Having had minor film roles as the sound era was coming into Hollywood during the late 1920s, John Wayne finally had his big break with The Big Trail.
The 23-year-old prop boy was spotted by director Raoul Walsh moving studio furniture when he cast him in the Western’s starring role as Breck Coleman.
The filmmaker suggested that the young Marion Morrison use Anthony Wayne as his stage name after the Revolutionary War General “Mad” Anthony Wayne.
However, the Fox Studios boss Winfield Sheehan thought it sounded “too Italian”, so he suggested “John Wayne” instead.
The Big Trail would be the first big-budget outdoor movie of the sound era, filmed in the still largely empty American Southwest with hundreds of extras with a budget of a then-whopping $2 million. Although the 70mm epic would be a massive box office flop, the film would be praised decades later by modern critics and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress in 2006. As shared by the John Wayne estate on Instagram this week, it turns out Wayne had the crew in fits of laughter that resulted in a new nickname on set.
The estate shared: “During the filming of The Big Trail (1930), John Wayne was working alongside a Crow Indian actor who had a great sense of humour. In one scene, Duke’s character was supposed to have a serious standoff with the Native warriors. The director called for a dramatic stare-down, with Duke towering over the group. The Crow actor, straight-faced, looked up at Wayne and said, ‘You sure are big. Must’ve taken two mothers to raise you.’ Duke, caught off guard, let out a deep chuckle and replied, ‘Nah, just one tough one.’ The whole crew burst into laughter, and from then on, the Crow actor called him “Two Mothers” whenever they crossed paths. John Wayne, always up for a joke, took it in stride, even signing an autograph for him with the note: ‘From your pal, Two Mothers.’”