John Wayne Revealed the Only ‘Cautious’ Movie Role He Ever Played

Movie star John Wayne played some of the most iconic characters across the war and Western genres. From Rooster Cogburn in True Grit to Davy Crockett in The Alamo, he commanded the screen in a way that went down in history. He intentionally avoided any roles that he considered as pushing the boundaries of his moral compass. However, Wayne once revealed that he only had one role that he thought was “cautious.”

Movie star John Wayne created the image of the Western hero

Wayne pushed his own image of the Western movie hero through his roles. He wanted to create Hollywood magic, but he still wanted to create grounded characters that audiences would enjoy watching. Wayne changed the way that heroes fight on the silver screen, allowing them to “fight dirty” in response to an antagonist using violence to get their way.

The actor became the face of the Western genre, representing an entire era. He stayed true to himself, turning down iconic roles in films, such as High Noon. He rejected the Oscar-winning lead role that went to Gary Cooper because the thought it was “un-American,” among other movies that went against his values.

‘Allegheny Uprising’ is the only John Wayne movie role he called ‘cautious’

According to an interview with Playboy, Wayne admitted that there was only one movie role that made him feel “cautious” – 1939’s Allegheny Uprising. He believed that younger audiences saw him as “an older friend, somebody believable, and down-to-earth.” Wayne credited that to his ability to avoid “mean or petty” roles, but maintain a certain level of toughness.

“I’ve only played one cautious part in my life, in Allegheny Uprising,” Wayne said. “My parts have ranged from that rather dull character to Ralls in Wake of the Red Witch, who was a nice enough fella sober, but bestial when he was drunk, and certainly a rebel.”

Wayne continued: “I was also a rebel in Reap the Wild Wind with De Mille. I’ve played many parts in which I’ve rebelled against something in society. I was never much of a joiner. Kids do join things, but they also like to consider themselves individuals capable of thinking for themselves. So do I.”

‘Allegheny Uprising’ took a hit at the box office

Wayne starred as Jim Smith in the William A. Seiter movie, who leads a group trying to discover who is giving weaponry to the local Native American tribes. Janie MacDougall (Claire Trevor) joins him in his suspicion surrounding a corrupt trader named Ralph Callendar (Brian Donlevy), but there’s no evidence to support his claim. In response, Ralph frames Jim for murder to get the heat off of him.

Allegheny Uprising didn’t fare well at the box office in its initial release, losing $230,000 in the process. However, the film also went through some controversy of its own. The U.K. initially banned the movie for putting the British in a bad light, who was already fighting in the war against Nazi Germany.