100 best John Wayne movies

- Director: Arthur Lubin
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 60 minutes

Reportedly shot in just six days—this was a period when it was not uncommon for film sets to run punishingly long daily schedules, right up to full 24-hour cycles—this movie puts Wayne out to sea as a pearl diver who signs on to a whaling vessel. One of the main reasons the script was even approved for production is that Universal had a boat on its lot, which meant production costs could be kept to a minimum.

- Director: Arthur Lubin
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 67 minutes

Seemingly cast against type, this film casts Wayne as a former school bus driver turned trucking company owner who puts his fleet to the test by competing with a specially outfitted train to deliver aviation parts to an ocean liner in advance of a looming labor strike. Universal produced and distributed the film—one of six Wayne made at the studio, none of them Westerns. Director Arthur Lubin also directed four other pictures on Wayne's Universal contract.

- Director: Arthur Lubin
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 68 minutes

Another Arthur Lubin directorial effort, this international adventure sets Wayne as a hotshot newsreel cameraman sent to Africa to document tribal unrest and collect juicy footage of the rebel leadership. Along the way, he has an affair with a colonel's daughter, saves his own brother from a pack of gun-runners, and eventually saves the British Army from an armada of bloodthirsty tribesmen. In other words, a lot for 68 minutes of runtime. Writer George Waggner also wrote the Wayne vehicle "The Sea Spoilers" before going on to direct "Operation Pacific" and "The Fighting Kentuckian," also with Wayne.

- Director: D. Ross Lederman
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 63 minutes

Wayne plays a supporting role in 1932's "Texas Cyclone," as Steve Pickett who follows a man named Pecos Grant. After riding into a strange town, Grant ends up being confused with a presumed-dead man who had many enemies. "Texas Cyclone" features one of Hollywood's most iconic lines: "This town ain't big enough to hold the two of us."

- Director: Bernard Vorhaus
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 82 minutes

One of a slew of films Wayne made for Republic Pictures during the war years, this drama finds the Duke playing a Yankee attorney somewhat out of his depth in the Deep South. John Reynolds (Wayne) follows a case down to New Orleans, where he investigates a crime syndicate that has infiltrated the Louisiana State Lottery. Romance shortly follows when he falls for the daughter of one of the men he's there to investigate.

- Director: Seymour Felix
- IMDb user rating: 5.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 69 minutes

Peter Brooks (Wayne) is a good-looking, financially strapped college man with a bone to pick about women attending the same institution as he. But when a spoiled socialite (Virginia Cherrill of "City Lights" fame) crosses his radar, he begins to rethink his philosophy. Wayne considered this his worst movie.

- Director: David Howard
- IMDb user rating: 5.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 60 minutes

"Conflict" was based on the Jack London novel "The Abysmal Brute." In the film, Wayne plays boxer Pat Glendon, who plans to throw a big fight until he experiences a last-minute change of heart. The film was made as Wayne's reputation as an actor was on the rise, but it would take three more years before he earned his place as one of Hollywood's biggest stars. The film also features longtime Wayne co-star and personal friend Ward Bond as another ring fighter.

- Director: George Sherman
- IMDb user rating: 5.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 56 minutes

One of Wayne's "Three Mesquiteers" films, Wayne stars as do-gooder Stony Brooke. This time the trio takes on a crooked politician who's hell-bent on seizing local ranches. Brooke and his men get involved after a teenager from one of the affected ranch families steals a steer from Brooke to feed his family.

- Director: John H. Auer
- IMDb user rating: 5.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 82 minutes

Wayne portrays Lynn Hollister, a crusading country attorney who takes on big-city corruption in this 1941 romance-drama. Hollister goes after the city's most influential politician and ends up falling in love with the crooked politician's daughter (played by Frances Dee, best known for playing Meg in George Cukor's 1933 version of "Little Women") along the way.

- Director: Joseph Kane
- IMDb user rating: 5.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 82 minutes

Playing a professional gambler named John Devlin, Wayne finds himself in the middle of a deadly dispute between local farmers and greedy landowners. This standard Western from 1945 was directed by Joseph Kane, who churned out many films every year for Republic Pictures throughout the '30s and '40s.

- Director: Arthur Lubin
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 60 minutes

Just a year after the release of "Conflict" came the similarly premised "Idol of the Crowds." Wayne plays Johnny Hanson, a hockey player trying to raise enough money to expand his chicken farm. Hanson finds himself being targeted by vicious gangsters after refusing to throw an important championship game.

- Director: Joseph Kane
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 54 minutes

Again playing the role of a lawyer, this time Wayne's character, John Clayborn, ditches the law books for a six-shooter to avenge his parents' murder. After assembling a posse, Wayne leads his men against the rich landowner responsible, exacting revenge the Wild West way.

