For the first five years of his acting career, Marion Robert Morrison toiled in relative obscurity, landing mostly uncredited parts as an extra in assorted films. After taking the stage nameJohn Wayne, he landed his first leading role in director Raoul Walsh’s westernThe Big Trailin 1930, but the film flopped at the box office. He spent nearly another decade starring in a number of forgettable, low-budget films, mostly westerns. That all changed in 1938, when noted director John Ford cast him in the lead of his westernStagecoach, and to say the rest is Hollywood history is a massive understatement.
John Ford was already a respected filmmakerat the time, having earned an Oscar nomination for Best Director for 1935’sThe Informer, and his belief that Wayne could be a star paid dividends for both. They went on to make 14 films together, all considered classics, and they defined one of the mostsuccessful actor-director collaborationsthe motion picture industry has ever seen.
Wayne and Ford were actually friends for a decade prior to their first film together, when Ford was a fledgling director and Wayne was a college student at USC trying to break into the movie business. Ford gave Wayne assorted jobs on various film projects, including stuntman and prop man on several of his films. Wayne even appeared in Ford’s filmMen Without Women(1930) as an uncredited extra, but withStagecoach, the two began a cinematic partnership that would span the next 25 years and make Wayne an icon. Even asWayne’s personal reputation has taken a hitover problematic comments he made during his life, his cinematic legacy remains intact.
These are the 14 films John Wayne and John Ford made together, presented chronologically and with their Academy Award recognitions (if any).
Stagecoach (1939)
Oscar Nominations: Seven, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Oscar Wins: Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Mitchell) and Best Music.
Wayne plays the Ringo Kid, an outlaw who helps a stagecoach get through Indian territory, where the feared warrior Geronimo is leading raids on anyone riding through.Stagecoachfeatures an outstanding supporting cast, including Claire Trevor, the legendary John Carradine, and an Oscar-winning Thomas Mitchell (Scarlett’s father inGone With The Wind, Uncle Billy inIt’s a Wonderful Life). Wayne’s screen introduction, which features him against the backdrop of Monument Valley, is as memorable and iconic a shot as has ever been put to film.
Film Facts:Orson Welles was so inspiredby the film, he admitted to watching it over 40 times while preparing to make his film, Citizen Kane. John Wayne’s signature Winchester rifle was later used by Chuck Connors in the TV western The Rifleman.
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Oscar Nominations: Six, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay.
Oscar Wins: None
Highlighted with stunning cinematography,The Long Voyage Homefeatures Wayne as part of alarger ensemble castin a film about merchant marines at seas during wartime. Wayne actually has very little dialogue, as his character is Swedish, and he struggled with the accent. The film is based on four one-act plays by Eugene O’Neill.
Film Facts: Despite glowing critical reviews, the film didn’t win a single Academy Award at the 1941 ceremony, although Ford did for directing a different film, The Grapes of Wrath.
They Were Expendable (1945)
Oscar Nominations: Two, Best Sound and Best Special Effects.
Ford’s firstfilm about World War IIcombat,They Were Expendable,pairs Wayne with Robert Montgomery, who has the lead role of Lt. John Brickley in a film that follows the exploits of a PT boat crew in the Pacific. Although released just after the end of the war, the film earned high marks for giving a realistic, somber portrayal of combat, particularly the heavy losses in the Philippines, were the film is set.
Film Facts: Robert Montgomery was an actual PT boat commander in World War II, and his experiences made him well-suited for the role.
Fort Apache (1948)
Oscar Nominations: None
Fort Apachestands out as the first film in the “Calvary Trilogy,” three Wayne/Ford films about the exploits of the U.S. Calvary during the Westward Expansion of the 1800s. Although the films are not connected (except by theme and settings), fans often watch them together.
The film follows Capt. Kirby York (Wayne), who clashes with his new commanding officer Lt. Col. Owen Thursday (the great Henry Fonda), an ambitious demoted general intent on war with the Apaches and their chief, Cochise. Fonda, best known for his more sympathetic roles, is absolutely fantastic as the disgraced former general obsessed with regaining military glory.
Related:The Most Rewatchable John Wayne Movies, Ranked
Film Facts: Fort Apache was the first film for noted actor John Agar, who would go on to make a number of films with Wayne. At the time, he had just married co-star Shirley Temple, who was making the transition from child star to young adult with the role. She was pregnant at the time of shooting.
3 Godfathers (1948)
A surprisingly sentimental western,3 Godfathersfinds Wayne playing one of three outlaws on the run in the desert, who stumble across a pregnant woman who dies after giving birth. The outlaws take the baby under their care, determined to get him to safety, even if it means risking death by the posse searching for them.
