by When John Wayne died in 1979, one of the greatest Hollywood actors paid tribute to him, even though he was not particularly for his heart.
Burt Lancaster has never shot with John Wayne, and they never even rubbed shoulders with a movie set. It must be said that their visions of life were fundamentally different. However, the first did not hesitate to pay a tribute affecting the hero of Alamo and the prisoner of the desert.
John Wayne too sick to turn
Academy Awards John Wayne in Oscars on April 9, 1979
It was in 1978 that after years to be refused by all American studios, the Western Cattle Annie & Little Britches was finally set up. Entitled in French Bill Dolin: outlaw, it is devoted to two young orphans fans of the great bandits of the American West. When they meet the gang of Bill Dolin and Dalton, then on the decline, they will do everything to put them back in the saddle.
To embody Bill Dolin, a famous outlaw in the West having really existed, production decides, in particular because of its role in 100 dollars for a sheriff, to entrust the role to John Wayne, who expressed his interest. Finally, the actor declines for health reasons, and the producers decide to wait for his recovery. A year later, the state of the Western star did not work out, and the financiers then turned to Burt Lancaster.
A simple and respectful tribute
MGM Burt Lancaster in “Bill Doolin”
The shooting begins in Durango, Mexico on April 2, 1979 and must last 9 weeks. On June 11, 1979, John Wayne died from stomach cancer in Los Angeles. Burt Lancaster, who had repeatedly refused to work with the actor because of his political commitments opposed to his family, made the whole team hold a minute of solemn silence.
John Wayne had actively participated in the McCarthyst and anti-communist hunting period in Hollywood and was the president of the conservative “Motion Picture Alliance for the Preseation of American Ideals”. Convinced Democrat, Lancaster was a fervent opponent of the Vietnam War and the MacCarthysm.
Despite their political disagreements, the interpreter of Wyatt Earp in Corral account settlements did not hesitate a second when it came to giving a last hat to the hero of Rio Bravo, whose role he had taken over in Bill Doolin, who could have been his latest film.