- Director: Leigh Jason
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 87 minutes

In this 1942 romance, Wayne's character, casino-steamboat owner Jack Morgan, falls in love with his business partner, the wannabe socialite Jenny Blake (Joan Blondell). After Blake marries a man from the upper crust, Morgan pursues her anyway. Blake's husband ends up dead from an unintentional poisoning, after which Morgan swoops in.

- Director: Mack V. Wright
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 55 minutes

In 1936's "Winds of the Wasteland," two former Pony Express riders (one played by Wayne) race against a stagecoach driver for a lucrative government subsidy. As this is no ordinary race, the unethical stagecoach driver resorts to extreme measures—including gunfire and explosives—to bamboozle his way to the top.

- Director: George Sherman
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 55 minutes

From 1936 to 1943, Republic Pictures released 51 B-movie Westerns featuring "The Three Mesquiteers," a trio of cowboys modeled after Alexandre Dumas' classic swashbucklers. Wayne would appear as one of the Mesquiteers in eight of those films, including 1938's "Santa Fe Stampede." In this installment (the third to feature the trio that included Wayne), Wayne's fellow Mesquiteers work to clear his name after he is falsely accused of murder.

- Director: Bernard Vorhaus
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 79 minutes

A year after becoming box office gold in 1939's "Stagecoach," Wayne appeared in 1940's "Three Faces West." In the film, a surgeon and his daughter flee the Nazis and end up in North Dakota, where a new problem awaits in the form of threatening Dust Bowl winds. To escape the winds, Wayne's character John Phillips leads the pair and others on a migration to Oregon. Wayne's character gets romantically entangled with the surgeon's daughter while on their journey to safety.

- Director: Richard Wallace
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 128 minutes

With a title like "Tycoon," one might wonder if Wayne throws on a business suit and heads to Wall Street for this 1947 flick. On the contrary, the movie sees Wayne playing a rugged engineer named Johnny Munroe who is tasked with building a railroad tunnel in South America, where he encounters danger and romance.

- Director: Henry Hathaway
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 135 minutes

"Circus World" was one of six films Wayne and director Henry Hathaway worked on together over the course of their respective careers. The film is about an American circus proprietor who encounters all sorts of problems when he decides to take his Wild West Show to Europe.

- Director: Henry Hathaway
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 109 minutes

Two men and a beautiful lady (played by Sophia Loren) embark on a journey across the Sahara Desert in 1957's "Legend of the Lost" to arrive at the ruins of a lost city. Wayne was cast in the role of a French legionnaire for the film, but that didn't stop him from showing up on set in an American cowboy outfit.

- Director: Douglas Hickox
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: 52
- Runtime: 111 minutes

In 1975's "Brannigan," Wayne plays Jim Brannigan, a Chicago police lieutenant who risks his life escorting a notorious American crime boss from Britain to the United States. While not a Western per se, the film does borrow a number of thematic conventions from the Western genre. It was Wayne's late-career attempt to break into the gritty, urban cop thriller genre that was then dominating the box office with such films as "The French Connection" and "Serpico."

- Director: Jack Conway
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 85 minutes

Here a young Wayne (then still billed as Marion Morrison) plays just a small part. The film follows a rivalry between two Harvard athletes, both of whom have affection for a professor's daughter. Representing young Wayne's big-screen debut, he appears as a Yale football player. Four years later, Wayne would play the lead role in "The Big Trail" billed as John Wayne.

- Director: Joseph Kane
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 91 minutes

The heat is on and the stakes are high in "Flame of Barbary Coast." This 1945 film is about a gambler who loses everything, gains everything, and loses everything again in his pursuit of a beautiful blonde siren. Set in 1906 San Francisco, the film culminates with the historic earthquake that shattered much of the city.

- Directors: William A. Wellman, John Wayne
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 110 minutes

In 1955's "Blood Alley," Wayne plays an American merchant captain who gets locked up in a Chinese prison after his ship is seized. With the help of local villagers, Wayne's character plots his escape. The film also stars film icon Lauren Bacall. While uncredited, Wayne did a significant amount of directing on the film after William Wellman was hospitalized with influenza. Robert Mitchum was originally slated for Wayne's role, but Wellman refused to work with him, forcing Wayne, whose company Batjac was in charge of the production, to take the starring role.

- Director: John Sturges
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 111 minutes

In the spirit of films like "Bullitt" and "Dirty Harry" came 1974's "McQ," in which Wayne plays a police lieutenant investigating the murder of his close friend. The movie was made when Wayne was arguably past his prime, evidenced by his memorably lackluster performance. But as some of his other 1970s films would go to show, Wayne wasn't down for the count just yet.

- Director: Lewis Seiler
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 53 minutes

Every actor has to start somewhere; for Wayne, that meant working as an uncredited extra in silent movies like "The Great K & A Train Robbery." In the film, a man goes undercover to stop train robberies, presumably passing by a young Wayne (then Marion Morrison) at some point.