While the film boasts fantastic cinematography - a Ford staple - Wayne’s performance and the morality tale at the film’s center makes it memorable. It’s a western twist on the Biblical tale of the Three Wise Men that evolves into a touching tale of redemption. Although it had a late November 1948 premiere in Washington, D.C.,3 Godfathersopened in wide release in the United States in January 1949.
Film Facts: The film is dedicated to Harry Carey, a western movie legend who passed away the previous year and starred with Wayne in several films. Carey was in Ford’s original, 1916 version, The Three Godfathers. His son Harry Carey Jr. appears in this 1948 version, starring alongside Wayne as the outlaw “The Abilene Kid.” He would go on to have a long career in film, often in westerns, appearing in both Back to the Future III (1990) and Tombstone (1993) before passing away in 2012.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Oscar Nominations: Best Cinematography (Color)
Oscar Wins: Best Cinematography (Color)
The second of the “Calvary Trilogy” (and some say the best),She Wore a Yellow Ribbonfound Wayne playing Capt. Nathan Brittles, a calvary officer on the eve of retirement, who is tasked with escorting the wife and niece of the fort’s commanding officer to safety as an Indian attack looms. Even though Wayne was in his early 40s at the time, makeup and gray in his hair was added to make him look much older.
Based on an original story inThe Saturday Evening Post, the film was a huge hit for Wayne, who was actually not John Ford’s first choice for the role. The director wanted an older actor, and felt Wayne was too young to play someone in his 60s, but changed his mind after watching his affecting performance in 1948’sRed River,one of Wayne’smost highly regarded westerns ever.
Film Facts: Many felt Wayne’s performance deserved an acting nomination, but instead, he earned a Best Actor nod for his other 1949 film, The Sands of Iwo Jima.
Rio Grande (1950)
Rio Grandecompletes the “Calvary Trilogy” with a fantastic film that saw the first-ever pairing of Wayne with Maureen O’Hara. The two made five films together, and became lifelong friends. Here, O’Hara plays the wife to Wayne’s Col. Yorke, who joins him on the frontier after their estranged son (Claude Jarman, Jr.) signs on to his father’s regiment. Harry Carey Jr. and Ben Johnson (The Wild Bunch, Red Dawn) appear as well.
Film Facts: Wayne’s character in Rio Grande is named Kirby Yorke, while his character name in 1948’s Fort Apache is Kirby York. The two characters are not the same, and an instance of Ford liking to reuse names in his films. Ford agreed to make the film so that Republic would finance his next film, The Quiet Man, a film he had wanted to make for some time.
The Quiet Man (1952)
Oscar Nominations: Seven, including Best Picture.
Oscar Wins: Best Director, Best Cinematography (Color)
The wonderful romantic comedy/drama may not be the best of the Wayne/Ford collaborations, but it is the most accessible.The Quiet Manfinds Wayne playing Sean Thornton, an American and former boxer with a dark secret in his past, looking for a new life in his homeland of Ireland.
He meets Mary Kate (O’Hara), the sister of his new neighbor (Victor McLaglen), who doesn’t like Sean one bit. The film is filled to the brim with whimsical performances from an outstanding cast, and Ford shows he’s capable of making great films with comedy and romance and without a cowboy in sight.
Film Facts: Steven Spielberg, a life-long fan of Ford, paid tribute to the film in 1982’s E.T: The Extra Terrestrial, featuring the scene of Wayne kissing O’Hara playing on a television, while Elliott kisses a girl in identical fashion.
The Searchers (1956)
Although it got no love from the Academy at the time,The Searchersis now considered one ofthe greatest westerns of all time. Wayne also said it was his favorite role, although it was more complicated and less sympathetic than his other roles. He played Ethan Edwards, a man on a quest for vengeance after his family is slaughtered by Comanches and his niece is kidnaped. Jeffrey Hunter (King of Kings) is excellent as Wayne’s sidekick, and Natalie Wood gives a small but memorable performance. The film’s final shot, with Wayne standing in the doorway of his family home, is absolute perfection.
Film Facts: John Wayne considered this his favorite film role… Natalie Wood was still in high school at the time the film was made, and several times, Wayne and Hunter came by the school to pick her up and take her to work… SingerBuddy Holly loved the film so much, he turned Wayne’s line “That’ll be the day” into a song… When a young Navajo girl working on the film became seriously ill while on location, Wayne flew her to a doctor on his private plane. In recognition, the Navajo tribe named him “The Man with the Big Eagle.”
