John Wayne’s Wife ‘Fell in Love’ With Him All Over Again While He Made His Directorial Debut
Actor John Wayne enjoyed spending time with his wife and children on movie sets. However, there were some initial concerns when it came to making his directorial debut with The Alamo. Wayne would wear a lot of hats over the course of its production, also starring in one of the lead roles and producing the feature film. However, Wayne’s wife once said that she “fell in love” with him all over again during the shoot when she saw how he carried himself.
John Wayne made his directorial debut with ‘The Alamo’
The world recognizes Wayne as an actor starring primarily in war and Western flicks. However, he also pursued a passion project of his own with 1960’s The Alamo. Wayne has an uncredited directing credit on 1955’s Blood Alley, but he wouldn’t officially earn his first directing credit until five years later. He didn’t want to star in one of the lead roles for The Alamo, but the studio insisted it to help bring in box office appeal. As a result, the actor decided to play Col. Davy Crockett in addition to directing and producing.
The Alamo picks up in 1836, as a group of soldiers decides to lay down their lives in a hopeless battle against a massive army to buy some time for the Republic of Texas. According to Pilar Wayne and Alex Thorleifson’s book, John Wayne: My Life With the Duke, the actor’s wife explained that Hollywood studios didn’t initially believe in the film’s potential. As a result, Wayne had to hold out hope, take as much of the process on himself, and keep pushing for the feature to get the green light. He would ultimately find himself successful and get his film on the silver screen.
John Wayne’s wife ‘fell in love’ with him all over again while he shot ‘The Alamo’
Wayne’s third wife, Pilar, was initially nervous for him on The Alamo set. After all, it’s not easy to direct, act, and produce at the same time. Nevertheless, she found the experience to be a positive one, even though she was worried about him.
“I fell in love with Duke all over again during the filming of The Alamo. I’d been concerned how he’d react to the stress of his triple responsibilities as a producer, director, and star. But I worried needlessly. Duke clearly felt a the peak of his career.”
Pilar noted that Wayne always had a great amount of respect for his directors and this gave him an opportunity to work from the other side of the camera. She enjoyed seeing another side of her husband, who demonstrated patience but also got tough when he needed to. Wayne’s wife picked up on his love for directing and his ability to take control of a situation. This was another side of her husband that she didn’t get to see previously.
“Although there were days when he used as many as 26 or 27 different camera setups, nothing escaped his watchful eye,” Pilar wrote. “He seemed to be everywhere at once, correcting the way an extra sat his horse or carried his gun, rearranging props, working with the actors, praising his crew. Despite the pressure and workload, Duke’s love for directing showed.”
The actor earned an Oscar nomination for his first credited directing job
Wayne’s wife was proud of the actor for earning his second Oscar nomination for The Alamo after Sands of Iwo Jima. However, this time it was for Best Picture as the film’s director and producer. He would lose the golden Oscar statue to Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. The actor wouldn’t finally earn an Academy Award until 1969’s True Grit for his leading role.
Nevertheless, The Alamo didn’t walk away completely empty-handed. It earned Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Original Song, and Music. However, it won Best Sound thanks to its epic battle sequences that stunned audiences at the time.