- Directors: William A. Wellman, Alfred E. Green
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 72 minutes

Wayne stars as a co-pilot in this 1933 film that centers on two aviator brothers competing for the same girl. Wayne might have been a small-time player in this film, but later he would have an actual airport in Orange County, California, named after him.

- Director: William A. Seiter
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 86 minutes

Blending the comedy, romance, and Western genres to somewhat mediocre effect is 1943's "A Lady Takes a Chance," in which a city girl falls for a handsome cowboy. Naturally, Wayne plays the cowboy whose name happens to be Duke.

- Director: William C. McGann
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 88 minutes

Set during the California Gold Rush, a pharmacist named Tom Craig (Wayne) tries to open a chemist's shop in Sacramento, only to run afoul of a crooked local leader, played by Albert Dekker (though not his dancehall singer fiancee). The 1942 picture is one of just a few films where Wayne can be seen with a 7.5-inch Peacemaker strapped to the side of his leg. That's not to say Wayne was a stranger to Colt Peacemakers—just that they were usually a little shorter.

- Director: William A. Seiter
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 81 minutes

Made in the same year as "Stagecoach," 1939's "Allegheny Uprising" takes place in pre-Revolutionary War America and features Wayne's character struggling to stop British colonialists from selling alcohol and firearms to Native American tribes. Wayne would later describe the film as an "awful stinker," saying that his character was "rather dull."

- Director: Jules Dassin
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 104 minutes

Wayne stars opposite screen legend Joan Crawford in 1942's "Reunion in France," about a Frenchwoman who hides an American pilot from the Nazis during World War II. It was rumored that Crawford tried to seduce Wayne behind the scenes but was rebuffed by the married actor.

- Director: Melville Shavelson
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 146 minutes

In 1966's "Cast a Giant Shadow," Wayne stars in a supporting role alongside fellow A-list alpha males Kirk Douglas and Frank Sinatra. The film features an American Army officer helping Jewish people in Palestine form an army before the battle for statehood begins.

- Director: Nicholas Ray
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 102 minutes

Produced by noted aviator Howard Hughes, this film follows a squadron of Marine flyers as they do battle in World War II. "Flying Leathernecks" was one among many World War II movies starring Wayne, although he was famously deferred from the draft on numerous occasions.

- Director: Albert S. Rogell
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 102 minutes

After playing a pharmacist in 1942's "In Old California," Wayne tackled another cowboy role in 1943's "In Old Oklahoma." The film sees Wayne squaring off against a greedy oilman (Albert Dekker once again) over oil lease rights on Native land. Meanwhile, a local schoolteacher (Martha Scott) becomes the object of both men's desires.

- Director: Lewis Seiler
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 92 minutes

In 1942's "Pittsburgh," a steel magnate named Charles "Pittsburgh" Markham sacrifices friends and loved ones in his ruthless pursuit for success, only to discover it's lonely at the top. The film reunites Wayne with Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott—the three had just starred together in 1942's "The Spoilers."

- Director: John Farrow
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 117 minutes

1955's "The Sea Chase" once again plunges Wayne into the midst of World War II, this time as a German freighter captain. The film—based on a true story—follows Wayne's character as he out-maneuvers Allied warships on the open seas. Starring as the romantic lead is screen legend Lana Turner, who was so openly unhappy during the shoot she got fired by director John Farrow. The actress returned to the set only after Wayne intervened.

- Director: George Waggner
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 100 minutes

French settlers square off with a greedy land-grabber in 1818 Alabama. Wayne's character, John Breen, helps the French settlers get their way. The movie also stars actor Oliver Hardy of the comedic duo "Laurel and Hardy." "The Fighting Kentuckian" marks a rare occasion where one member of the "Laurel and Hardy" duo appears in a film without the other. Wayne and Hardy would forge a friendship that would last until Hardy's death in 1957.

- Director: Edward Ludwig
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 100 minutes

Another John Wayne film set in World War II, "The Flying Seabees" involves the U.S. Navy hiring a new Construction Battalion (aka a CB or SeaBee), with members who are expected to build and fight. During the shoot, active servicemen were on the set—and some had a few bones to pick with Wayne over his draft deferments.

- Director: Burt Kennedy
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 92 minutes

Wayne stars as a gunslinger hired by a widow to track down stolen gold in this 1973 picture. Rife with Western genre conventions, Wayne's son, Michael, produced the film. Ann-Margret co-stars as the widow.

- Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 103 minutes

An aging, no-nonsense U.S. Marshal encounters the ultimate dilemma when his two sons become bank robbers in "Cahill: U.S. Marshal." Released in 1973, the film stars Wayne in the title role. Helping move the somewhat plodding Western along is a noteworthy score by Elmer Bernstein. Director Andrew McLaglen was a longtime member of Wayne's circle, also having directed "Chisum" and "Hellfighters."

