When it comes to movie stardom, the name John Wayne has become synonymous with critical acclaim and audience appeal, and it’s no surprise that several of his films have achieved the elusive certified fresh distinction on Rotten Tomatoes. This special honor gets awarded to movies that meet a particular set of circumstances, including a Tomatometer score of 75% or higher, at least five reviews from Top Critics, and a minimum of 80 reviews. By bringing all these factors together, a certified fresh rating means a film has proved itself astounding on all fronts.
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Many of Wayne’s most rewatchable movies have been certified fresh, as his astounding adventures across war, Westerns, and even romance pictures have stood the test of time. From must-watch black-and-white Westerns to truly astounding World War II movies, Wayne proved himself time and time again as one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars. As among the greatest icons of classic American cinema, Wayne’s career in the movies flourished from the silent era of the 1920s right through the modern New Hollywood era of the 1970s.
7 Stagecoach (1939)
John Wayne as the Ringo Kid
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As one of the crowning achievements of John Wayne and director John Ford’s fruitful creative partnership, Stagecoach was an incredible must-watch black-and-white Western. With Claire Trevor and Wayne in the starring roles, Stagecoach was an early hit that cemented Wayne’s status as a leading man and contributed to his legacy as an icon of the Western genre. Following a group of travelers who were threatened by a group of Apache tribesmen, although Stagecoach has been criticized for its depiction of Native Americans as simplistic savages, it’s still regarded as one of the most influential movies ever made.
Stagecoach presented an almost mythic representation of America, utilizing allegorical storytelling and featuring unique and interesting characters. While most Westerns of the 1930s feel like firm products of their time, Stagecoach was a truly intelligent film that transcended the trappings of its genre to feel wholly timeless. Stagecoach was hugely influential, with director Orson Welles calling it the perfect lesson in filmmaking, claiming to have watched it 40 times (via Express) in preparation for making Citizen Kane.
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John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Stagecoach (1939) |
The Ringo Kid |
100% |
86% |
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9/10 Stagecoach Not RatedWesternAdventure
Stagecoach, directed by John Ford, follows a diverse group of travelers on a stagecoach journey through dangerous Apache territory. As they face the threat of Geronimo, the passengers confront personal challenges and gain insight into each other’s lives amidst the perilous landscape.
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*Availability in US Director John Ford Release Date March 3, 1939 Writers Dudley Nichols Cast Claire Trevor , John Wayne , George Bancroft , Andy Devine , Thomas Mitchell , John Carradine , Donald Meek , Berton Churchill , Louise Platt , Tim Holt , Tom Tyler , Chief John Big Tree , Yakima Canutt , Francis Ford , William Hopper , Chris-Pin Martin , Paul McVey , Jack Pennick , Harry Tenbrook , Whitehorse Character(s) Dallas , The Ringo Kid , Marshal Curly Wilcox , Buck , Doc Josiah Boone , Hatfield , Samuel Peacock , Ellsworth H. Gatewood , Lucy Mallory , Lt. Blanchard , Luke Plummer , Indian Scout , Cavalry Scout , Billy Pickett , Sergeant , Chris , Pony Express Agent , Bartender in Tonto , Telegraph Operator , Indian Chief Runtime 96 Minutes Main Genre Western Expand
6 Back To Bataan (1945)
John Wayne as Col. Joseph Madden
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John Wayne showcased his talent for playing war heroes in Back to Bataan, a World War II movie that depicted the events that took place after the Battle of Bataan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The Battle of Bataan was among the most intense phases of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during WWII and occurred following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on U.S. soil. With Colonel Joseph Madden, The Battle of Bataan showcased the American forces’ attempts to rescue remaining U.S. troops from a Japanese prisoners-of-war camp.
Back to Bataan was a powerful showcase of the grim realities of war that featured intensely powerful battle sequences. Wayne’s performance stood out as he captured the fractured humanity behind all the violence and warfare and the lives on the line in pursuing their mission. While it’s clear that many American war movies made during the early to mid-1940s were produced as wartime propaganda to sway public support, Back to Bataan has truly stood the test of time.
