Just a bit of typical John Wayne, making fun of himself:
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The Classic Western protagonist archetype.
In a classic western the protagonist is an embodiment of the Frontier – he is strong-willed, individualistic with a temper that can’t be tamed, keen to defend himself and his interests in a fair fight and with a real big hate for any attempts to restrict his personal freedom.
Classic Western protagonist – strong-willed, individualistic with a temper that can’t be tamed, keen to defend himself and his interests in a fair fight…
Personal Code
This kind of protagonist is not society-oriented, he has his own code to follow and usually claims to “mind his business” unless crossed. That comes from the individualism and respect for other people freedom ( “minding one’s business” has it’s limits though – as the protagonist code of honor usually (if not always) gets him involved in defending women ( never against their will ‘though) or fighting those who “shoot in the back” (fight unfairly).
“Lonely are the Brave” – fair fight against one armed man – “I’ll fight with one arm behind my back”
Loner
Quite often the protagonist is a drifter as his desire for freedom forces him to be constantly on the move. More rarely – a town marshal/sheriff.
Usually they don’t have a family as their way of life contradicts the very idea of settling down. And often the absence of a family is a big hole inside of them – with a friend/relative shown as a settled down person for the contrast. Sometimes with the wife of the friend/relative being a long-lost love interest of the protagonist ( “the Searchers”, “Lonely are the Brave”).
Or in the course of action their friend settles down, while the protagonist continues his ride.
In more rare cases, the protagonist abandons his way of life – Wyatt Earp in “the Gunfight at the OK Corral” to settle down – though that’s a case of two protagonists in the movie with the second one – Doc – being the one who “continuous his ride”.
In “the Angel and the Badman” John Wayne’s character sacrifices his way of life to stay with the girl he loves.
Destined to be destroyed
Not always, but quite often the protagonists are destined to be destroyed in the Classic Western, even ‘though they don’t get killed by the end of the movie – there is a certain sense that as the Old West itself, they will seize to exist, either by changing their ways or by getting killed (outside of the scope of the movie). That adds particular sad tones to the generally upbeat tone of the western films.
“War Wagon” movie trailer (1967)
It is unusual from the modern point of view to see a movie trailer that has the main actors talking about the movie and I don’t think it’s an efficient way to present a movie, but I believe this one used the approach to it’s advantage.
John Wayne vs Clint Eastwood – part 1: from pre-classic to classic to revisionist western hero
John Wayne, who’s name is inseparably attached to the Classic Western, once said that he thought that the 20s and 30s (pre-classic) Western heroes were all too clean and perfect.
They never drank or smoked. They never wanted to go to bed with a beautiful girl. They never had a fight. A heavy might throw a chair at them, and they just looked surprised and didn’t fight in this spirit.
John Wayne
While he wanted to create a new kind of hero. The one who isn’t that clean and plain and who responses in an adequate way.
If someone throws a chair at you, hell, you pick up a chair and belt him right back.
John Wayne
The fundumential difference between Wayne’s and Eastwood’s film characters is this line of John Wayne’s quote:
I was trying to play a man who gets dirty, who sweats sometimes, who enjoys kissing a gal he likes, who gets angry, who fights clean whenever possible but will fight dirty if he has to.
John Wayne
Basically Wayne’s characters retained the internal principle of a fair fight. Clint Eastwood had to take it a step further:
John Wayne – The whole idea of our business is illusion.
The whole idea of our business is illusion. They’re getting away from that now putting electric squibs in livers and blowing them up in slow motion and having blood all over everything. I mean it’s not that there is more violence in the pictures today, it’s that it’s done with such a bad taste! That people turn their stomachs not their emotional insides are affected. That turns their stomachs.
John Wayne, 1975
Classic Western Movie Genre 