John Wayne once picked the only “cautious” role of his career
Whichever way you spin it, the world of cinema would have looked very different without the influence of John Wayne. A true icon of Hollywood’s golden age, Wayne helped to redefine the genre of Western films, playing a variety of roles throughout his career, usually centred around him as the heroic and tough protagonist. Wayne grew a name for himself through playing these stoic, uncompromising characters, and it seems as though his own personality seemed to reflect that of the characters he played – for better or worse.
Over the course of his five-decade career in film, Wayne appeared in over 170 films, most of which fall in the category of war or Western films. Within that noted filmography, Wayne had his fair share of classic hits, like True Grit or The Searchers, and some truly terrible efforts like The Conqueror or The Green Berets. The Iowa-born actor certainly had his fair share of awful films and performances, but his many iconic roles meant that, increasingly, Wayne could pick and choose which films he appeared in.
As a result of his ability to be picky, Wayne chose not to appear in any films that would go against his strict moral code. For instance, he famously refused to appear in High Noon as he deemed the film ‘un-American’ and in opposition to the blacklisting of suspected communists in Hollywood – which Wayne was all in favour of. Generally speaking, Wayne wanted to appear in films as his own interpretation of the ‘American hero’; a tough, masculine and – most often than not – horrendously misogynistic and racist hero.
Although he only wished to portray brash, heroic characters, Wayne did occasionally appear in films under a more subdued role. During an interview with Playboy in 1971, during which the actor boldly stated, “I believe in white supremacy”, he also took the opportunity to reflect back on his acting career and the roles that he took on. “I’ve avoided being mean or petty,” he said, “but I’ve never avoided being rough or tough. I’ve only played one cautious part in my life, in Allegheny Uprising”.
Within the 1939 film, Wayne plays the character of James Smith, who is attempting to uncover the identity of somebody selling arms to a local First Nations tribe, before being framed for murder. As you might expect, the film has aged incredibly poorly. Even during its initial release, though, Allegheny Uprising performed pretty abysmally, with audiences clearly not endeared to this image of Wayne as more of a “cautious” character.
The film was not helped by the fact that it was initially banned in the United Kingdom. Wayne’s character is openly critical of the British colonial rule in which the film is set, so the Ministry of Information withheld the film in Britain under the belief that it would portray the nation – which was, at that time, at war with Nazi Germany – negatively.
Thankfully, for John Wayne, his performance in Allegheny Uprising was pretty forgettable, and he would soon return to playing the rough and tough characters he so preferred. In fact, that very same year, he went on to star in Stagecoach, which became one of his defining roles.