- Director: John S. Robertson
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 90 minutes

"Annie Laurie" is a silent film from 1927. If you've been paying attention, you already know that means it features a young Wayne (then known as Marion Morrison) as an extra. Nevertheless, with its story about a famous battle between two Scottish clans, the film is right up Wayne's alley.

- Director: Mervyn LeRoy
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 107 minutes

With over 150 films under his belt, it was inevitable that Wayne would appear in at least a few romantic comedies. Wayne plays a Marine named Rusty who won't stop criticizing a specific book while talking to the girl of his dreams. As it turns out, that very same girl is the book's author.

- Director: Edward Ludwig
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 106 minutes

1948's "Wake of the Red Witch" follows the manly Captain Ralls (John Wayne), skipper of the Red Witch, as he embarks on a series of South Pacific adventures in the 1860s. Based on a novel by Garland Roark, the film has Ralls crossing paths with a ruthless rival captain, a horde of natives, and a giant octopus. Wayne's "Angel and the Badman" co-star Gail Russell plays Ralls' love interest.

- Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 121 minutes

"Hellfighters" chronicles the lives of oil well firefighters, but digs deeper to explore the crumbling marriage of Wayne's character Chance Buckman. Wayne was still smoking in his film roles, including this one—four years after losing a lung to cancer.

- Directors: George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 260 minutes

Wayne was just one among a number of stars to appear in "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The film is about the life and times of Jesus Christ. Made for over $20 million, an exorbitant sum at the time, the film opened to negative reviews and little fanfare, making it the biggest flop of its time. Wayne has one line in the film's entire 4 hour and 20 minute runtime: "Truly, this man was the Son of God."

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 71 minutes

Blink and you might miss Wayne in 1928's "Hangman's House," in which he plays a spectator during a steeplechase scene. The film centers on an Irish exile who risks his life by returning to his homeland. Director John Ford and Wayne would later forge one of Hollywood's most enduring and rewarding collaborative relationships.

- Director: Tay Garnett
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 87 minutes

In 1940's "Seven Sinners," the only thing powerful enough to lure Wayne's character away from the Navy is a sultry singer named Bijou. Playing the role of Bijou is actress Marlene Dietrich, who would go on to star with Wayne in two more films. The film's production also marked the beginning of a multiyear affair between the two.

- Director: Cecil B. DeMille
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 123 minutes

The same year he made "The Spoilers," Wayne starred in "Reap the Wild Wind" for director Cecil B. DeMille. Based on a serialized story from the Saturday Evening Post, the film centers on an ill-fated love triangle between a female ship salvager and two rival sea captains. Making things even more dangerous is a vicious hurricane and a deadly 50-foot squid. Wayne was initially reluctant to work for DeMille, but the two men reportedly became good friends after their rocky start.

- Director: George Waggner
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 111 minutes

In "Operation Pacific," John Wayne plays a submarine officer who tries to win a war under the sea while also trying to win back his ex-wife on shore. The film saw Wayne re-teaming with director George Waggner for the fifth time. In spite of their history, the director and actor frequently butted heads during the shoot, according to co-star Patricia Neal.

- Director: Edward Dmytryk
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 95 minutes

In this World War II-based film, Wayne's character, Colonel Joseph Madden, helps lead Filipino guerrilla fighters against Japanese invaders. Wayne would later express regret over making the film, referring to the director as a "Communist" who duped him into the role.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 110 minutes

Based on actual events, this late '50s collaboration between Wayne and Ford tells the story of Frank W. "Spig" Wead (Wayne), a dedicated Navy pilot who turns to screenwriting after being paralyzed. The film divides its runtime between slapstick comedy and harrowing drama, and due to its uneven tone represents one of Wayne's lesser efforts with Ford.

- Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 119 minutes

Starring Wayne alongside fellow A-lister Rock Hudson, "The Undefeated" takes place in Mexico right after the Civil War. In the film, an ex-Confederate colonel (Hudson) and ex-Union colonel (Wayne) must team up in a fight against Mexican revolutionaries. Wayne fractured two ribs and dislocated his shoulder during shooting, neither of which stopped him from finishing the job.

- Directors: Michael Curtiz, Darryl F. Zanuck
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 135 minutes

Chronicling two parallel stories, 1928's "Noah's Ark" depicts both the epic biblical flood and also a tale of romance set during World War II. It was made when Wayne (then Morrison) was still working in a Hollywood props department and acting as an extra in various films. Consequently, you might have to watch this film numerous times before you can spot him during the flood scene that involved hundreds of other extras.

