John Wayne Highlands, fierce fighters against communism, bestowed on Wayne a brass bracelet that he wore in the film and all subsequent films. Wayne finally won a Best Actor Oscar for "True Grit" (1969), two decades after his only other nomination. Wayne took on the role of the eponymous detective in the crime drama "McQ" (1974). His last film was "The Shootist" (1976), whose main character, J. B. Books, was dying of cancer—which Wayne himself succumbed to three years later. "The Shootist" (1976) contains numerous plot similarities to "The Gunfighter" of nearly thirty years before, a role which Wayne had wanted but
What Price Glory (1952 film) his shoulder and joins the Marines marching out. Quirt, meanwhile, can stay behind, due to his injury, but he also picks up his rifle and joins his company. Ford had directed the play in Los Angeles in 1949, with John Wayne in the lead, and had hoped to cast Wayne in the film. James Cagney originally agreed to do the picture because it was supposed to be a musical. However, by the time he learned that Ford had decided to shoot it as a straight film, it was too late for him to back out. The working title of the