John Wayne's boozy night out ended in 'embarrassing' donation to the Catholic Church
John Wayne was left red-faced after an angry outburst at the Catholic Church, which was sparked by his guilt over romantic scenes in one of his movies.
Donovan's Reef: Official trailer
In 1963, John Wayne took the lead in the adventure comedy Donovan's Reef, sharing the screen with Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, and Elizabeth Allen.
Filmed in Hawaii but set against the backdrop of French Polynesia, John once more collaborated with the acclaimed four-time Oscar-winning director John Ford.
Ford's failing health meant that the actor inadvertently took on much of the directing duties himself, as the director abstained from his usual drinking bouts with the star.
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Instead, the actor found a drinking buddy in co-star Lee, whose heavy drinking led to such severe hangovers that shooting schedules were frequently adjusted.
One evening, after having a few too many, Wayne had an outburst against the Catholic Church upon seeing a group of priests, but he quickly regretted his actions and made an impromptu donation to a church charity, reports the Express.
John also harbored embarrassment over his role in Donovan's Reef, feeling uneasy about the romantic scenes with the younger leading lady, confessing, "The script really called for a younger guy. I felt awkward romancing a young girl at my age."
A similar discomfort occurred during Rio Bravo, where at 51, he was cast opposite 27-year-old Angie Dickinson, who nonetheless thought Wayne was "adorable" during filming.
John, then 55, suggested to director John Ford that his frequent co-star Maureen O'Hara, rather than the much younger Elizabeth Allen, should play the role of Amelia, as he was uncomfortable with the significant age difference between himself and 33-year-old Elizabeth.
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However, Ford, known for his gruff demeanor, dismissed the idea with a sharp retort, "Are you going to be the one who tells her she's perfect because she's old?"
Following the release of Donovan's Reef, John resolved that in future films, his romantic counterparts would be age-appropriate, reflecting his personal views on the matter.
Interestingly, this concern over the age gap came even as his third wife, Pilar Pallete, who is still vivacious at 96 today, was exactly the same age as Elizabeth Allen during the making of the movie.
With close to 200 on screen appearances on film and television, John Wayne was the undoubted superstar of Hollywood's yesteryears.
His name on the cast is what would pull audiences to theatres. Through his five-decade career, he starred in some Oscar-worthy, critically acclaimed films, while some were nowhere near that level of praise - and he himself once admitted that he wasn't a fan of the 1973 western movie Cahill, US Marshal.
The movie was at its heart a film about an absentee father neglecting his two sons and John played widower Cahill, a US Marshal who put work above his family life and spent all his time trying to catch outlaws while overlooking his young sons aged 10 and 17.
Cahill's children then decide that the only way to get their father's attention is to turn to lawlessness, so that he might pay some attention to them.
The 1973 film translated into a measly role for John and became more about the two boys playing his sons. Wayne publicly admitted, "We rushed that picture, and it shows. We should have had a better script."
