John Waynehad an absolute monopoly over the greatest Western characters of all-time for almost three decades. After his star-making performance inJohn Ford’s influential 1939 classicStagecoach,Wayne starred in innumerable films within the Western genre for filmmakers likeHoward HawksandWilliam Wellman. Wayne could have probably starred in nothing but Westerns for his entire career, but toward the back half of his filmography, he tried his hand at historical epics, romances, and comedies. Ironically, it was within the bizarre WesternMcLintock!that he got to do all of those things, asthe 1963 adventure film took inspiration from the works of William Shakespeare to create one of the weirdest movies Wayne ever appeared in.
McLintock!
McLintock! is a Western comedy about a wealthy cattle baron who faces personal and professional challenges as his estranged wife returns to town seeking a divorce. Set against the backdrop of a bustling Western town, the story explores themes of family dynamics, romance, and social change with comedic flair.
John Wayne Does Shakespeare in ‘McLintock!’
McLintock!was directed by Wayne’s frequent collaboratorAndrew V. McLaglen, a solid “workman” filmmaker who directed many Western films for both Wayne and his close friend (and frequent co-star)Jimmy Stewart. While Waynewas generally cast as mercenaries or outlaws,McLintock!saddled him for a slightly unusual role as the aging rancher George Washington McLintock, who must defend his farmland from being trod upon by various rivals that threaten to take a portion for themselves. As if this wasn’t enough for the cranky old westerner to handle, McLintock is also met with the return of his wife Kate (Maureen O’Hara), who left him a few years prior, as their daughter Rebecca (Stefanie Powers) graduates from college. As McLintock tries to keep the peace within the community,he must deal with his temperamental wife and find a way to mend their tormented relationship.
McLintock!is loosely based on the story of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedyThe Taming of The Shrew, a work of timeless fiction that has inspired the premise of many classic rom-coms (including the1999 teen movie favorite10 Things I Hate About You). Westerns drawing inspiration from other works of fiction wasn’t inherently odd, asSergio Leone’sThe Man With No Nametrilogy famously plagiarized the story fromAkira Kurosawa’sYojimbo,and Kurosawa’sSeven Samuraiwas infamously remade as the American action Western,The Magnificent Seven. What madeMcLintock!so odd is that it wasn’t the first time that Wayne appeared in a loose adaptation ofThe Taming of the Shrew.
Prior to appearing inMcLintock!together,Wayne and O’Hara did some of the best work of their respective careers in Ford’s 1952 timeless classicThe Quiet Man. InThe Quiet Man, Wayne stars as boxer Sean Thorton, who returns from America to his Irish hometown of Innisfree, where he falls in love with the feisty Irish woman Mary Kate Danaher (O’Hara). The premises of the two films are virtually identical, butThe Quiet Manis the more mature work; the film looks at the realities of marriage, the constraints of tradition, and has a surprisingly nuanced understanding of gender dynamics. WhileThe Quiet Manis largely considered to be a classic (and wonFord one of his four Academy Awards for Best Director),McLintock!features an older Wayne chewing the scenery as he’s called in to save a community despite his advancing age.
What’s impressive about Wayne’s Western films is that he wasn’t always playing a different iteration of the same character; McLintock’s loud-mouthed, wacky chauvinism couldn’t be more distinct from the brooding nature of his character Major Ethan Edwards in Ford’s 1956 masterpieceThe Searchersor his villainous turn as John Dunson in Hawks’1948 classicRed River. Wayne was always willing to poke fun at himself, as even some of his older films likeRio BravoandHondohad traces of humor in them. However,McLintock!was distinct in that it was purely a “character part,” where he had to shed elements of his charisma to play a temperamental, slightly unhinged character.
That being said, Wayne is also credited with helping to craft the story, and clearly had a role in expressing some of his personal beliefs within the film’s narrative.Essentially, McLintock sees the government’s efforts to impede his land as a mistake that leads to chaos within the town. While the madness that ensues is dialed up for comedic relief, it’s clearly a cry for the type of limited government that Wayne so often advocated for. Wayne’s influence on the film is unmistakable; while there’s a unique identity to the films he made for auteurs like Ford and Hawks, it’s likely that McLaglen ceded control to Wayne throughout the creative process. This is also likely considering that McLaglen himself was the son of Wayne’sThe Quiet Manco-starVictor McLaglen, who had won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Ford’s 1935 political thrillerThe Informer. Here’s one case where Hollywood truly is one big family!
