When you think of a John Wayne movie, you probably aren’t thinking about the peripheral actors. For the most part, the Duke was the lone protagonist, a valiant loner who towered over the supporting characters both literally and figuratively. If his name is associated with anyone, it’s John Ford, who directed some of the star’s best work and helped shape the icon that he became.
However, Wayne’s career stretched across five decades, and in that time, he had plenty of co-stars who not only met him halfway but outshined him. Bruce Dern in 1972’s The Cowboys is a notable example, as is Katharine Hepburn in 1975’s Rooster Cogburn. For the star himself, however, there were only three actors with whom he had actual chemistry.
In the biography John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, author Michael Munn quotes the Duke saying that Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, and Kirk Douglas were the sole co-stars with whom he melded as an actor. Martin starred with Wayne in Howard Hawks’ 1959 western Rio Bravo. In the film, the Duke plays a sheriff who is trapped in his office with three other men, including an alcoholic former deputy played by Martin. As one of the most famous singers of the era, Martin wasn’t an obvious choice to play a tragic figure in a western, but he brought a surprising soulfulness to the character, and in one scene, was allowed to showcase his famous singing voice.
Wayne starred opposite Robert Mitchum in 1966’s El Dorado. Interestingly enough, the film is essentially a remake of Rio Bravo. Directed by Hawks again, it stars Wayne as a hero (this time a gunslinger) teaming up with a rag-tag crew to fight a group of hardened criminals. This time, Mitchum plays the role of a lawman-turned-alcoholic, though his history with Wayne’s character is more developed. Mitchum was one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men in the 1940s and ‘50s and went on to have a successful second act as a character actor. In El Dorado, he is both charismatic and touching, giving Wayne the perfect foil for his particular brand of manliness.
The Duke had particularly high praise for Douglas, with whom he starred in 1967’s The War Wagon. It was not a remake of Rio Bravo, nor was it directed by Hawks. Instead, it’s a heist film directed by Burt Kennedy in which Wayne plays a rancher who seeks revenge on the man who robbed him of his land. Douglas plays a gunslinger who joins forces with him to steal a wagon full of gold. “Didn’t matter what he thought of me or what I thought of him,” Wayne said of Douglas. “He was wonderful to work with, and he is a great actor.”
Known for his liberal politics, Douglas was directly at odds with Wayne in almost every way, but according to the Duke, they brought out the best in each other on-screen. “[H]e would try and hog the scene just as much as I might do sometimes,” Wayne remembered, adding, “Burt Kennedy said, ‘That’s just the way it should be. You’re making the sparks fly. People are gonna love this.’”
Although many of Wayne’s fans would be surprised that the actor didn’t single out his frequent co-star Maureen O’Hara as another actor with whom he had chemistry, it’s tough to argue with the three he did choose. Each brought their own acting prowess to the screen and complemented rather than dominated the Duke’s reserved stoicism.