- Director: Raoul Walsh
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 94 minutes

Loosely based on real events, "Dark Command" takes place in Kansas just before the Civil War. The film brings Wayne together once again with co-star Claire Trevor and focuses on the rivalry between two candidates for town marshal: Wayne's character Bob Seton and Walter Pidgeon's Will Cantrell. However, what starts out as a political dispute grows into something far deadlier, with the two eventually squaring off on the battlefield. Director Raoul Walsh gave Wayne his first big starring role a decade earlier in 1930's "The Big Trail."

- Director: Ray Enright
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 87 minutes

Set during the Nome Gold Rush in 1898 Alaska, 1942's "The Spoilers" pits two miners against a greedy commissioner over the rights to a claim. This film, which also starred Marlene Dietrich, was a remake of three previous versions and was remade again in 1955.

- Director: David Miller
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 102 minutes

"Flying Tigers" features Wayne playing the role of one Capt. Jim Gordon, who commands a mercenary outfit of fighter pilots. After an arrogant hotshot joins the team, Gordon finds himself amid two battles: one for his country and the other for his integrity. This World War II propaganda film from 1942 was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Special Effects.

- Director: William A. Wellman
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 147 minutes

A plane is going down and only Wayne's character, a washed-up co-pilot named Dan Roman, can save the day. This 1954 disaster flick filmed in CinemaScope raked in tons of money at the box office and even won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Along for the ride is Wayne's "Stagecoach" co-star Claire Trevor.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 109 minutes

Representing the final collaboration between Wayne and director John Ford, this action-comedy explores themes of bigotry and American greed on an island in the South Sea. It was rumored that Ford was more irritable than usual on set, which resulted in a series of blowouts between him and various cast members, including Wayne. Ford would later make just two more feature films and documentaries before his death in 1973.

- Director: Howard Hawks
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 114 minutes

"Give 'Em Hell, John," is the tagline for 1970's "Rio Lobo." In director Howard Hawks' final film, Wayne plays an ex-Union officer named Cord McNally who hunts down a traitor after the Civil War. McNally discovers that the traitor is living in a Texas town called Rio Lobo and has organized a gang of outlaws. Naturally, an explosive showdown ensues.

- Director: Archie Mayo
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 88 minutes

In "The Life of Jimmy Dolan," a prizefighter goes on the lam after possibly killing a reporter. Released in 1933, the film features Wayne in a supporting role and stars Mickey Rooney as a child with a disability. It was later remade as "They Made Me a Criminal."

- Director: Michael Curtiz
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 111 minutes

Sporting a rare suit and tie, Wayne plays football coach Steve Williams in this comedy-drama. Williams struggles on and off the field, battling for the custody of his daughter while helping his team stage a major comeback. Keep your eyes peeled for an uncredited cameo from James Dean.

- Director: William A. Wellman
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 109 minutes

Long before survival movies like "Alive" or "The Grey," there was "Island in the Sky." The 1953 film is about a man who crash-lands his plane in a frozen wasteland. While stranded, Wayne's character struggles to keep his men alive while awaiting rescue. Playing an uncredited role in the film is Fess Parker who would later star in the "Davy Crockett" series. Wayne himself played Crockett in "The Alamo."

- Director: James Edward Grant
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 100 minutes

Wayne plays a ruthless gunslinger who starts questioning his violent ways in 1947's "Angel and the Badman." Prompting his change of heart is a Quaker girl named Penelope Worth (Gail Russell), who nurses Wayne's character back to health after an injury. This was the first film to bear the tag "A John Wayne Production."

- Directors: Michael Curtiz, John Wayne
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 107 minutes

Hot on the heels of "Rio Bravo" came 1961's "The Comancheros," a film about a Texas ranger who goes undercover in order to take down a gang of arms dealers. Initially helming the adventure flick was director Michael Curtiz of "Casablanca" fame. However, Curtiz grew ill toward the end of production, prompting Wayne to take over (uncredited) directing duties.

- Director: Burt Kennedy
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 101 minutes

1967's "The War Wagon" sees Wayne once again teaming up with Kirk Douglas—this time to tell the story of a man on a quest for revenge. Wayne's character Taw Jackson hatches a plot to steal back the gold and land that had been taken from him. Helping him pull it off is former enemy Lomax (Douglas), who had shot Jackson five years earlier. The unlikely pair plan to rob the heavily guarded stagecoach War Wagon, which is used to transport large gold shipments.

- Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 111 minutes

"Chisum" is based on the true story of the toughest man west of the Pecos: cattle baron John Chisum, and of course, Wayne is in the title role. Chisum enlists the help of fellow gunslingers Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett while waging war over land rights. In real life, Billy the Kid would ultimately betray Chisum, which resulted in his murder by his former friend Garrett.

- Director: Stuart Millar
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 108 minutes

Reprising the role that won him an Oscar in 1969's "True Grit," Wayne plays Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn in this 1975 film of the same name. Starring opposite Wayne is Katharine Hepburn as Eula Goodnight, a missionary. After Eula's village is raided by a group of thugs, she and Cogburn make it their mission to dish out some good old-fashioned Southern justice.

