John Wayne ‘fully exhausted’ on Rio Lobo the place director ‘punched’ co-star

John Wayne had already remade 1959’s Rio Bravo, a movie a few sheriff defending his workplace from outlaws, in 1966’s El Dorado. Yet Howard Hawks, who directed each of these movies, wished to make it a 3rd time in 1970’s Rio Lobo.

When the filmmaker first approached Duke in regards to the concept, the Hollywood star replied: “Do I get to play the drunk this time?”

Originally set to be shot in Durango, Mexico for $5 million, Rio Lobo – which is on ITV4 this weekend – was filmed for an additional $1 million at Old Tucson, Arizona, since 1971’s Lawman was already capturing south of the border.

Hawks had wished EL Dorado star Robert Mitchum to reprise his drunken sheriff, however he’d retired. Nevertheless, he would go to the set since his son Christopher had a task that the director needed to battle the studio to be included.

At this level in his profession, the 62-year-old Wayne was ill having had a cancerous lung eliminated only a few years earlier. The star, who was 13 years older than Jack Elam’s Old Man character, struggled to get on and off his horse and was nonetheless recovering from having torn a ligament in his shoulder when capturing 1969’s The Undefeated.

Wayne’s battle scene with Victor French needed to be filmed very fastidiously, with a lot of the photographs that have been used being together with his double. Much of the scrap passed off off-camera, with solely sounds of the scuffling being heard.

His Rio Lobo co-star Jennifer O’Neill remembered how Duke struggled to hold her up the steps. In an interview within the video under, she stated: “He became just completely exhausted, he really struggled through it.” Yet regardless of his struggling, the 21-year-old remembered Wayne being “the nicest guy in the world”, who went out of his manner to assist younger actors making an attempt to enhance their performances. However, she couldn’t say the identical for director Hawks.

The filmmaker would blame Rio Lobo’s crucial and industrial failure on anybody however himself, saying “I didn’t think it was any good”. The director, who injured himself and wanted 4 stitches whereas filming the railway scene, felt that at 62-years-old Wayne was too previous to hold the film – with critics saying the identical of their evaluations. He went on to assert that O’Neill was inexperienced and troublesome to work with too.

However, she stated that when the filmmaker first spoke to her about her function as Shasta, he walked immediately as much as the actress and punched her within the intestine, telling the 21-year-old that her voice was manner too excessive. Hawks advised her to exit into the woods and simply sit there and scream at bushes in order that her vocal cords could be rougher for the half.

O’Neill stated Hawks’ punch harm her after the director actually thumped her with intent. The actress additionally claimed he stated he’d make her a star if she signed up for 3 motion pictures, though Rio Lobo could be his final. Since she declined, the filmmaker’s emotions towards her modified and he handled her poorly on set. She even alleged that Hawks stated he would break her profession.

During filming, the 21-year-old felt that the director’s psychological colleges weren’t completely in working order, which might clarify a few of his nasty behaviour. In reality, O’Neill shot one scene sporting a false moustache as a joke, which Hawks fully missed even after yelling reduce.