. Those men, led by one Asa Watts (Bruce Dern in a well-done yet surprisingly reviled role), decide to stalk the party in the hope of rustling.

The Horse Soldiers (1959)

It had been a while since my last John Wayne picture and longer since my last John Ford picture. As you may have guessed, this gets labeled a western in part, at least on IMDb and Wikipedia. That said, it's set in Mississippi. I'm not even sure that any characters are supposed to be from out west. It just...kinda has that feel to it.

Wayne plays Col. Marlowe of the Union Army, leading a raid deep enough into Confederate territory to worry his men. That does not provide as much internal conflict as his philosophical differences with appointed surgeon Maj. Kendall (William Holden) and would-be leader Col. Secord (William Bouchey). The plot thickens when the brigade seeks hospitality from plantation mistress Hannah (Constance Towers) and slave Lukey (Althea Gibson -- yes, that one), only to find that they would gladly spy on Yankees. Wanting as few kills as possible, Marlowe opts to take both women along.

In Harm's Way (1965)

This picture must have felt familiar to John Wayne. Twenty years earlier, he had played a major role in They Were Expendable, another naval story that pretty much begins with the Pearl Harbor attack. Only this time, however, does he get the very top billing, which is saying something when second goes to Kirk Douglas.

Both Rockwell Torrey (Wayne) and Paul Eddington (Douglas) have trouble staying in the military's good graces, Rock for using non-textbook maneuvers to ill effect and Paul for being generally unruly after learning of his wife's unfaithful debauchery. Still, at times like these, the Navy can't be too choosy in whom it retains if not promotes. While on shore, Rock meets his ensign son, Jeremiah, for the first time since Jere was four; their interactions are awkward, of course. All three of these men take special interest in at least one nurse (Rock's nurse being played by Patricia Neal), but war makes having a girlfriend hard even when she's within the same armed force.

El Dorado (1967)

This could easily have been a flop. One of the last movies directed by Howard Hawks, it looked a lot like his earlier westerns, which didn't fit the mood of the late '60s. John Wayne was getting too old to pass for a hired gunman. He didn't get along well with Ed Asner and had previously given trouble to Robert Mitchum. The film took longer than projected to complete. And despite a delayed release in order not to compete with another Wayne film, it wound up competing with yet another. (Dude did have quite a run, even in later years.) But it still performed well at the box office and has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I had to check it out.

In and near the titular city, Cole Thornton (Wayne) gets caught up in a battle for territory between the rightful McDonald clan and the outlaws under Bart Jason (Asner), including noted sharpshooter Nelse McLeod (Christopher George). Between the influences of buddy Sheriff J.P. Harrah (Mitchum) and on-and-off lover Maudie (Charlene Holt), Cole picks the good side. He soon enlists the help of newcomer nicknamed Mississippi (James Caan), who does much better with a knife than with a gun. Unfortunately, as aged Deputy Bull (Arthur Hunnicutt) reports, J.P. is usually too drunk to be of any use. And a bullet near Cole's spine, which he hasn't found time to treat properly, sometimes paralyzes part of him....