Rewind: Richard Attenborough on John Wayne, "The Great Escape," his wild WW II adventures & more 

Yes he is, & then contrast that to his role as Big X in The Great Escape. I know its just acting, but he just commands respect in that film, & then you see him as this monster in 10 Rillington Place. Its frightening.

He was a tremendous actor and a brilliant director. He’s left us such a great body of work. Not forgotten .

Michaela if you are American and you would like to see Richard at his best there are 2 great films he was in. 1 is the league of gentlemen it is about ex servicemen robbing a bank. And the 2nd is 10 Rillington place about a killer. He was masterful in that role.

Or an angry liberal actor

You know the origins of the word “politician” ? Poly is Latin for many and tick is a blood sucking parasite

@@barrymorgenstein201 He’s not angry.

Many intelligent politicians. You okay?

​@@barrymorgenstein201He was a liberal actor

Great role but it certainly is up for debate if you’ve seen Brighton Rock.

Agree with Rillington place...he was superb in that....👍

Seance on Wet Afternoon is my vote for his best.

Fantastic performance

This! How the hell did the Gestapo let him keep that white overcoat?!!!

B.s

I'm afraid that is not true, he tried to enlist but was knocked back because of his age, 34 at the time of Pearl Harbor, plus his dodgy knee which gave him his signature walk, a legacy of the stunt work performed early in his career.

@@dcanmore Clark Gable was 6 years older .

@@telstar4772 Gable and Jimmy Stewart both successfully joined the Air Force, Wayne was rejected by the Army.

@@dcanmore I just said that !, why didn't he enlist in the air force?. Instead he encourages others to join up and fight, even in the Vietnam conflict but stops his own son from joining 🙄

@@telstar4772 who knows, but he did join the USO and was commissioned into the OSS (forerunner of CIA), so if you can't join them, spy on them!

😂

The host first asked Attenborough about his experience in filming the movie 'Brannigan' (1974) with John Wayne and then about making a classic like 'The Great Escape' (1962). Nowhere it is asserted that John Wayne was in 'The Great Escape' . It were just two different topics.

@@gunterangel I admire your patience.

I feel sorry for you; no scratch that. you are not worth the pity

​@@johnhallett5846I'm sure they will live with or without your pity. 😂

Ralph Fiennes? Just one example

@@karlkarlos3545 Yep cheers !

Dominic Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman, in addition to the aforementioned Ralph Fiennes. All of them are very fine actors on both stage and screen.

Is wokeness or Wayne's politics our only choices? God, I hope not.

@@WilliamHerlihy-p4g Then do your own thing matey

Sure, Wayne despised common human decency as well. He would have been a great Trumper. Dodged the draft as well in contrast to many liberal actors he later attacked.

@@karlkarlos3545

@@karlkarlos3545

It was shite, but it was entertaining shite.

He had resisted that type character for years even as the Dirty Harry series of movies grew. Finally he decided to move his character in that direction. It didn’t work and thankfully he returned to his normal persona for all subsequent films.

As a Vietnam veteran, I'd vote for "The Green Berets" as John Wayne's worst movie. Pure dreck.

@@johnc2438 it was adapted from the book. The book was written by Robin Moore. In real life Moore approached a Green Beret officer and asked to accompany him to gather info for the book. The officer replied, “Go through the training and ask again.” And then turned and left. So Moore jumped through hoops to allowed to go through Airborne training and Ranger training before being to be imbedded. He was pro Green Beret from the start and he wrote the book as truthfully as he could telling what he saw. It was based on factual, historic events. He was also the first civilian to be buried with full military honors and an Airborne honor guard. (See the video) Read the book and compare it to the movie (hint, in the movie they changed Moore from a pro Green Beret author to a skeptical reporter played by David Jenson.

It was the lowest grossing of his films

Says the guy who never served in the military himself but likes to call out others who never served. LMFAO!

I don't know if the commenter served in the military or not. But John Wayne was 34 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. They didn't draft married men for the first year so he was 35, closer to 36 when he was draftable. He had bad knees from football. Few men of his age and physical condition would have been drafted. He was not a draft-dodger. Would he have been accepted had he volunteered? Maybe. And he regretted not volunteering but he had a family to support. He did not behave heroically. Neither did he behave dishonorably.

So you agree he was a great actor…..

Who are you talking about? There is no evidence from this interview that Richard Attenborough didn’t know about the real story of The Great Escape. He was asked a question about a Hollywood movie that he was in and answered it. He wasn’t asked about the fictionalisation of the story by Hollywood screenwriters.

You miss the part where he said they were just making an adventure story? It wasn't a documentary.

Blame that on the director and screenwriter, not on the actor.

It was a Movie! Yes it was based on Real Events but it was a MOVIE!! And what are Movies supposed to do? ENTERTAIN!!! As a previous comment stated the Great Escape wasn't a Documentary🙄 Now as for the American Actors involved they were Big Stars at that time Especially Steve Mcqueen. It has been Well documented that the Well known American Actors/Stars were in the movie to appeal to American Audiences who quite Frankly probably wouldn't have watched the movie unless there were American Actors in the picture! So Just Relax take a Deep Breath and Enjoy the Great Escape when it's shown again instead of analyzing how characters are depicted or the events that occurred!!😒

Yes quite right like bridge on river kwai However the makers of the great escape should have placed a fore Word about it being based on a true event however fictious names are used!

Don’t apologise for expressing what is merely your opinion.

Your comment...

It's like art and artists. The value is in the eye of the audience and if you see none that's OK.