The actor John Wayne encouraged to kick his ass: “He gave me the licence to do that”
The golden age of the western genre was famously rooted in themes of heroism and patriotism. While modern westerns often take a more critical approach, examining how the genre’s classics negatively depicted anyone who wasn’t a strong white male, this reevaluation can’t erase how many of those films glorified traditional and conservative values. At the forefront of these stories stood John Wayne, an enduring icon of the era who, off-screen, was an unapologetic racist and a staunch advocate of right-wing ideology.
Wayne often played characters that were crowned as heroes, establishing himself as a tough guy who could defeat (almost) anyone who attempted to challenge him. There were only nine times he died on screen, which included films such as The Alamo, Reap the Wild Wind, and Wake of the Red Witch. In these instances, his characters usually die and are regarded as martyrs, maintaining the image of Wayne as a symbol of an undefeatable America.
He was a symbol of morale as war and conflict broke out in the world, coming to personify America and all of its so-called greatness. His demise in the film The Cowboys, released in 1972 – not long before he died of cancer himself – was portrayed as one of his most emotional on-screen deaths. He played Wil Andersen, an old rancher whose ranch hands desert him, leaving him without any help. As a result, he ends up employing a group of young boys who turn out to be great at their jobs.
Meanwhile, Bruce Dern’s character, Asa Watts, is denied work by Andersen, causing him to trail the group and threaten one of the boys into remaining silent. He eventually kills Andersen, leaving the boys—who see Wayne’s character as a father-like figure—incredibly upset. They target Watts and some of his associates as revenge before laying Andersen to rest.
During filming, Wayne wanted the kids playing the cowhands to feel a strong sense of resentment for Dern so that their performances would be more realistic. Wayne didn’t seem to care how it made Dern look – he just wanted the movie to turn out as moving and emotionally driven as he could. According to Dern (via True West Magazine), “When I got there, John Wayne said, ‘I want you to do yourself and me a favour. Around the set, I want you to kick my ass in front of these little kids, so they’re absolutely terrified of you.’ He gave me the license to do that.”
It appears that Dern did just that, putting on an act in front of the young boys so that they felt the same hatred for his character. “The day we come to the scene where I shoot him, [Wayne] said to me, ‘Ooh, are they going to hate you for this!’ I said, ‘Maybe, but in Berkeley, I’m a hero.’”
The movie was fairly well-received, grossing $19.2million against a $6m budget. Still, the film didn’t do much to stray from the western genre’s frequent championing of aggressive masculinity.
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