Member-only story
John Wayne Would have been a Terrible Marriage Counselor
His movie, Mclintock is a case in point.
There are some reoccurring threads in Duke’s movies. His family life is often strained, and he likes to drink a lot. I suspect those things go hand in hand. So how was Wayne able to reconcile with his family on some occasions? Generally, through violence. I’m thinking the Duke would have made a terrible marriage counselor. Let’s delve into these issues.
As we all know, drunkenness is funny and there are no negative consequences. Was it possible for a John Wayne movie to have a humor scene that didn’t involve guys swilling liquor in any way possible? It’s interesting to me that Wayne usually played a good guy who the bad guys were going to great lengths to kill. Of course, the natural response to that is to get liquored up so as to dull your senses.
In Wayne’s movie, “Big Jake”, the Duke reconciled with his family by virtue of using his tracking skills and aptitude for violence to do away with the kidnappers of his grandson. Forget family counseling, just wait for an opportunity to break out the firearms!
The quintessential John Wayne movie on family life has to be “McLintock”. Once again, the Duke is estranged from Maureen O’Hara. This time, in the climactic scene Duke chases O’Hara through town. She loses her clothes along the way…
