John Wayne was certainly a controversial figure, but one who managed to dominate Hollywood with his performances in various westerns that symbolized an idealized America. He often played the hero, and it seemed that audiences couldn’t get enough of him.
However, the staunchly right-wing actor (who even believed in white supremacy) started to lose his relevance as he grew older, and both cinema and people’s beliefs started to progress. While there was certainly still a huge market for these pro-America westerns, with the increase in nihilistic, violent, and sexually-charged themes in mainstream Hollywood, Wayne found himself falling out of favour, while Clint Eastwood, a younger actor who encapsulated a more rugged and sexually-charged masculinity, rose to prominence.
Eastwood starred in The Dollars trilogy, directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, marking the start of the brutal spaghetti western genre. Rounding off the trilogy was the highly influential The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which cemented Eastwood’s place as the new western star. He was great at playing anti-heroes, something he did with 1971’s Dirty Harry, directed by Don Siegel, which became one his most iconic roles.
Yet, this part almost went to his western rival, Wayne, and it’s something that the veteran star greatly regretted turning down. Dirty Harry was a huge success, and Wayne wished he hadn’t been so quick to dismiss it, reportedly stating, “I made a mistake with that one.”
The actor wasn’t sold on the idea of playing a ‘bad cop’, believing it had already been done, but he was unaware of how influential and groundbreaking Siegel’s approach would be. Additionally, there were rumours that Wayne was offended to be offered a role that had already been offered to Frank Sinatra, the singer and actor that he infamously hated.
Wayne subsequently tried to make up for what he’d lost out on by appearing in various movies that were essentially Dirty Harry knock-offs. In 1974, Wayne appeared in McQ by John Sturges, playing Detective Lieutenant Lon ‘McQ’ McHugh, who sets out to avenge the death of one of his police officer friends. Taking the law into his own hands, Wayne’s character acts as the corrupt yet well-intentioned cop, although the movie ended up drawing parallels with Magnum Force, the second Dirty Harry film.
His second attempt to ride the Dirty Harry wave came in 1975 with Brannigan, directed by Douglas Hickox. Wayne portrays the titular detective, who goes to London only to clash with the British officers’ approach to the law. It didn’t receive particularly good reviews, with many people noticing the clear Dirty Harry influence – it just didn’t have the same bite to it.
Wayne certainly had his regrets about not starring in Dirty Harry, and he tried his best to capture the essence of the film through various other projects, although none of them succeeded. “How did I ever let that one slip through my fingers?” he once said, lamenting the fact that Eastwood got to play a role that he believed would’ve been so perfect for him. However, in reality, Wayne was simply too old to play Eastwood’s character, and it was The Man With No Name who proved to be the best man for the job.