The only co-star who had “that special erotic chemistry” with John Wayne: “Oh yes, we knew”
Nobody really wants to think about John Wayne and eroticism at the same time, but since he’s one of the biggest stars Hollywood has ever produced, why wouldn’t an actor want to go on the record and call themselves the most sexually-charged scene partner he ever had?
‘The Duke’ could only play a handful of archetypal characters to a convincing degree, and a lothario wasn’t one of them. He had plenty of on-camera love interests over the years, but those films weren’t exactly defined by fiery romantic chemistry that threatened to send the screen up in flames.
He was one of several ‘Golden Age’ figures to fall under Marlene Dietrich’s spell, which didn’t go too well for him when he ended up in a car accident caused largely by his thirsting loins, and he was allegedly entangled with Merle Oberon for years, too, although they never starred in a picture together.
Anne-Margret, Lauren Bacall, Gail Russell, and Angie Dickinson were among the other names he romanced in a fictional capacity, but there’s something undeniably ironic about a female actor Wayne made multiple movies with, without ever really being subjected to rumours of behind-the-scenes romance, calling herself his most erotic scene partner.
While scuttlebutt certainly suggested it more than once, ‘The Duke’ and Maureen O’Hara repeatedly shut down accusations that their bond was anything other than platonic. They were the best of friends and remained close from the late 1930s to the former’s death four decades later, but he always saw her as one of the lads.
Still, more often than not, they were cast as lovers. They worked together on Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McLintock!, and Big Jake between 1950 and 1971, with O’Hara revealing in her memoirs that even though nothing had or ever would happen between them, their friendship ran so deep it made their fictional chemistry as believable as it got.
“We looked like a couple who belonged together,” she wrote. “We both had an inner core of strength, and we were both gutsy! Did I know we had that special erotic chemistry together that would be so magical onscreen while filming Rio Grande? No, I did not. Neither of us did. There were no kinetic sparks from which to duck. But when we saw ourselves together onscreen for the first time? Oh yes, we knew.”
When they played out another romantic arc in The Quiet Man that culminated in a kiss, O’Hara had figured out why. “Why is the scene so erotic? Why were Duke and I so electric in our love scenes together?” she asked, before immediately answering her own question. “I was the only leading lady big enough and tough enough for Duke Wayne.”
Thanks to Wayne having a “presence so strong,” when audiences saw him with “a woman of equal hell and fire, it was exciting and thrilling.” Things were strictly professional between them, but as far as O’Hara was concerned, her ability to stand up to ‘The Duke’ both onscreen and off made her his greatest partner by far.
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