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|
John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Back To Bataan (1945) |
Col. Joseph Madden |
86% |
62% |
5 The Quiet Man (1952)
John Wayne as Sean Thornton
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Of the five collaborations between John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, The Quiet Man stood out as their most timeless. From its beautiful depiction of rural Ireland to the heartfelt love story of Sean Thornton and Kate Danaher, The Quiet Man was a poignant romantic comedy, an ode to Ireland, and a showcase of how setting can be just as vital to a movie’s success as the characters themselves. The Quiet Man has become a truly iconic film, leading hordes of American tourists to travel to Cong, County Mayo, to see this John Ford movie’s rolling green hills.
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Portraying Ireland as it has never been seen on the big screen before, The Quiet Man showcased the idyllic way of life in the fictional community of Inisfree, a poetic place whose name was even based on a poem by W.B. Yeats. Telling the story of a retired American boxer falling in love with an outgoing, red-headed Irish woman, The Quiet Man succeeded due to the excellent chemistry between Wayne and O’Hara. While Wayne made a name for himself as a Western and war hero on screen, The Quiet Man showcased a softer, more sensitive side to his skillset.
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John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Quiet Man (1952) |
Sean Thornton |
91% |
91% |
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The Quiet Man NRRomanceComedyDrama
The Quiet Man is a 1952 romantic drama directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne as a retired boxer who returns to his Irish roots. Set in the idyllic countryside, the film follows his attempts to reclaim his family’s homestead while pursuing a romance with a spirited local woman played by Maureen O’Hara. Known for its vivid scenery and cultural depiction, the film explores themes of identity and tradition.
Director John Ford Release Date August 21, 1952 Writers Frank S. Nugent , John Ford , Maurice Walsh Cast John Wayne , Maureen O’Hara , Victor McLaglen , Barry Fitzgerald , Ward Bond , Mildred Natwick , Francis Ford Runtime 129 Minutes Main Genre Drama Expand
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4 The Searchers (1956)
John Wayne as Ethan Edwards
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The Searchers was one of the Western genre’s defining films, featuring some of the most beautiful imagery ever captured on screen. With John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, a middle-aged Civil War veteran who spends years looking for his abducted niece, this story of revenge and retribution has earned a reputation as a categoric classic of American cinema. The use of VistaVision and Technicolor in The Searchers provided it with the visually stunning aesthetic that helped it stand out among John Ford’s acclaimed filmography.
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While The Searchers has since been criticized for its harsh depiction of Native Americans, it was also notable for being a more complex depiction of indigenous peoples than had commonly been seen in the genre at that time. This Wayne Western led the way for the more self-aware revisionist movies that would come later, such as Clint Eastwood’s Best Picture winner Unforgiven, a film that could not exist without the influence of The Searchers. By embracing the darker, more psychological sides of the Western genre, The Searchers opened the door for more complex themes and ideas.
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John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Searchers (1956) |
Ethan Edwards |
87% |
88% |
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7.3/10 The Searchers pg-13WesternDrama
The Searchers is a 1956 Western drama starring John Wayne. Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards, who goes searching for his missing niece after his brother’s family is killed by the Comanche tribe. Helmed by director John Ford, The Searchers is now considered one of the greatest American Westerns ever made.
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*Availability in US Director John Ford Release Date March 13, 1956 Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Writers John Ford Cast John Wayne Runtime 119minutes Budget $3.75million Expand
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3 Rio Bravo (1959)
John Wayne as John T. Chance
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Director Howard Hawks and John Wayne came together for the extraordinary Western Rio Bravo. This acclaimed film saw Wayne play a Texan sheriff arresting a powerful rancher and enlisting the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter to hold him in jail as the rancher’s gang move in on them. With a litany of mismatched characters, Rio Bravo worked well due to Hawks’ impressive direction, the strong performances of its ensemble cast, and the impressively conjured sense of atmosphere.
