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According to “John Wayne: Treasures” by David Welky and Randy Roberts, the brash Selznick hated almost every aspect of “Stagecoach.” He didn’t want to keep up with West, especially a downmarket star like Wayne. This project was not worthy of Ford, and was nowhere Selznick wanted to invest. Undaunted, Ford changed his pitch to appeal to the discerning producer. According to Welky and Roberts:
“Ford and his partner at Pioneer Pictures, Merian Cooper, explained the importance and potential of ‘Stagecoach’ as a new breed, a ‘classic Western.’ Gradually, Selznick began to come in. Perhaps with a few big-name stars – maybe Gary Cooper and Marlen Dietrich – the script’s love interest could develop enough to give the film box-office punch, he thought. “
Alas, Wayne and Claire Trevor have been cast. Realizing that they would get nowhere with Selznick, Ford and Cooper took the film to United Artists’ Walter Wanger, a milder producer who, if nothing else, would not bring his personality to the project. This proved to be a good thing, though Wanger, like the rest of Hollywood, did not understand Ford’s loyalty to Wayne. However, he was eager to connect with a filmmaker of Ford’s caliber, so he accepted the casting and the rest is history.
Funnily enough, Selznick got over his allergy to “classic Westerns,” and tried The apotheosis of the form with 1946’s gloriously overheated “Duel in the Sun.” Although the film has been well received by modern critics and championed by Martin Scorsese, it received mixed reviews at the time and fell short of commercial expectations (Selznick believed he had “Gone with the Wind” of Westerners). This was the last Western Selznick would make.
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