John Wayne was under incredible pressure directing, producing and starring in The Alamo, a film released 64 years ago this week, which Duke partly financed out of his own pocket, and had to deal with ...

There were no small parts in a John Wayne movie. Though John Wayne is the most recognizable of these performers, he was neither the first nor the longest-tenured of these Western stars.

However, all it took was one dolly zoom of the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach to cement John Wayne's status as a bonafide movie star. Following his breakthrough performance in Ford's revolutionary 1939 ...