Guest Author - Sandy Mullins

I bet you thought you have seen every John Wayne movie out there. Well, chances are you have seen most of them. I say most because two of his movies not seen for more than 20 years have been restored and digitally remastered. American Movie Classics (AMC) is premiering these two lost classics The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky plus more of your favorite movies on Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17.

Marion Michael Morrison, was born in Winterset, Iowa on May 26, 1907. Later was nicknamed “The Duke” after a pet Airedale. The Duke attended USC on a football scholarship 1925-27, then Tom Mix got him a job as a prop boy in exchange for football tickets. He then went on to work as a bit actor in westerns and where he caught the eye of John Ford in 1930 and suggested that Raoul Walsh star The Duke in The Big Trail which did fair well. The Duke struggled until starring in John Ford’s production of Stagecoach in 1939. The Duke was a stunt man in Bardelys the Magnificent(1926) appeared in 161 movies, directed 5 movies, and worked as second unit director on The Quiet Man.

The Duke, “John Wayne” passed away on June 11, 1979 due to lung and stomach cancer in Los Angeles, California.

Remember “The Duke” and catch the premiere of the two lost classics The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky plus more of your favorite movies on Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17. Check the table below for the upcoming movies:

Saturday’s Line-up	Sunday’s Line-Up
Dark Command The War Wagon True Grit Rio Grande Rio Bravo Island in the Sky (Premiere) Angel and the Badman North to Alaska	True Grit Rio Grande Jet Pilot Rio Bravo North to Alaska Sands of Iwo Jima The Quiet Man Island in the Sky The High and the Mighty (Premiere) Hellfighters

AMC(offsite link
Internet Movie Data Base (offsite link