According to Clint Eastwood, This Is John Wayne’s Best Western Performance
It’s hard to imagine the modern Western without this iconic film starring the Duke.
McLintock!has aged in interesting ways. On a fundamental level,it seems like Wayne intended forMcLintock!to be a “revision” ofThe Quiet Manthat rejected the premise that the woman would have the power in a relationship. InThe Quiet Man, it’s evident that even if Sean has seemingly “tamed” Mary Kate, she is the one making decisions in their relationship, which reflects the original satirical point ofThe Taming of the Shrew. It’s virtually the opposite inMcLintock!, as by the end, the titular character has successfully won back his wife after spanking her in public. In the end, she still realizes that they belong together in a moment that certainly has not aged very well. The oblique sexism might makeMcLintock!more difficult to rewatch than some ofWayne’s other Westerns.
The film does show a side to Wayne that would become absent in his next few Western roles. FilmslikeThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valancereflected on the end of the Western era, andThe Shootisteven saw him looking at his own mortality. Comparatively,McLintock!is just a lot of silly fun where Wayne gets to play a caricature of himself, and that deserves to be celebrated in its own right.
Some of the Best Shakespearean Movies Aren’t Strict Adaptations
The film industry has been obsessed with the work of “The Bard” sincethe “Golden Age of Hollywood,”which saw filmmakers likeLaurence OlivierandFranco Zeffirelliadapting some of his most famous works directly from the text. However,the success ofMcLinktock!indicated that Shakespeare adaptations could be successful if they changed many of the key contextual elements of the original source material.While English scholars may have responded to the direct ties toThe Taming of the Shrew, fans of Wayne’s work within the Western genre may have just appreciated it as a slightly unorthodox slapstick comedy. McLaglen made a joyous film that works as a romantic comedy in its own right.
McLintock!isn’t the only romantic comedy to be inspired by Shakespeare, as the recent romantic comedy hitAnyone But Youdrew some of its story elements from the classic playMuch Ado About Nothing. It may be a modern romantic comedy with sexual humor suited for millennial viewers, butAnyone But Yousteals the premise of “bickering rivals turned lovers” directly from Shakespeare. Ironically, there have been several other directMuch Ado About Nothingadaptations that managed to connect with an audience outside of core literary buffs.Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film featureda swoon-worth performance fromDenzel Washingtonin one of his rare comedic roles, and a 2012 reimagining fromJoss Whedonrefashioned the story as a black-and-white noir comedy. The fact that all three films were able to be so utterly unique proves how universal Shakespeare’s work is; perhaps, bored high school students would find more to enjoy about this material if they were exposed to such entertaining films.
Some of the better Shakespeare adaptations in recent years have been those that were willing to take risksand modernize the original material to reflect the changes in society. Although the classic romantic playThe Merchant of Venicehad earned a reputation as being anti-Semitic for its portrayal of the Jewish villain Shylock, the 2004 adaptation from directorMichael RadfordallowedAl Pacinoto add more depth to the character in his brilliant performance.Similarly, directorJustin Kurzelmanaged to transform his adaptation ofMacbethstarringMichael FassbenderandMarion Cotillardinto a rousing historical epic worthy ofGladiatororBraveheart.Seeing a play at a live performance is worthwhile in its own right, but a film needs to have cinematic qualities that befit its medium.
Even films that don’t directly draw from Shakespeare may draw from his themesin order to succeed as a compelling drama. The conflict between Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler)at the end ofDune: Part Twocan be compared to a similar epic duel that ends the classic tragedyHamlet. Similarly, Shakespeare’s notion of a “tragic anti-hero” has made its way into many iconic television characters in prestigious drama shows, such as Walter White (Bryan Cranston) inBreaking Bad, Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) inSuccession,Don Draper (Jon Hamm) inMad Men,and Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) inThe Sopranos.
McLintock!is currently available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
