John Wayne in The Quiet Man

In the short story that spawned the movie, the "Quiet Man" was a small guy, and he, being a former pro fighter, ko'd his much larger brother-in-law with just a few punches.

 

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Funny story. Leo Gordon was an actor about whom director Don Siegel said "Leo Gordon was the scariest man I have ever met." He did time in San Quentin for armed robbery when young and was a genuine tough guy that NOBODY in Hollywood messed with. Anyway, I'll let Leo tell it:

Leo recalled, “In the scene in ‘Hondo’ where he kills me down by the stream, I reach for my gun and he shoots me. I buckled up and pitched forward. Wayne hollered, ‘Cut! Cut!’ even though John Farrow was directing. Wayne says to me, ‘What was that? When you get hit in the gut with a slug you go flying backwards.’ I pulled up my shirt to show him where I’d really been shot in the gut (back when he was arrested for armed robbery). ‘Yeah? I got hit point blank and I went forward.’”

 

Here's some images from Google. Scary looking dude: ****s://***.google.com/search?q=john+wayne,+leo+gordon,+when+I+got+shot&client=firefox-a&hs=Lm0&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=DGSuUZv8EISGyAGri4H4BQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=800&bih=437#client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=leo+gordon&oq=leo+gordon&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i24l7.262152.264772.3.264984.10.0.10.0.2.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.15.img.YYw0i3ah2AU&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47244034,d.aWc&fp=3264ee19a90791f3&biw=800&bih=437

 

William Smith, aka Falconetti, would have kicked John Wayne's behind. Unlike Wayne and a lot of other Hollywood tough guys, Smith was a good character actor who was also a legitimate tough guy with a lot of fighting ability.

 

The owners are completely raping this forum.

****sake, what's the point if you can't link to anything.It's halved the worth of the classic at a stroke.

Incompetent hack *******s.

 

Bronson looked 'n acted tough on and off the set, but Palance was the real thing 'n would've cleaned his clock.

 

Robert Ryan and Ryan O'Neal were both former boxers.

 

Jim Brown, former NFL football great and Bronson's co-star in THE DIRTY DOZEN, had the following to say about Charlie in his autobiography "Out of Bounds":

I flew over to London with Charles Bronson. He was the strangest mofo I had ever met. I sat right next to him, man did not say one word to me. He stared straight ahead, appeared to be brooding. I spoke to him once, but I knew not to say too much. After that, I was surprised at how much help he gave me on the set. I like men I can't intimidate, and I liked Bronson. He was tough and forward, if you were weak you'd be scared of him. He used to be a coal miner, never pretended he hadn't. Bronson was in tremendous physical condition. He would walk to a car, stop, jump right over it. The London women were after his ass. He wasn't a face man, but they liked his body and they liked his walk - Bronson had a great walk, tight and contained. Watching Bronson, you could tell he thought he could fight. I don't know if Bronson could fight or not, but you didn't want to **** with him. The mental thing he carried around was no joke.

 

interesting you mention the Jim Brown story,SB. Bronson did carrry himself that way on and off camera.

A bud I grew up with, Michael Dante, who'd been a pro baseball player and a great all-'round athlete, played Elvis Presley's chief sparring partner in KID GALLAHAD. He invited me to the set.

Bronson played Gallahad's trainer. Mushy Callahan, who was probably in his late 70s and had been a Jr. welter champ, was the boxing tech advisor on the film.

Bronson needled him constantly in front of the cast 'n crew 'bout bein' punchy -- gettin' a big kick outta mocking how he spoke. Mushy kept his composure -- stayed professional. Bronson was a star.

But Mike Dante was furious at Bronson's lack of respect for Callahan. At lunch break, he got in Bronson's face 'n challenged to fight in the parking lot. Bronson, paused and walked away.

After lunch, he stopped taunting Callahan.

 

Jim Brown would have cleaned Wayne's clock also.

 

You had to like certain things for that movie to click, I liked it.

 

~ Mushy Callahan ~


To JG,

Great story.

Despite the Irish name, Mushy was a Jew from Manhattan. Had a good career in the 1920s before heading out to LA for work in Hollywood. I remember him making TV appearances as guest in a couple of shows. Seemed like a good guy.

 

Philo Beddo TKO6 John "The Quiet Man" Wayne

 

William smith is one of the greatest humans on this planet.

If carlsberg did lives, his would be the best

 

I enjoyed the film. Immensely. Hollywood being Hollywood,though,all the cliches were there. I always half expect to see a leprachaun pop up each time I watch it