John Wayne vol.1 - 100 Years of Movie Posters - 99

A Chronology of John Wayne Movie Posters vol.1 1930-1939.

John Wayne was born 'Marion Morrison' in Winterset, Iowa on May 26th, 1907.

Nickname, "Duke".

He was married 3 times and was the father of 7 children.

His son Patrick Wayne (1939-) is also an actor, and has appeared in a number of films starring his father.

He starred in dozens of B-westerns in the 1930s, his big break came in 1939 when John Ford hired him to play the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach.

Wayne was Oscar nominated Best Actor for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and won the award in 1969 playing Rooster Cogburn in True Grit.

He was Oscar nominated for producing The Alamo (1960) which he also directed.

John Wayne has played the lead role in over 100 movies, more than any other actor in Hollywood's history.

Politically Wayne was a prominent Republican and has admitted to being a right-wing conservative extremist.

Wayne was presented with America's two highest civilian decorations - the Congressional Gold Medal (with the inscription 'John Wayne, American') in 1979, and posthumously the Congressional Medal of Freedom in 1980.

The screen legend succumbed to cancer on June 11th, 1979.

During the 1930s Wayne appeared in over 60 movies, this hub showcases poster art from 36 of them.

The Big Trail (1930) Directed by Raoul Walsh. 125mins (158mins)

John Wayne - Breck Coleman
Marguerite Churchill - Ruth Cameron

Also starring El Brendel, Tully Marshall, Tyrone Power Sr. and David Rollins.

Early western epic and John Wayne's first starring role.

Based on a story by Hal G. Evarts.

The film was shot in the 70mm Grandeur process, which was an early form of widescreen, the forerunner of Cinemascope.

A 35mm version of the film was shot at the same time. Three more versions by France, Germany and Spain were filmed with different actors on the same sets.

Gary Cooper was first offered the lead role but he was under contract to Paramount Pictures and they refused to loan him out.

The Big Trail failed to make an impression at the box office, the use of widescreen did not help much and it would be another 23 years before widescreen movies became a box office draw.

The movie did help Wayne get star billing in dozens of cheap B-Westerns throughout the 30's.

Selected for Preservation by the National Film Registry in 2006.

Tagline - The Most Important Picture Ever Produced!

IMDB rating 7.1

Ride Him Cowboy (1932) Directed by Fred Allen. 55mins.

John Wayne - John Drury
Ruth Hall - Ruth Gaunt

Also starring Henry B. Walthall, Otis Harlan, Harry Gribbon and Frank Hagney.

Wayne's first lead role in a B-Western.

Based on a novel by Kenneth Perkins.

UK title - The Hawk.

Tagline - YIPPEE! Here Come The Ridin', Fightin' King of the Range!

IMDB rating 5.3

Haunted Gold (1932) Directed by Mack V. Wright. 58mins.

John Wayne - John Mason
Sheila Terry - Janet Carter

Also starring Harry Woods, Erville Alderson, Otto Hoffman and Martha Mattox.

Some of the long shots of characters riding horses are taken from earlier westerns.

Tagline - There's More Than Gold At Stake In This Battle To The Death!

IMDB rating 5.3

The Telegraph Trail (1933) Directed by Tenny Wright. 54mins.

John Wayne - John Trent
Frank McHugh - Corporal Tippy

Also starring Marceline Day, Otis Harlan, Albert J. Smith and Yakima Canutt.

James Cagney shows people scenes from this movie in the musical Footlight Parade (1933).

IMDB rating 5.8

Somewhere in Sonora (1933) Directed by Mack V. Wright. 59mins.

John Wayne - John Bishop
Shirley Palmer - Mary Burton

Also starring Henry B. Walthall, Ann Fay, J.P. McGowan and Paul Fix.

Remake of a 1927 Ken Maynard western of the same name.

Tagline - Death rides the saddle...When he rides the range!

IMDB rating 5.4

The Man from Monterey (1933) Directed by Mack V. Wright. 57mins.

John Wayne - John Holmes
Ruth Hall - Dolores Castanares

Also starring Luis Alberni, Donald Reed, Nina Quartero and Francis Ford.

The 4th and last B-western Wayne starred in for Warner Bros.

Tagline - Hair-Trigger Action! Red-Blooded Romance! Rip-Roaring Thrills!

IMDB rating 5.1

Riders of Destiny (1933) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 53mins.

John Wayne - Singin' Sandy Saunders
Cecilia Parker - Fay Denton

Also starring Forrest Taylor, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Al St. John and Yakima Canutt.