The Wings of Eagles (1957)
Based on a true story,The Wings of Eaglesfeatures Wayne playing real-life Navy pilot Frank Wead, who was paralyzed and went on to become an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (Test PilotandThe Citadel, both in 1938). He wrote the Wayne/Ford pictureThey Were Expendablebefore dying in 1947. The film itself is uneven at times, and although some thought Wayne was a bit miscast, he does a serviceable job in the role of Wead, and Maureen O’Hara is excellent as his wife, in her third film with Wayne.
Related:Underrated John Wayne Movies, Ranked
Film Fact: Because Frank Wead was balding in real life, this is the only film in which Wayne doesn’t wear his toupee.
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
In this fast-pacedCivil War drama, Wayne plays a union colonel who leads a regiment into Confederate territory to sabotage railroad supply lines.The Horse Soldiersalso stars William Holden as a regiment doctor who doesn’t care for Wayne’s no-nonsense style, and yet, they learn to work together when they are trapped behind enemy lines. It’s one of the lesser Wayne/Ford films, although the star-power in the cast makes it highly watchable.
Constance Towers stars as a southern woman who is taken prisoner by Wayne’s Col. Marlowe; amazingly, Towers is still acting, having recently appeared in Hulu’s11.22.63, ABC’sGeneral Hospital, and Fox’s911. A number of notable character actors also appear in the film, including Hoot Gibson (a legendary star of silent era westerns), Ken Curtis (who famously played Festus on thelong-running TV western seriesGunsmoke), and Denver Pyle, who starred in a number of Wayne’s westerns and later played Uncle Jesse on TV’sDukes of Hazzard.
Film Facts: Althea Gibson, the first African-American to play in and win Wimbledon, was cast in the role of Lukey in what would be her only credited role…While filming in the South, Ford insisted on paying Black extras the same as white extras, angering local community leaders.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Oscar Nomination: Best Costume Design (Back and White).
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valancehas only grown in regard over the decades, and is now considered one of Wayne and Ford’s best. Not only is it one of Wayne’s better roles, it features excellentperformances by Jimmy Stewartand Vera Miles, as well as an absolutely iconic performance by Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen).
Marvin’s Liberty Valance is the outlaw terrorizing a western town, and newcomer Ransom Stoddard (Stewart) immediately gets on his bad side. That leads to an epic showdown, with rancher Tom Doniphon (Wayne) stepping in. The film’s an interesting tale about principles, responsibility, and personal cost of doing what’s right. This isn’t a feel-good western, and it’s surprisingly progressive.
Film Facts: Wayne’s use of the word “Pilgrim” in the film, which he used to mock Stewart’s character, has become synonymous with Wayne himself.
How the West Was Won (1962)
Oscar Nominations: Eight, including Best Picture.
Oscar Wins: Three (Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound)
How The West Was Wonhad so many things going for it: a stellar cast, three noted directors (including John Ford) and the Cinerama photography process (which combined three simultaneously-filmed images to form one super-wide image). Yet, it doesn’t quite rise to greatness, although it did win three Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay, which surprised critics who called James Webb’s screenplay the weakest part of the film.
The film tells the story of the fictional Prescott family across four generations, from the 1830s to the 1880s, as they travel west across America and experience a number of historic events. The film is divided into historical segments, with outstanding actors appearing in each. Henry Fonda plays a buffalo hunter concerned about the effect of the railroad on local tribes; James Stewart plays a fur trapper; Gregory Peck plays a swindler; and Debbie Reynolds plays one of the Prescott children who finds fortune in California. Ford directed the Civil War segment, with Wayne appearing.
Film Facts: Even with a cast that included a total of seven Oscar winners (including Wayne) in significant roles, moviegoers were surprised that John Wayne’s role was essentially a glorified cameo in the nearly three-hour film. His role as Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman took only five days to film.
Donovan’s Reef (1963)
The final pairing of Wayne and Ford was as far removed fromStagecoachas you could get.Donovan’s Reefwas a comedy about World War II veterans living the good life on a Polynesian island. It boasted an all-star cast, including Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, Cesar Romero, and Dorothy Lamour. Ford thought the film’s premise was such a great idea, he started production with only a bare-bones script, with entire scenes just made up by the cast as they went along.
Ford sold the cast on the film by pointing out that the production would make for a great Hawaiian vacation for all involved. Lee Marvin took that idea to heart, often showing up for shooting each morning hung over, which delayed filming. Even so, the film turned out pretty well, a light-hearted comedy with stunning vistas, that’s still highly watchable to this day.
Movie Facts: Donovan’s Reef was made nearly 25 years after Stagecoach, and Ford was reportedly in such ill health, Wayne himself stepped in to help direct a few scenes… Although this was their last traditional film together, Wayne would later provide narration for a documentary Ford made years later.
