+ 윌리엄 웰먼(William A. Wellman, 1896~1975) 감독은 50년대에 듀크와 영화 3편을 찍었다. [Island in the Sky](1953), [The High and the Mighty](1954), [Blood Alley](1955).

Film Comment online에 윌리엄 웰먼 말년의 인터뷰가 있더라. 인터뷰어 Scott Eyman이 듀크 나이를 대략 66세로 얘기하는 것으로 보건대 73년 쯤에 한 인터뷰인가 보다.

"WILD BILL": WILLIAM A. WELLMAN

그 중에서 듀크에 대한 부분만 발췌.

Did you like working with Wayne?

Did I like working with Wayne? Even though he's the greatest star this business has ever had, hell, no! I signed a contract with Batjac to make six pictures for them - three with Wayne, three without him. Of the three with Wayne, I was responsible for acquiring two - Island in the Skyand The High and the Mighty. How old is he, anyway?

Sixty-six, I think.

Well, he's pretty goddamn old to be a star, but the son of a bitch will keep going until he drops dead on top of a horse.

The problem is, he's a very set guy. Stubborn as hell. And he doesn't get along with directors, except for two. He gets along with Ford and he gets along with me. The only time we had trouble, I called him on it.

Which picture was this?

I think it was The High and the Mighty. I told him, "Look, I'm a goddamn sight better director than you are and you're a goddamn sight better actor than I am. And you coming back here and doing my work is going to be just as foolish as my going up and doing your personality with that lousy fairy walk that you've got. So behave yourself and we'll make a picture." And he did.

Of all your films that I've seen The High and the Mighty is my favourite.

Damn good picture. I own a part of it and, financially, it's the best picture I ever made. I own a third of it and it made a lot of money.

I'm inclined to agree with you about Wayne as a director, although he told me that his films The Alamo and The Green Berets did fifteen million the first time around [interview, FOCUS 20].

If you believe that, you're crazy. The Alamo fell right on its ass.

Well, I wasn't going to tell him he was full of shit.

Well, I'll tell him he's full of shit. As a director, he stinks. That's another problem with him: he's got great ego, he's very stuck on himself, and I think that's true of almost all actors.

What attracted you to Blood Alley?

Blood Alley I did because everything was all screwed up. They were having trouble with their director, Mitchum was acting up, and all sorts of other garbage. Wayne asked me as a favour if I'd do it. I said, "Yeah, I'll do it, but I think it's silly."

So I had Mitchum fired (it was one of those times when he was walking six inches above the ground) and took over. It was a story about rescuing Chinese. Now I think the Chinese are wonderful people: the kids are cute little fellows, the women are gorgeous, the men are hardworking. But goddamit, rescuing a bunch of Chinese doesn't mean anything to anybody.

I said, "Look, Duke, there's been one picture in the whole history of the business about the Chinese that was a success: The Good Earth." If they'd have filled the goddamn ferry-boat with dames, you'd have had something. But he didn't agree with me, so I did the best job I could on the thing, but it was no good. it wasn't exactly rotten, but it sure as hell was in the middle.

+ 인터뷰 전문 백업.
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