John Wayneturned down a Western movie later in his career that could have been hisbest Western sinceTrue Grit.Instead, he appeared in some lesser-remembered Westerns to wind down his career, none of which have the lasting legacy of the film he turned down. What is most impressive about the movie that The Duke rejected is that it was never made as a movie, with the director choosing to shut down the production rather than make it without the famed Western star. However, its legacy came on TV, and it became one of the biggest televised Westerns in history.
John Wayne became known for turning down several roles later in his career for personal reasons. He notoriouslyturned down the starring role inHigh Noon, which went on to win an Oscar, since he felt it was un-American, and he despised the script,written by a blacklisted screenwriterduring the McCarthy-era Red Scare. This ledWayne instead to make one of his best Westerns in response, starring inRio Bravo.However, he turned down the role inThe Streets of Laredofor a very different reason.
Why John Wayne Turned Down The Streets Of Laredo
John Wayne Disagreed With The Themes
The Streets of Laredowas written by Larry McMurtry, and up-and-coming director Peter Bogdanovich wanted to direct it. Bogdanovich already had some experience with John Wayne, as he directed a documentary for the American Film Institute about John Ford titledDirected by John Ford,which included interviews with Wayneand was narrated by Orson Welles.The director proved his brilliance withhis masterpiece,The Last Picture Show,released in 1971.
However, when it came toThe Streets of Laredo, he couldn’t convince John Wayne to stick with the movie, which he wanted to make in a similar style to John Ford’s classic Westerns. There was a huge problem with the script that turned off Wayne. It was pitched as the “Final” Western movie, and The Duke wanted nothing to do with ending the genre, saying he wasn’t “ready to hang up his spurs.”
The Streets Of Laredo Could Have Become One Of Wayne’s Best Westerns
John Wayne Would Have Been Backed By A Great Supporting Cast
The cast alone made it look likeThe Streets of Laredocould have been an incredibly successful movie. The lineup included some of the top actors of the era:John Wayne was supposed to play Call, Jimmy Stewart as Gus, and Henry Fonda as Jake Spoon. This could easily have matched the all-star lineup ofTrue Grit, which was headlined by Wayne and Glen Campbell, with names like Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper also in the lineup.
The last trulygreat Western that John Wayne starred inwasTrue Grit, and if he had taken on the role inThe Streets of Laredo, especially with the surrounding cast, it could have added one more great title to his name. If anything, the success of the story years later showed that it would have been a massive improvement over the titles he had taken in films likeRooster Cogburnin 1975.
What Happened To The Streets Of Laredo After John Wayne Turned It Down
The Streets Of LaredoBecame Lonesome Dove
Interestingly,John Wayne turning downThe Streets of Laredomight have been all for the best. When Wayne rejected the movie and backed out, it was canceled completely. Without The Duke, the studio didn’t have faith in the story, resulting in the screenplay sitting on the shelf for 15 years. This caused Larry McMurty to pull it out and turn it into a novel instead.That novel becameLonesome Dove,which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1986.
Lonesome Doveended up as a four-book series. This series was adapted into several award-winning TV shows, with the first miniseries starring Robert Duvall as Gus and Tommy Lee Jones as Call, the role that John Wayne originally turned down. Finally, in 1995, the third miniseries was calledStreets of Laredo, bringing that title to life 21 years afterJohn Waynekilled the original movie based on the story.