Wayne's first 'Lone Star' B-Western for Monogram studios.

Wayne was a singing cowboy in this one (his singing voice was dubbed.)

First of many westerns he made with 'Gabby' Hayes.

Tagline - He Wrote The Code Of Justice With A Blazing Six-Gun!

IMDB rating 5.4

Sagebrush Trail (1933) Directed by Armand Schaefer. 54mins.

John Wayne - John Brant
Nancy Shubert - Sally Blake

Also starring Lane Chandler, Yakima Canutt, Henry Hall and Bob Burns.

Yakima Canutt was a legendary stuntman and stunt rider, he worked on many films including John Ford's Stagecoach (1939). He also worked on the incredible chariot race in Ben-Hur (1959) Yakima's son Joe, also a stuntman, doubled for Charlton Heston in some scenes. He received an Honorary Oscar in 1967.

IMDB rating 5.2

The Lucky Texan (1934) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 55mins.

John Wayne - Jerry Mason
Barbara Sheldon - Betty Benson

Also starring Lloyd Whitlock, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Yakima Canutt and Eddie Parker.

Popular character actor Gabby Hayes appeared in nearly 200 films, he played a lovable old coot and sidekick in many westerns. He was sent up in Mel Brooks hugely successful spoof western Blazing Saddles (1974) which included a similar looking and sounding character named Gabby Johnson.

Tagline - Action all the way, a hundred thrills in a fight for gold and a girl!

IMDB rating 5.5

West of the Divide (1934) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 54mins.

John Wayne - Ted Hayden
Virginia Brown Faire - Fay Winters

Also starring George 'Gabby' Hayes, Lloyd Whitlock, Yakima Canutt and Lafe McKee.

Tagline - A Two Gun Son Of The West Takes The Law Into His Own Hands!

IMDB rating 5.4

Blue Steel (1934) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 54mins

John Wayne - John Carruthers
Eleanor Hunt - Betty Mason

Also starring George 'Gabby' Hayes, Edward Peil Sr, Yakima Canutt and Lafe McKee.

Alternative title "Stolen Goods".

Monogram Pictures was a Hollywood studio specialising in low budget movies, founded in 1931. The average cost of a Monogram Picture was $90,000, about a tenth the cost of a typical MGM movie.

IMDB rating 5.3

The Man from Utah (1934) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 55mins.

John Wayne - John Weston
Polly Ann Young - Marjorie Carter

Also starring Anita Campillo, Edward Peil Sr, George 'Gabby' Hayes and Yakima Canutt.

Lone Star Productions was the name of the company making these westerns for Monogram Pictures, this was the sixth of 16 Lone Star westerns starring John Wayne.

Tagline - Framed by a gang of murdering thieves!

IMDB rating 4.9

Randy Rides Alone (1934) Directed by Harry L. Fraser. 53mins.

John Wayne - Randy Bowers
Alberta Vaughn - Sally Rogers

Also starring Gabby Hayes, Yakima Canutt, Earl Dwire and Artie Ortego.

Filmed in black & white Randy Rides Alone was computer colorized for TV and video back in the 1980s along with many other John Wayne B-westerns of the 1930s.

Tagline - Fearless--- He Rode the Danger Trail!

IMDB rating 5.3

The Star Packer (1934) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 53mins.

John Wayne - John Travers
Verna Hillie - Anita Matlock

Also starring George 'Gabby' Hayes, Yakima Canutt, Billy Franey and Eddie Parker.

UK title - He Wore a Star.

Tagline - He Dared Death In The Outlaw's Lair!

IMDB rating 5.2

The Lawless Frontier (1934) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 59mins.

John Wayne - John Tobin
Sheila Terry - Ruby

Also starring Jack Rockwell, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Jay Wilsey and Yakima Canutt.

Considered one of the weakest entries in the Lone Star series.

IMDB rating 5.0

'Neath Arizona Skies (1934) Directed by Harry L. Fraser. 52mins.

John Wayne - Chris Morrell
Sheila Terry - Clara Moore

Also starring Shirley Jean Rickert, Jack Rockwell, Yakima Canutt and Harry L. Fraser.

Many of these old westerns are now in the public domain and can be viewed for free at various online video sites such as YouTube.

Tagline - Hair-trigger Action!

IMDB rating 5.0

The Desert Trail (1935) Directed by Lewis D. Collins. 54mins.

John Wayne - John Scott
Mary Kornman - Anne

Also starring Paul Fix, Eddy Chandler, Carmen Laroux and Lafe McKee.

