Welcome to another episode of You Must,

remember this, the podcast dedicated to exploring the secrets and or forgotten histories of Hollywood's first century,

part of the Panoply Network. I'm your host, Kareena Longworth.

And this is another episode in our series about famous people during times of war or star wars.

This is the second to last episode in the current incarnation of our star wars series.

And it's about John Wayne, the movie star who, more than any other,

became identified with a kind of fantasy of American strength that united and otherwise deeply divided nation and propelled victory in World War II.

This strength curdled into paranoid hubris following the war, and Wayne was an avatar of that too,

serving as president of the organization that set into motion the commy hunting blacklist.

But today we're going to focus primarily on how John Wayne became one of the biggest stars of the war era,

and why, unlike many other actors, as well as his close collaborator, John Ford, Wayne conspicuously didn't enlist.

Join us, won't you? For the story of why John Wayne didn't go.

Born Marion Morrison and nicknamed Duke, by the mid 1920s, the future John Wayne was a broke USC student who lost his football scholarship after an injury.

He started taking the bus to MGM in Culver City to work odd jobs as a prop assistant electricians go for or background extra.

And then an introduction to Cowboy star Tom Mix got Duke onto the Fox lot, where he was soon hired as an assistant set dresser,

which basically meant he carried heavy props from one end of the lot to the other.

It was on the Fox lot that Duke first met and developed a quick rapport with director John Ford.

John Ford is variously credited as Wayne's best friend, his mentor, and his discoverer.

He'd go on to direct some of Wayne's best films, including The Quiet Man and The Searchers.

But Wayne's first starring role came via Raoul Walsh, who spotted a shirtless Duke hauling props on the lot,

and decided he'd be perfect for the lead in a film called The Big Trail.

Walsh liked the look of Duke's face and body, particularly his flat hips, which would look good in cowboy pants,

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