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Rio Bravo was a movie packed with style that director Quentin Tarantino described as his favorite “hangout” film (via New Yorker), which he described as movies that viewers watch repeatedly just to hang out with the characters on the screen once again. In stark contrast to the Western classic High Noon, rather than showcase its heroes’ inner conflict and turmoil, Rio Bravo was characterized by an unwavering commitment to public duty. While the 141-minute runtime of Rio Bravo can feel bloated, Hawks’ made expert use of his extra time to craft a film packed with style.
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John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Rio Bravo (1959) |
John T. Chance |
96% |
91% |
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Rio Bravo PassedDramaWestern
Rio Bravo is a Western film directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. The 1959 release sees Wayne playing a local sheriff that must hold a local criminal in jail until a U.S. Marshall can arrive to pick him up.
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*Availability in US Director Howard Hawks Release Date April 4, 1959 Studio(s) Armada Productions Distributor(s) Warner Bros Writers Jules Furthman , Leigh Brackett , B.H. McCampbell Cast John Wayne , Dean Martin , Ricky Nelson , Angie Dickinson , Walter Brennan Runtime 141 Minutes Main Genre Drama Expand
2 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
John Wayne as Tom Doniphon
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was a powerful exploration of the very idea of mythmaking. Using the Western genre to comment upon itself, this John Ford classic paired John Wayne and James Stewart in an expertly crafted deconstruction of the myth of the Old West. By peeling back the curtain on the glorification of bandits, cowboys, and outlaws, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was a stepping stone toward more self-aware movies in Hollywood and was a precursor to the New Hollywood movement that would kick off with the release of Bonnie and Clyde five years later.
Through the use of Western tropes and clichés, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance explored how legends were created and that it was only through a loose interpretation of the truth that known backstories of Western heroes were created. The themes and ideas of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance can be summed up well by its iconic quote: “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance showcased the power of storytelling by representing the true complexities at the heart of stories of heroes and villains.
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|
John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) |
Tom Doniphon |
95% |
92% |
1 True Grit (1969)
John Wayne as Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn
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By 1969, John Wayne had already carved out his legacy as a true legend of the Western genre and could lean even more heavily into his iconic status in late-period Westerns like True Grit. As the hard-drinking, one-eyed U.S. marshal Rooster Cogburn, Wayne embodied a new kind of Western star playing an antiheroic protagonist with a vengeance. Following the hard-nosed Cogburn and a Texas ranger helping a stubborn teenager track down her murdered father’s killer in Native American territory, True Grit brought together a hodgepodge of mismatched characters to add yet another classic to Wayne’s impressive body of work.
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By playing an older, wayward character like Cogburn, Wayne’s role in True Grit felt like an acknowledgment that he had fallen behind the times as he embraced playing a complex and less traditional Western hero. Released around the same time as The Wild Bunch and Once Upon a Time in the West, True Grit signaled the Western genre’s moving from one era into the next, as Hollywood underwent great change during the subsequent years. While the Coen brothers’ acclaimed remake in 2010 added to True Grit’s appeal, the original has remained a vital piece of Western movie history.
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John Wayne Movie |
Character |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
True Grit (1969) |
Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn |
88% |
84% |
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True Grit (1969) GAdventureDramaWestern
True Grit, directed by Henry Hathaway and released in 1969, stars John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, a U.S. Marshal tasked with helping a determined young girl, played by Kim Darby, track down her father’s murderer. The film is based on Charles Portis’ novel of the same name and features Glen Campbell in a supporting role. True Grit is a Western that explores themes of justice and moral ambiguity in the 1870s American frontier.
Director Henry Hathaway Release Date June 11, 1969 Writers Charles Portis , Marguerite Roberts Cast John Wayne , Glen Campbell , Kim Darby , Jeremy Slate , Robert Duvall , Dennis Hopper Runtime 128 minutes Main Genre Western Expand
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Sources: Express, New Yorker