John Wayne – An American Icon Collection

The John Wayne – An American Icon Collection offers films ranging from 1940 to 1957, these items reveal that although he didn’t have a lot of range ("I play John Wayne in pretty much every film I do," he once admitted), Wayne was at least willing to tackle other genres besides the Westerns with which he’s so closely identified; here he portrays a coal miner, a moonshiner, and a legendary warrior, along with the more expected military roles. 

 Seven Sinners (’40) is the best of the lot, with Marlene Dietrich sly and radiant as the delightfully named Bijou Blanche, a South Pacific cabaret singer who tantalizes naval officer Wayne.

At the other end of the spectrum is The Conqueror (’55), generally regarded as Wayne’s worst feature ever, but even it is a campy hoot. Sporting a Fu Manchu ‘stache and many silly hats and delivering some preposterously stilted dialogue ("Hi, Mom" becomes "I greet you, my mother!"), Wayne plays Mongol warlord Temujin, soon to become Genghis Khan, who’s obsessed with a beautiful princess (Susan Hayward as a Tartar) who just happens to be the daughter of the man responsible for the death of Temujin’s father.

 Pittsburgh (’42), again pairing Wayne with the luminous Dietrich, is considerably better, charting the rise, fall, and redemption of miner-turned-captain-of-industry Charles "Pittsburgh" Markham in a story that’s both humorous and dramatic.

 The Shepherd of the Hills (’41) is Wayne’s first teaming with director Henry Hathaway (who would direct Duke to his only Oscar, 28 years later, in "True Grit"), was also the first color film in Wayne’s career.  

 Jet Pilot (’57), has a pre-Psycho Janet Leigh as a Russian spy . Not a great film, although Josef von Sternberg is credited as the director,  Howard Hughes was clearly in charge. "Jet Pilot" is better known as the film where the legendary Chuck Yeager (who first broke the sound barrier, in 1947), was nearly killed performing the aerial stunts (while on ‘loan’ from the USAF). The aerial footage is, certainly, the most impressive aspect of the film.

501 minutes, colour and B&W