In a documentary at the conclusion of the new video release of the John Wayne film "Hondo," veteran director Andrew V. McLaglen asks the Duke's son, producer Michael Wayne: "What was the difference between John Wayne on-screen and offscreen?"
Replies Michael: "Just the wardrobe."That answer supplies a key to understanding the swaggering, larger-than-life appeal of John Wayne, who appeared in more than 180 cowboy, war and adventure films before his death in 1979. Apparently, the tough, independent man's man that Wayne's fans admired on the movie screen truly was the real deal.
Few films give a better look at the Duke's persona -- for better and worse -- than "Hondo" and "McLintock!," which have been reissued by MPI Home Video in a hugely entertaining collectors' edition box set, complete with interviews and other bonus material provided by John Wayne's estate.
In "Hondo" (1953), adapted from a Louis L'Amour story, a dusty Wayne comes staggering out of the Western desert like a walking mirage, a mangy mutt at his heel (the unrecognizable dog is actually one of the collies that portrayed Lassie, with raggedly clipped and dyed fur and a makeup scar on its forehead).
"Sam's independent," Wayne says of the dog. "He doesn't need anybody. I want him to stay that way. It's a good way." As for himself: "Me, I guess you could call me civilized."
Wayne is Hondo Lane, a part-Indian gunfighter and U.S. Cavalry free-lancer. The homestead he arrives at belongs to a lone woman (Geraldine Page, in her movie debut) and her 6-year-old son. After chopping wood, shoeing the horses ("I wouldn't give a plug nickel for a horse that wouldn't fight") and sharpening ax blades, Hondo warns the family that it may be in danger. "There's trouble brewin' in the Apache lodges," he says. "We broke their treaty -- us whites. There's no word in the Apache language for 'lie,' and they've been lied to."
Wayne's character, in fact, is disdainful of the government and sympathetic to the dispossessed Indians in both "Hondo" and "McLintock!" As Michael Wayne says after "Hondo": "People don't realize that he defended Indians as much as he fought them."
When Hondo's not sparring with the Apache chief (Australian actor Michael Pate, who plays a Comanche chief in "McLintock!") or throwing the boy into the creek without warning, as a swimming lesson ("That's the way I learned"), he finds time to woo the homesteader, in his own way. "Indians can smell white people," he says. "I'm part Indian, and I can smell you when I'm downwind of ya. You smell all over like soap, and on top of that you smell all over like a woman. I could find you in the dark."
"Hondo," directed by John Farrow (father of Mia), offers plenty of action, but "McLintock!" (1963) really does feature "The Wildest Showdown the West Ever Saw!" as movie posters promised -- namely, the notorious spanking scene in which Wayne throws Maureen O'Hara over his knee.
If "Hondo" (co-produced by the star) presents Wayne's ideal of himself, "McLintock!" (produced by the star's company) is a winking self-portrait. The Duke plays George Washington McLintock, a hard-drinking, chess-playing cattle baron -- "the big he-stud of this county" -- who paid more attention to his redeye whiskey than to his redhead wife, Kate (O'Hara), until she left their "vulgar" ranch town for the genteel East.
As this Western variation of "The Taming of the Shrew" opens, Kate has returned, seeking a divorce. "You smell of beer!" she scolds McLintock at one point. "Well, naturally," he replies, mug in hand. "I'm drinking beer."
Both movies are followed by 20 to 30 minutes of bonus footage. McLaglen and Michael Wayne, who worked on both films, reminisce about shooting in Mexico and Tucson, and reveal that one of the stunt men on the "Hondo" set was a spy for John Wayne's wife, who was divorcing the actor.
The extra footage also includes behind-the-scenes photographs, and reproductions of the original memorabilia for the films, including posters, novelizations, lobby cards and so on.
To order or for more information, MPI at (800) 777-2223.