I don't even remember what movie this was in. It was something I saw in an Army/Air Force theater around 1970 with my buddy Dave, a fellow airman and a big John Wayne fan. It's a real short scene, really just a shot, of John Wayne walking into a saloon. That's all. Just the Duke walking in through the swinging doors. The thing was, John Wayne had a way of walking that wasn't like anybody else. He had a barrel chest and no hips and a midsection that expanded some as he got older. And he had this distinct way of walking, where his arms would swing from side to side across his body as he moved. So when he walked into the saloon swinging his arms like that, Dave and I broke out laughing. Nobody else did. Except for the movie's soundtrack and the faint whir of the projector, you could've heard a pin drop. And then we remembered where we were: in an armed forces theater, with the Vietnam War going on a few thousand miles away, surrounded by people who probably didn't care much for these two low-ranking goofballs laughing at the Duke. We were both real quiet after that, and while I've pretty much forgotten the rest of the picture, I still remember that shot of John Wayne walking into the saloon. We weren't laughing at the Duke. We were laughing because it was perfect. It was pure John Wayne.
