Donovan's Reef (1963): Life on a South Pacific island for two ex-Navy buddies is just about perfect. That is, until a beautiful, straight-laced Bostonian arrives on the island in search of her father...
Hatari! (1962): One man heads a highly skilled professional group of game hunters in Africa. Only they don't use bullets - they capture the ferocious big game with strong rope and cameras for zoos and circus attractions. It is an exciting business that pits man against beast. "Hatari" means danger in Swahili.
The Shootist (1976): Afflicted with a terminal illness, John Bernard Books, the last of the legendary gunfighters, quietly returns to Carson City for medical attention from his old friend Dr. Hostetler. Aware that his days are numbered, the troubled man seeks solace and peace in a boardinghouse run by a widow and her son. However, it is not Books' fate to die in peace, as he becomes embroiled in one last valiant battle.
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965): Katie Elder bore four sons. The day she is buried they all return home to Clearwater, Texas, to pay their last respects. John Wayne is the eldest and toughest son, the gunslinger. Tom (Dean Martin) is good with a deck of cards and good with a gun when he has to be. Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one - nobody ever called him yellow... twice. Bud (Michael Anderson, Jr.) is the youngest. Any hope for respectability lies with him.
True Grit Special Collector's Edition (1969): In 1970, John Wayne earned an Academy Award for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter, sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disasterous when the inexperineced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin.
Rio Lobo (1970): Howard Hawks's final film once again teams him with John Wayne, with a script by Leigh Brackett (who also wrote his 'El Dorado' and 'Rio Bravo').
The time is just after the end of the Civil War. Wayne is Union Colonel Cord McNally, who is teamed with two Confederate soldiers he captured during the war in order to take down a thieving bootlegger. Their travels take them to a small town being held in terror by an evil Sheriff. McNally and his crew decide to help the townspeople with their own brand of justice...
Big Jake (1971): John Wayne is Jacob McCandles, an ageing cowboy in an Old West that is on the verge of modernization. When his eight-year-old grandson is kidnapped by a violent gang led by the evil John Fain (Richard Boone), Jacob's estranged wife (Maureen O'Hara) enlists his help to rescue the boy. Jacob and his three sons (one of whom is portrayed by Wayne's real-life son Patrick) set out to bring the gang to justice.
El Dorado (1966): Legendary producer-director Howard Hawks teams with two equally legendary stars, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, in this classic Western drama. Mitchum plays to perfection an alchoholic but gutsy sheriff who relentlessly battles the dark side of the wild West, ruthless cattle barons and crooked "businessmen." The Duke gives an equally adept performance as the sheriff's old friend who knows his way around a gunfight. Filled with brawling action and humor, El Dorado delivers the goods. James Caan and Ed Asner co-star.
