The mind-blowing connection between Clint Eastwood’s best movies and John Wayne’s worst

The western genre is irrevocably linked to the United States of America. It exploded in the early decades of the 20th century, telling patriotic stories of heroic cowboys that defined the country’s ethos of freedom. Many of these tales were incredibly dated, painting a romanticised vision of the West and demonising anyone who didn’t fit into this perfect vision of America, such as Indigenous people.

John Wayne defined this era, appearing in many classic westerns under the direction of John Ford, which became one of the most well-known actor/director partnerships. From Stagecoach and Fort Apache to Rio Grande and The Searchers, the pair frequently worked together to bring to life their conservative vision of America. 

However, this brand of western just wasn’t sustainable as cinema and people’s attitudes began to change. A more violent and disillusioned kind of western started to emerge, with more troubled antiheroes in the leading roles. Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, more violent and bleak than your average Wayne western, appeared in the 1960s and achieved great success.

In the leading role of these spaghetti westerns was Clint Eastwood, who offered up a new take on the genre. While Eastwood is a conservative himself, these movies were a stark contrast from the heroic and all-American tales championed by Wayne. As a result, Wayne wasn’t the biggest fan of Eastwood, whose take on the western genre offended the classic star.

However, the pair will always remain the two most well-known western actors, and there is even an interesting parallel to be found within one of Wayne’s worst movies and one of Eastwood’s greatest. They might not have ever shared the screen, but Eastwood appeared in a movie during the 1970s which had a name inspired by an atomic bomb tested in 1953, which links to Wayne in an unusual way.

Released in 1971 and directed by Don Siegel, Dirty Harry remains one of Eastwood’s most acclaimed movies. He starred as the titular character, and his performance as an antihero type who won’t hesitate to be violent when he needs to be proved incredibly influential. But how does this bring us to Wayne?

In 1956, the movie The Conqueror hit theatres, starring Wayne as Genghis Khan. It is considered one of the worst movies ever made and easily the most awful movie Wayne appeared in. Just three years earlier, an atomic bomb nicknamed Dirty Harry was tested in a nearby area, and as a result, there was still radioactivity lingering. By 1990, it had been found that 91 members of the cast and crew of the film had been diagnosed with cancer, with 46 dying from the disease. 

Many people chalked this down to these individuals being exposed to nuclear fallout, contributing to their declining health if not causing it. Wayne was one of the cast members who contracted cancer, dying from it in 1979. So, a bomb named Dirty Harry was potentially the reason for Wayne’s death, while the Dirty Harry film series signalled to Wayne, in his final years, that his career as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars was also over, too.

By this point, Eastwood was known as one of the most popular American actors, rivalling the ageing Wayne as a western icon. Wayne appeared in his last film, The Shootist, in 1976. It was directed by none other than Seigel, the filmmaker behind Dirty Harry.

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