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Favorite Duke Quotes


AikiDale

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Waal, I'm ce-tain-ly glad you pil-grims da-cided to start this here thread. :lol:

I like the Duke does Hamlet part in that show too, TL. It really cracked me up.

I think my fav Duke line is from "Big Jake." Near the end, where he's talking to Richard Boone's BG charachter. "Anything goes wrong, your fault, my fault, or nobody's fault, I'm gonna blow a hole in you I can read a newspaper though."

There's another one in "True Grit" about, never having met a Texan that hasn't claimed to have drunk muddy water from a cow track, that I like real well too. But I can't remember exactly how it goes. No offense intended Texans! ;)

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them."

- John Wayne in The Shootist

This one is my favorite too.

- Gabe

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The Duke had some great lines indeed. I love the unflappableness of his character. I can't remember the movie or the line exactly, but I remember the Duke and a comrade were hanging upside down over an anthill, when he said something like - Well, looks like they got the upper hand, this time.

be

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Not a quote, but I thought you guys might get a kick out of reading my review of The Shootist from amazon.com:

This is the story of the last eight days in the life of John Bernard Books (John Wayne), a legendary gunfighter who pulls into Carson City, Nevada on January 22, 1901. Books is dying of inoperable prostate cancer. Knowing that all he has to look forward to in the few weeks left him is an undiginfied and agonizing death as his disease progressively worsens, and unwilling to go out that way, Books orchestrates one last glorious gunfight, himself versus the only three men in town who just might be able to kill him.

The Shootist has the cast from Hell: John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Hugh O'Brian, Richard Boone, Scatman Crothers, all in the same movie. Made on a shoestring budget of eight million (not a lot of money for a major Hollywood production even in mid-Seventies dollars) the only way The Shootist could afford such a cast was that everyone involved realized this would probably be Wayne's last picture, and wanted to be involved. Hugh O'Brian volunteered to play his part for free.

The only "extras" on the DVD are the original trailer which is mediocre and a "Making Of" feature that's absolutely excellent. In the latter it's revealed the filmmakers changed the ending of the movie from the book on which it was based. In the novel, J.B. Books is killed at the end by young Gillom Rogers (Ron Howard) after surviving the final gun battle. But the powers that were felt it would be awfully hard to have audiences like the Howard character after that. In hindsight they realize their decision weakened the movie. And they're right. That would have been the perfect ending to The Shootist, the ultimate act of love from Gillom to Books, to be the one who ended his pain when no one else could. The way the movie does end is great - The Shootist is fully deserving of its five stars - but it could have been even better.

While it would be difficult to make a case against either Once Upon a Time In the West, Red River, or The Outlaw Josey Wales being the best Western ever made, The Shootist is one of the very few movies even worthy to be mentioned in their class. It adds an immense amount of poignancy to Wayne's portrayal of J.B. Books, a strong man in the final stages of terminal cancer, to know the actor was in exactly the same situation at the time. This is arguably Wayne's finest acting job, understated and powerful. While some actors are great for a time, then degenerate into crap roles to finish out their careers (Basil Rathbone's last movie was Hillbillys from Outer Space, if you can believe it), John Wayne was a class act til the very end. The Shootist was the perfect way to cap his career: one last superb Western from the greatest Western star of all.

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Mr. Thomas,

I like your review. Thank you for sharing it with us. Interesting slant on the original ending which I did not know and wouldn't have considered. That would have truly been an interesting twist.

Thank you for giving another perspective to an excellent film.

Best as always,

Jeffro (Jeff)

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The Cowboys? “Saddle up, we’re burning daylight!”

McLintock? (Possibly paraphrasing, it’s been a while) “I should hit ya but I’m not, but I’m not… OH THE HELL I’M NOT! <Smack!>

Though my favorite is the one AkiDale listed, the first time I heard J.B. Books (Wayne) say that phrase I adopted it as my personal motto.

Ed

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Well if I ever meet a Texan that ain't drunk out of a muddy hoof print I'll buy him a Daniel Webster ce-gar.

Slight thread drift on:

As great as the Duke was, my fav cowboy quote is still from Tombstone where Ike says to Wyatt, "...my boys will get you in a rush."

Wyatt's reply, "...maybe so, but not before I make your head into a canoe."

Just CLASSIC.

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My favourite Duke movie is "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". I can't think of any good quotes from the movie but the premise fits perfecty with my view of the world, that force is what counts. From the song"..when the final showdown came to pass, a law book was no good."

The good guy had to sacrifice himself and the wimp got the girl.

Also, I would put "Shane" in the top few Westerns.

Gun

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  • 1 year later...
Good review Duane. And if I am not mistaken, one of only three movies in which Wayne's character dies.

There was either four or five . . .

The Cowboys

Sands of Iwo Jima

Wake of the Red Witch (I think)

The Shootist

From "The Cowboys." Asa Watts (bad guy played by Bruce Dern) enters the camp of the cowboys with his men to steal the heard. Wil Anderson (John Wayne) and the boys are helpless. After roughing up one of the youngins John Wayne asks "How are you when they come a little bigger." As Dern contemplates fighting the old man, Wayne says

I'm twice your age, I've broke my back once, and my hip twice. And on my worst day I could still beat the hell out of you.

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AAHHH The Duke, my favorite!!!

Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned.

True Grit:

"You can't serve papers on a rat baby sister, you've got to kill em or let em be"

"I've got no warrants by name, but I do have a couple of John Does"

" Well a pistol that's unloaded and cocked ain't good for nothing"

The Shootist

" It's not so much about being fast or accurate, it's being willing"

" Load six if your insides tells you to"

The Undefeated

Mrs. Langdon " Why'd you have to shoot him" The Duke " The conversation just kind of dried up Maam"

I could go on and on, The Duke was a true classic.

Great Thread Dale

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Good review Duane. And if I am not mistaken, one of only three movies in which Wayne's character dies.

There was either four or five . . .

The Cowboys

Sands of Iwo Jima

Wake of the Red Witch (I think)

The Shootist

Don't forget

The Fighting Seabees

The Alamo

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (The movie occurs during the Duke's character's funeral)

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One of my favorite Duke quotes:

"Hey!"

Yeah, it's sorta short, but it was right before he hit Curly across the forehead with an ax handle in "Sons of Katie Elder".

:lol::lol::lol:

My favorite Katie Elder quote is "Billy, you're trying awfully hard not to tell me something." (Wayne to the local sheriff who is trying to avoid telling him that the family ranch has been taken over by the local scoundrel, knowing that Wayne is a well-known gun fighter and will probably want to do something about it.)

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