Wayne’s World - Lights - Camera - Auction!

By Bennett Owen

Heritage Auctions has just released a catalog of items from ‘The Personal Property of John Wayne’ to be auctioned off on October 6-7.  We’re talking everything from his 1977 driver’s license to his Golden Globe Award for True Grit.  For those who are interested, you can browse through it online.  

Let’s say I have an extra $100,000 tucked under the mattress, just waiting for the right investment to come along. Yes, as a matter of fact it DOES look suspiciously like Monopoly (c) money. Nevertheless, here’s my wish list of John Wayne memorabilia: 

1 - We start out with his Stetson hat from Hondo, one of my personal favorite Wayne westerns - Asking price - $25,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

Credit: Heritage Auction

2 - How about a conversation piece? One of the eye patches, Wayne wore as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit - asking price - $4,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

Credit: Heritage Auction

3 - A Period Suit from “McLintock” - I’ll probably have to have it tailored and brown doesn’t really suit me but just the thought that Maureen O’Hara touched it gives me goose bumps. Another of my favorite westerns for the fight scene alone - asking price - $4,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

Credit: lookmeintheye

4 - Eight Sheriff Badges - One for each day of the week. I’ll have to research how many sheriffs Duke actually played - asking price - $650

Credit: Heritage Auction

5 - A script from Stagecoach - yes it truly is one of the best westerns of all time. I’ve read the screenplay about 10 times at script-o-rama.com but this will be nice to have and hold - asking price - $3,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

6 - A pair of Lucchese Cowboy Boots from True Grit - Hey, he may have been a mangy old codger but Rooster had style! - asking price - $8.000

Credit: Heritage Auction

7 - A leather vest from The Comancheros, another Wayne western I’ll have a look at any chance I get. Say, I might actually wear this one in public - asking price - $4,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

Credit: Heritage Auction

OK folks, I’m up at the $50,000 mark and I’m salivating over two big ticket items and only have enough cash to buy one of them. So help me out ... which of the following would YOU choose???

- The Golden Globe Award for True Grit - asking price - $50,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

Credit: Heritage Auction

OR 

- John Wayne’s Western Saddle and Stand - asking price - $45,000

Credit: Heritage Auction

Credit: Heritage Auction

So weigh in with your personal choice and a few words that might sway me! 

Arnie – Back in the Saddle Again

By Bennett Owen

Credit: Forum.santa.barbara

The Terminator – The Governator – The Philanderer – call him what you like, Arnold Schwarzenegger will reportedly begin filming this fall on a western tentatively named, “The Last Stand.” Sources describe it as “an old-fashioned western specifically designed for a 63-year old broken-down guy with a moral decision.”  An unnamed studio executive tells Deadline Hollywood, “We always needed an iconic figure for it.”

Credit: Dentonrc

Apparently the film will be a classic western that takes place in the present with Schwarzenegger playing a sheriff of a small border town in southern California.

Credit: joblo.com

Well, if they’re calling it a western, I’m counting it as one, further cementing my theory that the western genre is riding the crest of a comeback. Look at the evidence from the past 12 months alone:

• True Grit
• The Warrior’s Way
• Rango
• Meek’s Cutoff

And in just two weeks time and counting … Cowboys & Aliens! Surely the cinematic event of the summer!

And waiting in the wings we have -

• The Lone Ranger, with Johnny Depp as Tonto –
• Blood Meridian - Hollywood’s take on the classic by Cormac McCarthy

And several more are in the initial production stages. Then there are the true classics of the genre ... I think its time to do some additional research and put up the “Do Not Disturb” sign while I watch ‘The Outlaw Jose Wales’ for the 245^th time …

Credit: Lucchese