Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Stalin Plotted to Kill John Wayne?

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Posted by Tom Doyle (Member # 1474) on 08-04-2003, 04:44 AM:

Stalin Plotted to Kill John Wayne?

Jul 31, 10:31 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was so outraged at the anti-communism of film star John Wayne that he plotted to have him murdered, according to a new biography of the American icon.

"John Wayne -- The man behind the myth" by British writer and actor Michael Munn says there were several attempts in the late 1940s and early 1950s to kill the man known to audiences around the world as "Duke."

In the first attempt, two Russian assassins posing as FBI agents tried to kill Wayne -- born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907 -- in his office at Warner Brothers studios in Hollywood.

But the plot was uncovered and the would-be killers captured, the book says, citing several sources including director Orson Welles.

The book says the Soviet plots were canceled after Stalin's death in 1953, by his successor Nikita Krushchev, who was a fan of the larger-than-life star of more than 100 films.

"That was a decision of Stalin during his last five mad years. When Stalin died I rescinded that order," the book quotes Krushchev as telling Wayne during a private meeting in 1958.

But it says American communist groups took up the cudgels against Wayne who was a supporter of the anti-communist witch-hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, citing an attempt in Mexico on the set of the film "Hondo."

Wayne survived these attempts and another by a sniper during a trip to visit American troops in Vietnam in 1966. He eventually died of cancer in 1979.

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 08-04-2003, 02:29 PM:

Stalin plotted to kill a lot of people and was quite successful at it. Here are some facts out of the my lecture notes that I give students:

1. Stalin's real name is Iosif Visarionovich Djugashvilli.
2. He changed his name to Stalin to avoid capture by Russian
secret police prior to the Soviet Revolution of 1917.
3. Whereas Hitler was responsible for the deaths of about 10 million
people . . . Stalin killed 20 million.
4. Upon assuming power in the Soviet Union, Stalin ordered the deaths
of the five other members of the Politburo.
5. The last original Politburo member to be executed was Leon Trotsky
in 1940.
6. Trotsky's assassination (in Mexico City) was probably the most
noteble foreign operation during Stalin's regime.
7. During the First Five-Year-Plan it was estimated five million Russians
were killed for refusing to enter into collectivized farms.
8. Stalin's secret police force, the NKVD, was controlled by Lavrenti
Berea, a known drug addict and rapist.
9. When his son Jakob was captured by the Germans in World War II,
Stalin was known to have remarked, "let them kill him".
10. It is an established fact that every single family inside Russia lost at
least one member to violence, starvation, or imprisionment during
Stalin's reign.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-04-2003, 03:34 PM:

From what I have read about about Stalin, it is not at all hard to believe that he watched a John Wayne movie, didn`t like it, and ordered him to be killed.
Stalin considered himself very knowledgeable in the field of arts (just like Hitler, many dictators were people who had artistic inclinations, but were very untalented).
For instance, the famous composer Shostakovich fell from grace when Stalin went to see the opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" which was a great success with the public and official Soviet criticism - only Stalin didn`t like it.
The next day, the opera was cancelled and Shostakovich had to publicly apologize for the work. He also had to "make up" for his "failures" by writing music which conformed to what Stalin saw as the style of "heroic realism".

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-04-2003, 03:50 PM:

How un-American! Surprised it hasn't come out before now, though. I have several books on my hero, John Wayne.

How do we know this isn't another one of those internet rumors?

Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 08-05-2003, 06:59 AM:

This is the first I've heard this story [Confused]

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 08-05-2003, 09:47 AM:

Wayne's dressing room at Warner Brothers??? [Confused]

Wasn't he working for Republic Pictures at that time?

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-05-2003, 10:33 AM:

EXCELLENT observation, Ken! First clue that the story is bunk. Also, do actors maintain offices at studios? I've never heard of that. Producers, yes, but his production activities around that time (e.g., Angel and the Badman) were purely independent.

Posted by Chris Markiewicz (Member # 1415) on 08-05-2003, 06:27 PM:

Check out "Big Jim McLain" (1952), in which John Wayne and James Arness are the noble agents of the HUAC uncovering a plot by the dastardly Reds to take over the labor unions in Hawaii (!). The leader of the Communists is played by Alan Napier (Alfred from the Batman TV series). Filmed mostly on location in Honolulu. A picture so bad it's funny, but an interesting window into what Hawaii used to look like.

Posted by Tom Doyle (Member # 1474) on 08-08-2003, 06:00 AM:

Well, the story is indeed true. By that I mean the news report - I can't vouch for the author's claims. I don't remember where I first spotted it, but here's a link to a report with a little more detail:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3114963.stm

I've never read anything by this author so I can't say how reliable he might be.

When I saw the story, I couldn't help but think that this would have been a pretty good movie. I, for one, would have liked to see John Wayne pummeling the living daylights out of Stalin at the end!