I have read and heard that John Wayne was a fantastic ballroom dancer. I have never seen him do that, and as far as I know he didn't do any dancing in any movie but one, I think. I'll have to check the movie to see, but I think he was dancing in Fort Apache in one scene.

Anyway, my question; Are there anything out that shows Duke dancing, especially ballroom dancing? My interest is due to the TV show on ABC called, Dancing with the Stars, which surprisingly was pretty good. And I though of Duke in a ballroom setting dancing with a beautiful partner. That would have been a dance to see! -_-

Cheers B)

Hondo; Duke also Danced in "Jet Pilot." I do know that Maureen O'Hara said that he was a good Dancer, and I ask Loretta Young on one of the trips to the Hearst Ranch about Duke and his Dancing, and she said that He was a Very Good Ball Room Dancer. She said that the only problem was that there was no Cheek-To-Cheek Dancing for most of the Ladys with Duke because their face was on His Big Chest. :angry: She said that he did the Waltz, Fox trot and the Tango very well.

I Did see Duke Dance with Loretta Young and My wife at the Big Party at the Hearst Castle before we went on up to Hearst Wyntoon. He had Danced with Loretta first, and then as a perfect Gentle-Man would do, said to My Wife, May I have this Dance? :D

My Wife told me later that His Body was so Big that she did not know where it started and where it ended, but He was very Lite on his feet. My Wife was 5' 2" and 110Lbs. For weeks thats all my Wife Martha could talk about "I DANCED WITH JOHN WAYNE THE DUKE!!!" :jump:

For you Younger People that was back when we Danced Very Close to each other and not 10 feet apart and Wiggled allot. In my Younger Days I was a pretty good Ball-Room Rug Cutter Myself, and there was nothing better than Dancing with a Good Looking Gal, Cheek-To-Cheek!!! :rolleyes:

Chilibill :cowboy:

Hi again,I envy you ChiliBill, it must have been great to see your wife dancing with the duke, and to dance alongside of him. A strange coinsidence as I JUST as we now speak finished watching "Fort Apache", and yes I did see the Duke ballroom dancing for a scene or two.

I was actually going to make a thread on this movie, but since Hondo has somewhat brought it up i wont. This movie, as its been well over a year since I last watched it has seemed to have gotten BETTER.The final charge of the indians totally suprised me, and when their whole command was virtually wiped out right there, and in the next scene it showed (the new Lt.Col York, CO of Fort Apache) I had totally forgotten about it.

You have the tough,by the book,STERN officer not use to the "frontier" such as Fort Apache, also you have to veteran Captain York, who has seen the apache's through the early days with much experience.Also the 4 Sgt's who bring some comidical work with the young Lt. O'Rourke, and much experience into the training of the new recruits and their constant drinking.

And then, they get all killed in the final battle, but the final scenes show the new son "Michael Thursday York O'Rourke", and the adjetant to the Colone, that being Lt.O'Rourke.

John Ford, he just made this a masterpiece.great cast of characters...and of course miss philedelphia bringing her own poutiness into it all while ever seeking Lt. O'rourke.

What did you all think of it?

-IHW

Originally posted by InHarmsWay@Jul 14 2005, 03:43 PM
What did you all think of it?

It was by far my favorite of the cavalry trilogy. I thought Shirley Temple was the only jarring note. Wish Joanne Dru or Janet Leigh had played Philadelphia.

Originally posted by Stumpy@Jul 15 2005, 03:05 AM
It was by far my favorite of the cavalry trilogy. I thought Shirley Temple was the only jarring note. Wish Joanne Dru or Janet Leigh had played Philadelphia.
19028

I agree.

Really?, i thought the young temple did a very good job.Playing hard to get when....she wasnt really, she was chasing the young O'Rourke

-IHW

He also danced in 'The Fighting Seabees' and 'Operation Pacific'....but hardly ballroom dancing.

We'd have to watch again to be sure, but we seem to remember the Duke dancing with Donna Reed in They Were Expendable and with Nancy Olsen in Big Jim McLain. Hm-m-m-m, we might just have to watch a John Wayne movie or two, to check this out. ;)

Chester :newyear:

Chilibill,

Thanks for your input. I thought you might know a little about this. Looks like a lot of you are having to dig deep into your video library to see the movies he danced in.

What I am looking for is there any movie in depth where Duke is actually going through a ballroom dancing sequence.

Chilibill said that Jet Pilot he does some of that, and I have that on video (VHS), so I must get it out and see it again. It has been a while, so I will get it in. I am very curious in seeing Duke ballroom dance.

Is there a movie where Duke stands out in any movie mention.

Cheers B)

Hi,
According to all the books,
Duke is always mentioned
as being a fine dancer,
something he excelled at during
and since his University days

Hondo,

I think you are right, there are not any extensive ballroom dancing scenes, certainly not in the Fred Astaire mode.

However, we did watch Big Jim McLain last night and Duke danced twice in that movie, but the main focus was mostly a head and shoulders conversation, not the dancing itself.

One thing I really enjoyed in that movie, as an old Navy man, was the Duke riding out to the USS Arizona on a Navy picket boat and paying tribute to the men that were still entombed there. That was as impressive as the whole movie to me. That was before the modern memorial building was built above the ship.

We haven't watched They Were Expendable yet. We'll let you know our findings :D .

Chester :newyear:

Hi

I have a still showing Duke dancing with Rita Hawarth in Circus World but again that is a chest and head close up. Experts all comment that despite his size John Wayne was very light and graceful on his feet, you only have to look at his walk to realise that while he could never fit into the Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly or Donald O'Conner mould of dancers he would certainly be able to feel at home on a dance floor.



Regards


Arthur

hi chester

he dances in they were expendable when the nurses have their dance which he arrives late too you get to see him doing it for a short time

cheers smokey