John Wayne, the producer, and the $250,000 insult
There was a lot to like about John Wayne if you were an American living in the post-war decades. He wasn’t just a true patriot in almost every sense of the word, but Wayne was happy to position himself as one of America’s first superheroes. In almost every movie he appeared in, Wayne would take up the role of moralistic tough guy, capable of dishing out punches but only in the good name of justice.
It was a vision that was easy to sell to a nation hit relatively hard by the trauma of World War II. Wayne could be shown to an audience as the archetype of the American dream, the stagehand who became a global icon and a bruising leading man who was not afraid to get his hands dirty. Of course, behind the scenes and off the screen, Wayne wasn’t exactly the hero many people wanted.
A notable thorn in the side of Hollywood, Wayne was happy to continually attempt to oust anyone he deemed not to be in line with his outlook on the film industry. He was routinely falling foul of his co-stars and would often find himself insulting his colleagues. Wayne also took things to a more official position, too, as the ‘threat’ of Communism became a constant theme in Hollywood. Wayne was so anti-Communist that he emerged as an ardent and vocal supporter of the infamous House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Add to this, Wayne’s racist outburst and apparent lack of comfort for very much outside of his uber-conservative world view, and you find yourself left with an uncompromising figure.
This lack of willingness to understand anybody’s opinion but his own meant Wayne was often at loggerheads with higher-ups in Hollywood, once including the producer of his own movie The Longest Day. The 1962 movie is one of the more glorified versions of D-Day events, and had a supremely stacked cast with Sean Connery, Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum and Richard Burton, and the cast was perhaps most famous for the man it didn’t feature.
Former President Dwight D Eisenhower almost appeared as himself, but without the make-up team able to make him look young enough, the politician was taken out fo the running. Funnily enough, though, the 54-year-old Wayne was still given the green light to take on the role of 27-year-old Lt Col Benjamin Vandervoort, much to the paratrooper’s dismay, especially considering Wayne famously didn’t serve in the conflict. Eisenhower was also apparently displeased with the picture, as he left the premiere after only a few minutes.
However, perhaps the most shocking moment comes from the issues Wayne had with his producer, Darryl F Zanuck. The producer was desperate to keep the budget low on the production and managed to get his stars, who were mainly performing cameos, to make their fees around $25,000 each. It meant that he could deliver an all-star cast without having to worry too deeply about the overall budget, except for one thing the producer hadn’t thought of: John Wayne holds a grudge.
Two years prior, after Wayne delivered 1960’s The Alamo, the actor was still reeling from when Zanuck called him “poor John Wayne” for his performance and production of the picture. Zanuck said that he didn’t care for stars becoming producers and making their own pictures and with Wayne cited as the main example of the issue, tensions were seemingly set. And with that, he decided to punish the director by refusing to appear for anything but $250,000 — an eye-watering sum considering.
Wayne went one step further and tried to distance himself from the ensemble cast, demanding in his contract that his name be kept separate form the rest of the cast on the credits. However, perhaps Zanuck had the final laugh in the end as he then made sure to have “and John Wayne” added to the the roll so the veteran actor appeared last.
All is well that ends well, though, and The Longest Day is still considered one of the better war movies made during the decade. it might not have been all smooth sailing, and it certainly came with a hefty dose of warring generals itself, but, in the end, the world got another war movie and John Wayne once again proved himself to be the toughest diva in the business.
