Raoul Walsh states he needed a "new face" for The Big Trail (1930) and spotted "a beautiful, tall fellow carrying a huge arm chair" at the studio and says, "Hey, kid, ever been in any pictures?" "Not yet" is the reply Walsh claims he received from the fellow. "Well, let your hair grow long, and I'll get back to you." Walsh says that 2 weeks later he did a silent test of Marion Morrison and, thus, discovered John Wayne. However, while Walsh may have "discovered" the Duke, Wayne actually had had small parts in well-over a dozen films when he supposedly told Walsh he had not yet been in any pictures.
Epilogue: "Raoul Walsh passed away in 1980 at 93 years old."
'Mary outlived him by 29 years. She remained at their Simi Valley ranch and never remarried."
"Mary Simpson Walsh died in November 2009 at the age of 86."
"Raoul made about two hundred feature films. At one point, he claimed the number was almost four hundred."
"We couldn't fit them all into this documentary."
'Mary outlived him by 29 years. She remained at their Simi Valley ranch and never remarried."
"Mary Simpson Walsh died in November 2009 at the age of 86."
"Raoul made about two hundred feature films. At one point, he claimed the number was almost four hundred."
"We couldn't fit them all into this documentary."
The film was completely restructured, reedited and remastered in 2019. The new running time is 95 minutes.
Prologue: "It is good to recall that once there were giants in Hollywood who thought of filmmaking beyond moneymaking....---Patrick McGilligan"
"Much of what follows is true..."
"Much of what follows is true..."