• Today’s Topics:
  • THE STORE
  • Helen Twelvetrees Bio
    • Or Head to Amazon to buy my Helen Twelvetrees book
  • Head to WarrenWilliam.com
  • Cliff’s Fiction
  • Blog

Immortal Ephemera

Classic Movies & Movie Collectibles

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy Policy
  • Reviews
    • Pre-Code
    • Horror
    • Gangsters
    • Warner Archive
  • Biographies
  • Card & Collectible Galleries
    • About Movie Collectibles
    • My eBay Store
    • My Books
    • Glossary
    • eBay Shopping Tips
  • Info / Misc
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • My Bookshelf
    • Movie Books
    • WAMPAS
  • Social
    • Contact
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
You are here: Home / News - Notes / John Wayne on Football and Movies from a 1933 Newspaper Interview

John Wayne on Football and Movies from a 1933 Newspaper Interview

August 1, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 3 Comments

Helen Twelvetrees, Pefect Ingenue by Cliff Aliperti
Support the site? Skip buying me a coffee and grab yourself some movie cards & collectibles instead! Shop my eBay store here.


John Wayne Cinema Cavalcade Tobacco Card

John Wayne and Louise Platt in Stagecoach on a 1940 A and M Wix Cinema Cavalcade, Volume 2, tobacco card.



“John Wayne Finds Football Training Big Help in Films.”

Source: The Laredo Times, March 26, 1933.

John Wayne 1940s era 5x7 Fan PhotoThe most interesting thing about this unsigned feature is timing. Mostly consisting of optimistic quotes from Wayne, John Wayne is a failure at the time this article was published. In fact, his failure is the centerpiece of the article with Wayne referring to “getting over the disappointment of The Big Trail,” and, almost hilariously in retrospect, going on about his big successful comeback in what we think of today as the B movie wasteland portion of his career.

This is John Wayne even before those curious brief bits in mainstream pre-Code classics such as The Life of Jimmy Dolan or Baby Face (both 1933). The comeback Wayne is celebrating comes with the release of Haunted Gold (1932), his fourth in a series of Leon Schlesinger produced “Four Star Westerns” for Warner Brothers.

With rosy tone Wayne is quoted as saying, “I did a couple of serials. Then an offer from Columbia came along for a feature, and that looked good. Then I was lucky enough to get a break with George Bancroft in Lady and Gent. And finally Leon Schlesinger decided I was a likely candidate for the number-one spot in his new series.”

John Wayne 1930s Aguila Trading CardThe Columbia feature references Men Are Like That, better known today as Arizona (1931), which was recently included on TCM’s Columbia Picture Pre-Code Collection. Lady and Gent (1932) featured Wayne as a rival boxer to star Bancroft. (Incidentally, Bancroft is later Curley in Stagecoach, the Marshall trying to bring Duke’s Ringo Kid to justice.) The work in the Warner Brothers Westerns for Schlesinger complemented Poverty Row work for Mascot and at least earned John Wayne a living.

After referring to the failure of The Big Trail Wayne said he got used to hearing himself described as a flash in the pan and from there “made up my mind that what was true of football was true of pictures, so I started ‘playing football.'”

Wayne’s idea of playing football was based upon the idea that “No matter how much you may seem to be losing ground, no matter how often you lose the ball, you play just as hard–maybe harder–than if you were making first down with every play. And every time you get the ball into your hands, there’s a chance you may break through for a length-of-the-field run–and a touchdown.”

It’d take a few more years but there can be no doubt that not only did John Wayne score, he built a career that resembles a sports dynasty. Enjoy the movies.

Check out the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon for more John Wayne on August 1

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: News - Notes Tagged With: b-westerns, John Wayne, Summer Under the Stars, suts, suts 2012, TCM, Turner Classic Movies

← Tony Martin, 1913-2012 “She Came from Montana” – Myrna Loy as Covered by Newspapers of the 1920s →

About Cliff

I write about old movies and movie stars from the 1920s to the 1950s. I also sell movie cards, still photos and other ephemera. Immortal Ephemera connects the stories with the collectibles. Read More…



Ways to Help Support the Site:

Every little bit helps pay the bills. My thanks in advance if you'd consider helping out through one of the following methods:
 

Preferred: Shop the Immortal Ephemera Store and get yourself some vintage movie items for your trouble!

Donate direct through my PayPal.me link.

Or begin your regularly scheduled Amazon shopping through my Amazon affiliate link.

Thanks again!
—Cliff Aliperti

Trackbacks

  1. Day 1: John Wayne | Sittin' on a Backyard Fence says:
    August 1, 2012 at 9:52 am

    […] Cliff from Immortal Ephemera on John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939): https://immortalephemera.com/21125/stagecoach-1939-john-ford/#https://immortalephemera.com/21125/stagecoach-1939-john-ford/ and an interesting press clipping from early in The Duke’s career https://immortalephemera.com/21187/august-1-john-wayne-tcm-summer-under-the-stars/ […]

    Loading...
    Reply
  2. Arizona (1931) Review, with John Wayne | Pre-Code.com says:
    December 2, 2013 at 4:02 am

    […] piece over on Immortal Ephemera discusses where Wayne’s career was around the time that this was made… and it’s […]

    Loading...
    Reply
  3. John Wayne Was Once Jokingly Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons NFL Team - Hot News says:
    May 26, 2022 at 3:57 am

    […] Wayne also spoke about football in a 1933 interview.  “No matter how much you may seem to be losing ground, no matter how often you lose the […]

    Loading...
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright © 2002-2025 Immortal Ephemera - (privacy policy) - Article by Cliff Aliperti unless otherwise noted.

%d