John Wayne’s first film as director was 1960’s The Alamo, however he was technically the uncredited one a yr afterward one other Western.

Duke starred in The Comancheros as Captain Jake Cutter within the post-Civil War Western, that at one level was going to co-star Charlton Heston.

During filming in Utah, Michael Curtiz, who famously directed Casablanca, had change into critically in poor health for a lot of the shoot.

So, on the times that he wasn’t nicely sufficient to work, Wayne would step in and direct the film himself.

Duke, who was famously a political conservative, additionally wouldn’t put up with crew members supporting John F Kennedy on set.

On the primary day of taking pictures on The Comancheros, Wayne had a stand-off with the third assistant director Tom Mankiewicz.

It seems the crew member was sporting a button supporting the brand new US President John F Kennedy.

Duke, who had campaigned for Former Vice President Richard Nixon within the 1960 election and blamed JFK for dropping the Bay of Pigs invasion, informed him sternly: “I’d take that button off if I were you. We don’t advertise socialists on my set.”

This wasn’t the one time Wayne stood in for an in poor health director, as he’d find yourself doing the identical for George Sherman – who produced The Comancheros – on 1971’s Big Jake.

And but regardless of having the appropriate to a co-director credit score on each motion pictures, Duke refused each instances.

Curtiz died simply six months after the discharge of The Comancheros from terminal most cancers on April 10, 1962.