Young Duke: The Early Life of John Wayne Book

This book about John Wayne's younger years was an enjoyable read. I did see a couple of questions about the accuracy of some of its details on some issues. It went over his early years growing up in California with his parents. He played college football for the Trojans, then got a summer job at Fox Films. He was working as a prop man for Fox Films when director John Ford befriended him and eventually talked him into trying his hand at getting in front of a camera. It took some convincing, but finally, he gave it a shot and the rest is history. The book plays up his patriotism and talks about his private life some.

It also talks about his brief stints at directing, and how he stuck by his guns when he really wanted to direct the movie "The Alamo". It brought back a lot of memories of many John Wayne movies I've seen, and many I want to see. Also, the memories of many I watched together with my late father while he was still alive. It made me miss The Duke all over again, for what he represents, the type of star he was that we rarely see anymore. It's too bad we couldn't have cloned some of those great old stars, but thankfully we do still have their movies around. I'm going to find one to watch right now.

An advance copy was provided by NetGalley, Chris Enss and TwoDot for my review. Publication date is March 1, 2018.

Generously illustrated in black and white, the early photos and movie posters confirm the rugged good looks of one of our true movie stars of the WWII year. The book is a well organized and factual chronicle of Marion Morrison's real life. Devoid of most of the gossip and speculation, he is described by the people who knew him in their own words. I am left with a warmth and admiration for the man.