Scenes at a rodeo are the same ones used in The Man from Utah.

IMDB rating 5.3

The Dawn Rider (1935) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 53mins.

John Wayne - John Mason
Marion Burns - Alice Gordon

Also starring Dennis Moore, Reed Howes, Joseph De Grasse and Yakima Canutt.

Based on a story by Lloyd Nosler.

Tagline - The End of the Vengeance Trail

IMDB rating 5.0

Paradise Canyon (1935) Directed by Carl Pierson. 52mins.

John Wayne - John Wyatt
Marion Burns - Linda Carter

Also starring Reed Howes, Earle Hodgins, Gino Corrado and Yakima Canutt.

John Wayne's last Lone Star and Monogram Pictures western.

USA DVD title - Guns Along the Trail.

Tagline - Where life was raw and might was law!

IMDB rating 5.1

Westward Ho (1935) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. 61mins.

John Wayne - John Wyatt
Sheila Bromley - Mary Gordon

Also starring Frank McGlynn Jr, Jim Farley, Jack Curtis, Yakima Canutt and Glenn Strange.

Wayne's first western for Republic Pictures and the first movie made by that studio.

IMDB rating 5.4

The Oregon Trail (1936) Directed by Scott Pembroke. 59mins.

John Wayne - Capt John Delmont
Ann Rutherford - Anne Ridgeley

Also starring Joseph W. Girard, Yakima Canutt, Frank Rice and E.H. Calvert.

Believed to be a lost film, even the trailer is missing, only the poster some lobby cards and a few stills survive.

IMDB rating n/a

King of the Pecos (1936) Directed by Joseph Kane. 54mins.

John Wayne - John Clayborn
Muriel Evans - Belle Jackson

Also starring Cy Kendall, Jack Clifford, Arthur Aylesworth and Herbert Heywood.

Working title - West of God's Country.

Tagline - Law and Order comes to the Lone Star State!

IMDB rating 6.2

The Lonely Trail (1936) Directed by Joseph Kane. 56mins.

John Wayne - Captain John Ashley
Ann Rutherford - Virginia Terry

Also starring Cy Kendall, Bob Kortman, Fred Toones and Sam Flint.

Ann Rutherford played Scarlett O'Hara's sister in Gone With the Wind (1939), she was also a regular in the Andy Hardy series of films. The actress died in 2012, aged 94.

IMDB rating 5.5

Winds of the Wasteland (1936) Directed by Mack V, Wright. 54mins.

John Wayne - John Blair
Phyllis Fraser - Barbara Forsythe

Also starring Lew Kelly, Douglas Cosgrove, Lane Chandler and Sam Flint.

USA DVD title - Stagecoach Run.

Tagline - A six-shooter writes the law as war flames on the range!

IMDB rating 6.0

The Sea Spoilers (1936) Directed by Frank R. Strayer. 63mins.

John Wayne - Bob Randall
Nan Grey - Connie Dawson

Also starring William Bakewell, Fuzzy Knight, Russell Hicks and George Irving.

The first of six movies John Wayne made at Universal Studios.

Working title - Casey of the Coast Guard.

Tagline - The Heroic Adventures Of The Coast Guard!

IMDB rating 5.1

Conflict (1936) Directed by David Howard. 60mins.

John Wayne - Pat Glendon
Jean Rogers - Maude Sangster

Also starring Ward Bond, Tommy Bupp, Bryant Washburn and Frank Sheridan.

Drama based on the novel "The Abysmal Brute" by Jack London, first published in 1913.

Jean Rogers became famous as Dale Arden in the popular Flash Gordon serials starring Buster Crabbe.

IMDB rating 5.5

I Cover the War! (1937) Directed by Arthur Lubin. 68mins.

John Wayne - Bob Adams
Gwen Gaze - Pamela Armitage

Also starring Don Barclay, Charles Brokaw, James Bush and Pat Somerset.

Tagline - Drama For His Newsreel Camera!

IMDB rating 5.6

Idol of the Crowds (1937) Directed by Arthur Lubin. 60mins.

John Wayne - Johnny Hanson
Sheila Bromley - Helen Dale

Also starring Charles Brokaw, Bill Burrud, Jane Johns and Huntley Gordon.

Wayne is a Hockey player in this movie as you can tell from the poster. I guess it makes a change from riding horses and shooting at people.

Working title - Hell on Ice.

IMDB rating 5.8

Adventure's End (1937) Directed by Arthur Lubin. 60mins.