- Director: John Wayne
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 162 minutes

John Wayne's directorial debut, 1960's "The Alamo," retells the historic 1836 battle where less than 200 Texan soldiers squared off against a Mexican army of nearly 2,000. Wayne had his eye on making the film since 1945. In addition to directing and producing "The Alamo," Wayne naturally stars in the lead role as Col. Davy Crockett. It was rumored that John Ford was brought in to film the sequence of the assault by the Mexican army, but it has never been accurately substantiated.

- Director: Henry Hathaway
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 98 minutes

In 1941's "The Shepherd of the Hills," a moonshiner's plan to murder the father he never knew is disrupted when a gentle stranger rolls into town. It turns out that there's more to the stranger than meets the eye. The movie finds Wayne in top form as the Ozark Mountain moonshiner, cursed with the task of seeking vengeance.

- Director: Edwin L. Marin
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 87 minutes

A misogynistic cowhand (Wayne) rolls into town to find his employer dead and the locals hostile. Bolstered by strong performances and swift pacing, this film stands a cut above the average Western—even if it is rife with genre conventions.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 105 minutes

Based on four one-act plays by Eugene O'Neill, "The Long Voyage Home" is an ensemble drama that depicts life aboard the British steamer SS Glencairn as the crewmen embark on perilous journeys across the high seas. Dealing with themes of depression, loneliness, and mortality, the film delivers copious amounts of somber drama, punctuated by occasional fistfights and betrayal. It was nominated for six Academy Awards.

- Director: Henry Hathaway
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 122 minutes

After striking gold in Alaska, a man named George (Stewart Granger) sends his partner Sam (Wayne) back to Seattle to retrieve George's girlfriend and bring her, you guessed it, north to Alaska. Upon discovering that his friend's old sweetheart is married, Sam returns with a different girl (Capucine) to take her place. If you look closely during the final fight scene, you'll notice that Wayne's toupee gets knocked off. Fun fact: In 1948, Wayne started regularly wearing a wig.

- Director: Allan Dwan
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 100 minutes

Eschewing over-glamorized heroics in favor of gritty realism and complex characterization, "Sands of Iwo Jima" presented John Wayne in a new light. In the film, Wayne plays Sgt. John M. Stryker, an uncompromising and mean-spirited leader who made tremendous sacrifices while performing patriotic duties. Stryker goes hard on his squad, not just because of his personal struggles, but because he knows that weakness can result in death on the battlefield. It's only after the squad is called into action on the island of Iwo Jima that Stryker's men see the wisdom of his ways. To prepare for the film, the young male cast underwent three days of intense military training by the toughest drill instructor the director could find.

- Director: John Farrow
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 83 minutes

Not only was "Hondo" filmed in stunning Warnercolor, but it was shot and released in 3D. The movie, based on a story by Louis L'Amour, centers on an Army scout named Hondo Lane (Wayne) who protects a woman and her son from warring Apaches. The movie was the second-highest-grossing 3D movie of the 1950s, bested only by "House of Wax."

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 105 minutes

Director John Ford was rumored to have two conditions before agreeing to make "Rio Grande" for Republic Pictures: that Republic Pictures secure financing for a different film ("The Quiet Man"); and that the company allow Ford to cast Wayne in the lead role. It was the second condition that caused a problem, as Republic Pictures executive Herbert Yates and Wayne were no longer on speaking terms. Wayne was thus forced to do something he probably loathed—apologize. Once the conditions were met, Ford and Wayne churned out this film about a cavalry officer who battles the Apache during the Civil War in record time.

- Directors: John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 56
- Runtime: 164 minutes

Broken into five segments and an epilogue (three of which were directed by Hathaway), "How the West Was Won" chronicles the Prescott family saga over the course of many decades. The film depicts a range of historic events including the Civil War, the Gold Rush, and the building of the railroads. Wayne wasn't the only star on the marquee. The movie touts an impressive range of A-list celebrities, including Jimmy Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Henry Fonda, and Gregory Peck. Wayne's was a small but memorable role as General William T. Sherman in John Ford's segment on the Civil War years.

- Director: King Vidor
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 90 minutes

At the young age of 19, Marion Morrison appeared in a minor role in this film which takes place during the swashbuckling era and features a Casanova-type named Bardelys who loves to boast about his many conquests. After betting he can seduce a damsel, the wanton Lothario disguises himself as a wanted criminal.

- Directors: Raoul Walsh, Louis R. Loeffler
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 125 minutes

Though he had appeared in several films already, this was Wayne's first true starring role. It was also the picture in which the name "John Wayne" became an official part of the film lexicon. In the film, Wayne's character leads a wagon train from the Mississippi River to the West Coast. Along the way, he encounters all sorts of threats and disasters (and even some romance).

