White Hats and Good Guys

So there I was once again , out drawing the bad guys . Riding off into the sunset . Anyone my age , OK almost 47, play acted as a cowboy. They were rugged,tough,gritty,with a basic code of conduct. They were the good guys of my Saturday cinema watching. Usually each Saturday I can recall watching mid afternoon movies. Often they were westerns. That is where I was introduced to my two favorite cowboys , John Wayne and Audie Murphy.

Audie Murphy didn't make as many as the Duke , but something about him was so cool. He wasn't that big of a man and perhaps that is what made me think he was great , since I was a bit small . He was a gunslinger and always the fastest. I can still recall the time he played a bit of a bad guy. Being only young it was hard to watch my movie "hero" play a bad guy. But in the end he did save the day.

But like many my age and older , the cowboy of all cowboys is the Duke , John Wayne. I used to get my chips and pop ,  settling in to enjoy Duke bust the bads guys. He played a cowboy with strength,walking tall . His was tough as nails,loyal,wasn't always perfect but knew what was right and stood for justice.Unlike the trend in so many movies today , were the hero is conflicted , anti-hero, John's characters were black and white good guys .The only time he played a bit of a conflicted soul was in the excellent movie The Searchers. No the Duke was the cowboy.

I think looking back I loved these type of movies because the good guys always won. The hero would save the day but not without some hard rides.It was a time to escape .I also thought I would have made a good white hat.

They don't make many westerns anymore.Which is ashame. They are remaking one the Dukes greats , True Grit . I just hope they honor the memory of John Wayne by making a movie that will live up to the his name.