Friday, October 29, 2010

On Kane and Wayne: Peter Bogdanovich on the Classic Films Citizen Kane and The Searchers


Peter Bogdanovich, the writer and film director, spoke to The Toronto Star about two classic films, Orson Welles' Citizen Zane and John Ford's The Searchers, starring John Wayne.

These are two of my favorite films.

You can read the newspaper story via the below link:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/882513--peter-bogdanovich-talking-kane-and-wayne

Bogdanovich, like many writers and critics, notes that John Wayne played himself in every role.

While it is true that Wayne essentially portrayed a "type" of character in most of his films, the dark, cold and bitter man that Wayne portrayed in The Searchers was certainly not like the characters in his other films, and it was certainly not Wayne.

That was acting.

I believe The Searchers was one of John Ford's greatest films and offers John Wayne in his greatest role.

1 comment:

  1. One of Wayne's greatest roles was in a film I don't think many people have heard of or seen; Cecil B. De Mille's The Wake of the Red Witch. An argument could be made that in it Wayne created the anti-hero.

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