John Wayne - Duke Slade
Diana Gibson - Janet Drew

Also starring Montagu Love, Moroni Olsen, Maurice Black and Paul White.

South Seas adventure based on a story by Ben Ames Williams.

Tagline - Adrift on the High Seas, the Crew Gone Mad! One Lone Woman at the Mercy of them All!

IMDB rating 4.9

Born to the West (1937) Directed by Charles Barton. 59mins.

John Wayne - Dare Rudd
Marsha Hunt - Judy Worstall

Also starring Johnny Mack Brown, John Patterson, Monte Blue and Lucien Littlefield.

Based on a novel by Zane Grey.

Reissue title - Hell Town.

Tagline - Crimson-Streaked Romance Hits the Trail!

IMDB rating 5.7

Overland Stage Raiders (1938) Directed by George Sherman. 55mins.

John Wayne - Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan - Tucson Smith
Max Terhune - Lullaby Joslin

Also starring Louise Brooks, Anthony Marsh and John Archer.

John Wayne appeared in a series of westerns collectively known as 'The 3 Mesquiteers', a play on the title 'The Three Musketeers', each film featured a trio of western heroes.
51 films were released from 1936 to 1943, all featuring various b-western stars, Wayne appeared in 8 of them.

IMDB rating 5.8

The Night Riders (1939) Directed by George Sherman. 56mins.

John Wayne - Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan - Tucson Smith
Max Terhune - Lullaby Joslin

Also starring Doreen McKay, Ruth Rogers and Tom Tyler.

Working title - Lone Star Bullets.

Tagline - Three game guys unite to quell the most daring land-grant swindle in the history of the old West.

IMDB rating 5.8

Three Texas Steers (1939) Directed by George Sherman.56mins.

John Wayne - Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan - Tucson Smith
Max Terhune - Lullaby Joslin

Also starring Carole Landis, Ralph Graves and Roscoe Ates.

Alternative title - Danger Rides the Range.

Tagline - They hit the circus trails in a fast-riding action-thriller that ends in a blaze of glory on the race-track!

IMDB rating 5.6

New Frontier (1939) Directed by George Sherman. 57mins.

John Wayne - Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan - Tucson Smith
Raymond Hatton - Lullaby Joslin

Also starring Jennifer Jones, Eddy Waller and Sammy McKim.

The 8th and last 'Three Mesquiteers' film starring John Wayne.

Working title - Raiders of the Wasteland

Reissue title - Frontier Horizon.

Jennifer Jones film debut.

IMDB rating 5.9

Stagecoach (1939) Directed by John Ford. 96mins.

Claire Trevor - Dallas
John Wayne - Ringo Kid
Andy Devine - Buck
John Carradine - Hatfield
Thomas Mitchell - Doc Boone

Also starring Louise Platt, George Bancroft, Donald Meek, Tim Holt and Tom Tyler.

One of the greatest westerns ever made and the film that turned John Wayne into a superstar.

Based on the short story "The Stage to Lordsburg" by Ernest Haycox, published in 1937.

The first of 14 films that Ford and Wayne have made together.

Producer Walter Wanger wanted Gary Cooper to play the Ringo Kid but John Ford had his eye on Wayne and refused to consider anyone else.

Marlene Dietrich was considered for the role of Dallas.

Claire Trevor was top billed, she was a bigger star than Wayne at the time.

Wayne's salary was less than some of his co-stars.

Stagecoach was #9 on the AFI's 10 Greatest Westerns list.

Nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, winning 2 - Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Mitchell) and Best Music Scoring.

Selected for Preservation by the National Film Registry in 1995.

Tagline - Thrills! Thrills! Thrills! See - The Apache Attack! Charge of the Cavalry! Fight to the Death On the Last Frontier of Wickedness!

IMDB rating 7.9

Allegheny Uprising (1939) UK title: The First Rebel. Directed by William A. Seiter. 81mins.

Claire Trevor - Janie
John Wayne - Jim Smith
George Sanders - Capt. Swanson
Brian Donlevy - Callendar

Also starring Wilfrid Lawson, Robert Barrat and Chill Wills.

Based on the novel "The First Rebel" by P.J. Wolfson, published in 1937.

The film was set in 1760's British colonial America and reunited the two stars of Stagecoach.

Allegheny Uprising was eclipsed by John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk which took place during the same period in American history, and was released in theaters a week earlier.

Tagline - The Thrill-Romance Giant Of The Year!

IMDB rating 6.2