Eastwood and Wayne are legends of Western films, even though both actors made many films from other genres including war pictures and crime thrillers.
LEGACY OF CLINT EASTWOOD
Clint Eastwood’s westerns were known for their grittier and often times more violent look at the period. Perhaps his greatest westerns were under the direction of Sergio Leone.
His three spaghetti westerns ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, ‘For a Few Dollars More’, and ‘The Good, the Bad, the Ugly’ are some of my favorites of all time.
But he didn’t stop there. He went on to star in more great westerns such as ‘Two Mules for Sister Sara’, ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’, ‘High Plains Drifter’, and ‘Pale Rider’ to name a few. Then in 1992 he directed and starred in ‘Unforgiven’, a movie that won him the Best Director Oscar.
Clint has rightly earned his place as a top actor in the Western genre.
NOW, LET’S LOOK AT JOHN WAYNE
John Wayne is most certainly a movie icon. His appeal has made him a favorite of western fans from several different generations and even today many will call him their favorite actor.
Wayne made a wide variety of western pictures. Some were comedic, some featured him as an unscrupulous sort, and others put him in the Cavalry Wayne really took off after starring in the great John Ford classic ‘Stagecoach’.
He would later team up with Ford again to star in his fantastic Cavalry trilogy, ‘She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’, ‘Fort Apache’, and ‘Rio Grande’.
He would go on to star in to many westerns to name but including ‘Red River’, ‘The Searchers’, ‘Hondo’, ‘Rio Bravo’, ‘McLintock!’, ‘El Dorado’. We will not forget ‘True Grit’– the movie that earned him his only Oscar.
John Wayne’s name will always be connected to the western genre and calling him a legend is certainly fitting.
Which one of these two Western legends is your favorite?
Discuss in the comment section.