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 106 minutes

While on the run from authorities, three outlaws pick up a newborn baby whom they vow to protect at all costs."3 Godfathers" casts Wayne starring alongside actors Pedro Armendáriz and Harry Carey Jr., the latter of whom would be a frequent player in Wayne productions throughout his career. Director John Ford was reportedly very hard on Carey during the shoot, once even throwing a rock at his head.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 120 minutes

Like a high-stakes game of Capture the Flag, "The Horse Soldiers" follows a Union outfit as it crosses Confederate lines to destroy enemy railroads. As one might expect, the film demanded lots of horse riding and some dangerous stunt work. Sadly, stuntman Freddie Kennedy suffered a fatal injury after falling off a horse during the shoot. Wayne plays Colonel Marlowe, the man tasked with leading the stealth mission.

- Directors: George Sherman, John Wayne
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 57
- Runtime: 110 minutes

Proving he still had plenty of vigor left in him by 1971, John Wayne headlined this film about a cowboy who sets out to rescue his grandson from kidnappers. Wayne's biological son Patrick played the son in the film, while Wayne's other (much younger) son Ethan played his grandson. Another son, Michael, produced the movie (he also was running Wayne's production company Batjac).

- Director: Howard Hawks
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 157 minutes

From director Howard Hawks, this story of a group of men who make a living by capturing African wildlife and selling it to zoos employed as much realism as Hawks could manage. Throwing a wrench in the operation is the arrival of a female photographer, who eventually becomes part of the gang. Filmed on location in Tanganyika, the film has Wayne and his team chasing down all sorts of real-life wild animals, often at the expense of a discernible narrative.

- Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 126 minutes

Wayne plays the titular wealthy cattle baron who serves as an unofficial diplomat for various disgruntled parties, including his own wife, played by frequent leading lady Maureen O'Hara. The film is quite broad in its comedic approach, mirroring some of the themes of the Wayne/O'Hara hit "The Quiet Man," but still gives Wayne plenty of room to play up his rough-hewn persona.

- Director: Henry Hathaway
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 72
- Runtime: 122 minutes

When a mother dies, her four sons come home to pay their respects and find themselves mired in a land dispute. To make matters worse, the four are then framed for the murder of a local sheriff. Will they prove their innocence and get their revenge? As if you need to ask. While filming, Wayne was battling cancer for the first time. Of course, that didn't stop him from performing his own stunts.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by John Ford, "Four Sons" features an uncredited appearance from Wayne (then Marion Morrison) as a police officer. The film chronicles the lives and hardships of a Bavarian widow and her four sons, three of whom go to war for Germany during World War I while the fourth moves to America. Later, the mother is shunned in her own village after America enters the war because her son who moved away was perceived as an enemy. The movie was remade under the same name in 1940, with the remake being set during World War II instead of World War I.

- Directors: John Ford, Robert Montgomery
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 86
- Runtime: 135 minutes

In another World War II drama, "They Were Expendable" follows a squadron of PT-boat crews as they defend the Philippines against a Japanese invasion. As the action unfolds, the main characters also find themselves at odds with the U.S. Navy brass, who they believed didn't seem to care if they lived or died. Co-Star Robert Montgomery did some uncredited directorial work on the film.

- Director: Otto Preminger
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 165 minutes

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a disgraced Naval officer is given a second chance to prove himself in Otto Preminger's "In Harm's Way." While not favored by critics (who took issue with its slow pacing), the film is nevertheless enjoyed by fans. In a later autobiography, Preminger labeled Wayne as an "ideal professional."

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 104 minutes

Wayne plays Captain Nathan Brittles, a Calvary vet on the eve of retiring from service, who is thrust into one final conflict as he takes a patrol out to assuage an Indian attack. This film was shot in Monument Valley, California, in glorious Technicolor. Brittles is a former Confederate soldier, which adds a moral ambiguity to the character's motivations now that he represents a unified U.S. Cavalry. Wayne was just 41 when he played the 60-year-old Brittles.

- Director: Mark Rydell
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 52
- Runtime: 134 minutes

If a movie is going to call itself "The Cowboys," that movie better include John Wayne in a leading role. Thankfully, this 1972 Western does just that. In the film, Wayne plays a rancher named Wil Anderson who embarks on a cattle drive with the help of inexperienced cowhands. Meanwhile, ruthless cattle rustlers await the right time to strike. On the heels of the film came a TV spinoff starring Robert Carradine that lasted one season.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 128 minutes

"Fort Apache" is the first film in John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy." The film stars Henry Fonda as a demoted Civil War general assigned to a remote outpost deep in Apache territory. Once there, he disrespects the local tribe and butts heads with his second-in-command, Captain Kirby York, an Apache expert played by Wayne.

