Editing John Wayne (section)

=== 1950s ===
He lost the leading role of Jimmy Ringo in ''[[The Gunfighter]]'' (1950) to [[Gregory Peck]] due to his refusal to work for Columbia Pictures because its chief, [[Harry Cohn]], had mistreated him years before when he was a young contract player. Cohn had bought the project for Wayne, but Wayne's grudge was too deep, and Cohn sold the script to [[Twentieth Century Fox]], which cast Peck in the role Wayne badly wanted, but for which he refused to bend.{{sfn|Roberts|Olson|1995}}<ref>Hyams, J. ''[https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofweste0000hyam/page/109/ The Life and Times of the Western Movie]''. Gallery Books (1984), pp. 109–12. {{ISBN|0831755458}}</ref>

[[Batjac Productions|Batjac]], the production company co-founded by Wayne in 1952, was named after the fictional shipping company Batjak in ''[[Wake of the Red Witch]]'' (1948), a film based on the novel by [[Garland Roark]]. (A spelling error by Wayne's secretary was allowed to stand, accounting for the variation.){{sfn|Roberts|Olson|1995}} Batjac (and its predecessor, Wayne-Fellows Productions) was the arm through which Wayne produced many films for himself and other stars. Its best-known non-Wayne productions were ''[[Seven Men From Now]]'' (1956), which started the classic collaboration between director [[Budd Boetticher]] and star [[Randolph Scott]], and ''[[Gun the Man Down]]'' (1956) with contract player [[James Arness]] as an outlaw.

One of Wayne's most popular roles was in ''[[The High and the Mighty (film)|The High and the Mighty]]'' (1954), directed by [[William Wellman]], and based on a novel by [[Ernest K. Gann]]. His portrayal of a heroic copilot won widespread acclaim. Wayne also portrayed aviators in ''[[Flying Tigers (film)|Flying Tigers]]'' (1942), ''[[Flying Leathernecks]]'' (1951), ''[[Island in the Sky (1953 film)|Island in the Sky]]'' (1953), ''[[The Wings of Eagles]]'' (1957), and ''[[Jet Pilot (1957 film)|Jet Pilot]]'' (1957).

He appeared in nearly two dozen of John Ford's films over 20 years, including ''[[She Wore a Yellow Ribbon]]'' (1949), ''[[The Quiet Man]]'' (1952), and ''[[The Wings of Eagles]]'' (1957). The first movie in which he called someone "Pilgrim", Ford's ''[[The Searchers]]'' (1956), is often considered to contain Wayne's finest and most complex performance.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KftACgAAQBAJ&pg=PT140|title=Not Thinkin'... Just Rememberin'... The Making of John Wayne's "The Alamo"|last=Farkis|first=John|date=March 25, 2015|publisher=BearManor Media|language=en|access-date=October 18, 2020|archive-date=March 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316114757/https://books.google.com/books?id=KftACgAAQBAJ&pg=PT140|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 14, 1958, [[Hal Kanter]]'s ''[[I Married a Woman]]'' starring [[George Gobel]] and [[Diana Dors]] had its Los Angeles opening. In it, Wayne had a cameo as himself.<ref>{{Cite web|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52604-I-MARRIED-A-WOMAN?cxt=filmography|access-date=June 12, 2021|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref> On October 2, [[John Huston]]'s ''[[The Barbarian and the Geisha]]'', in which Wayne played the lead and clashed with his director all the way, had its New York opening.<ref>{{Cite web|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52474-THE-BARBARIAN-AND-THE-GEISHA?cxt=filmography|access-date=June 12, 2021|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref>

[[Howard Hawks]]'s ''[[Rio Bravo (film)|Rio Bravo]]'' premiered on March 18, 1959. In it, Wayne plays the lead with a supporting cast including [[Dean Martin]], [[Ricky Nelson]], [[Angie Dickinson]], [[Walter Brennan]] and [[Ward Bond]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53001-RIO-BRAVO?cxt=filmography|access-date=June 12, 2021|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref> John Ford's ''[[The Horse Soldiers]]'' had its world premiere in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]] on June 18. Set during the Civil War, Wayne shares the lead with [[William Holden]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52920-THE-HORSE-SOLDIERS?cxt=filmography|access-date=June 12, 2021|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref>

Wayne notoriously portrayed [[Genghis Khan]] in ''[[The Conqueror (1956 film)|The Conqueror]]'' (1956), which was panned by critics.