- Director: Henry Hathaway
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 83
- Runtime: 128 minutes

Adapted from the novel by Charles Portis, "True Grit" tells the story of alcoholic U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn, who agrees to help a teenage girl (Kim Darby) track down her father's killer. This film would earn Wayne his one and only win for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. Famous filmmaking duo Joel and Ethan Coen released a 2010 remake with Jeff Bridges playing the role of Cogburn.

- Director: Alfred E. Green
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: Data not available
- Runtime: 71 minutes

Made in 1933, "Baby Face" follows an ambitious young woman (Barbara Stanwyck) as she sleeps her way up the corporate ladder at a big city bank. Wayne appears in a supporting role as Jimmy McCoy Jr., one of the woman's earliest conquests.

- Director: Howard Hawks
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 126 minutes

In what is basically a retread of "Rio Bravo," this film finds a gunslinger (Wayne) and an alcoholic sheriff (Robert Mitchum) teaming up to take on a thieving cattle baron. Actor James Caan appears in a supporting role. Though Wayne, in his role as producer, had previously fired Mitchum from "Blood Alley," the two were on very good terms when "El Dorado" went into production.

- Director: Don Siegel
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 77
- Runtime: 100 minutes

A dying gunslinger (Wayne) arrives in a small town to visit a doctor (Jimmy Stewart) and upon diagnosis searches for ways to leave the world quickly without suffering. "Blood Alley" co-star Lauren Bacall appears as a widow who rents Wayne's character a room. Based on a novel and directed by Don Siegel of "Dirty Harry" fame, the film would be Wayne's last. Like the very character he portrays in "The Shootist," Wayne was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died three years later.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 129 minutes

After helming "Rio Grande" for Republic Pictures, director John Ford was given the money he needed to make his lifelong passion project. The movie stars Wayne as retired American boxer Sean Thornton, who falls in love with a fiery maiden, played by Maureen O'Hara, after returning to the Irish village where he was born. Part of the film was shot on location in Ireland, with glorious hues of Technicolor green to show for it.

- Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 178 minutes

It's D-Day from both the Allied and German perspectives in 1962's "The Longest Day." It took $10 million to produce the 1962 epic war film, making it the most expensive black-and-white film of its time. At age 54, Wayne portrayed Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, who was 27 years old on D-Day—which Vandervoort was none too pleased about.

- Directors: Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 96
- Runtime: 133 minutes

Like John Ford, director Howard Hawks was a master of the Western genre. His best efforts routinely starred John Wayne. The first important collaboration between Hawks and Wayne was this film about a man named Thomas Dunson (Wayne) whose tyrannical behavior invokes a mutiny during a cattle drive to Missouri. While it goes without saying that Wayne was no stranger to the Western genre by 1948, this film was special because it exposed a more subtle and complicated side to his cowboy persona.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 93
- Runtime: 96 minutes

Despite playing the lead role in 1930's "The Big Trail," Wayne struggled to achieve major success in the years that followed. That all changed after John Ford's "Stagecoach" was released in 1939. In the movie, a group of people traveling by stagecoach catch word that Geronimo and his violent clan might be headed their way. Legendary filmmaker Orson Welles reportedly watched "Stagecoach" 40 times while making "Citizen Kane," taking inspiration from its architecture. This movie was Wayne's big break; after its release, his career as an A-list movie star officially began.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Metascore: 94
- Runtime: 119 minutes

More than just a John Wayne and John Ford collaboration, "The Searchers" is widely regarded to be the greatest Western of all time. In the film, an American Civil War veteran (played by Wayne) sets out to rescue his niece after she's kidnapped by Comanches. Wayne was so enamored with the role of Ethan Edwards that he named one of his children John Ethan Morrison, who would come to be known professionally as Ethan Wayne.

- Director: Howard Hawks
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 93
- Runtime: 141 minutes

With the help of a motley crew (including a not-exactly-against-type Dean Martin as a boozy deputy), a small-town sheriff (Wayne) keeps a powerful rancher's brother behind bars in "Rio Bravo." It's just a matter of time before the rancher comes around, aided by a mob of angry men. The film is said to be a direct rebuttal to Gary Cooper's somewhat timid performance in "High Noon," a 1952 film sharing a similar premise.

- Director: John Ford
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Metascore: 94
- Runtime: 123 minutes

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better than "The Searchers," here comes "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." The film tells the story of Sen. Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart), who is celebrated in the town of Shinbone as the man who shot ruthless outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). But when Stoddard returns to the town and recounts his tale, it's revealed that Wayne's character—a gunslinger named Tom Doniphon—was the true hero all along. The film marked the first time Wayne and Stewart shared the screen, and the cast also included frequent Wayne co-stars John Carradine and Strother Martin.

Data reporting by Luke Hicks.