Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was a
diehard movie enthusiast and essentially determined what would and
would not appear in the films produced within his country. He was the
ultimate Russian film critic, and by ultimate, I mean that he had more than one director shot when the product was found to be wanting. He had
trouble sometimes distinguishing between fiction and reality and
often made major policy decisions for his country based on something
he saw on the silver screen.
Stalin identified with the movie stereotype of the lone cowboy who reluctantly goes
into town and kills off all of the bad guys simply because it was the
right thing to do. Although he was an admirer of John Wayne's frequent appearances in such roles, he also detested Wayne personally because Wayne was a fervent anti-communist. As a result, Stalin
ordered a hit on Wayne in 1951 and sent two Soviet agents to America to kill
him.
The FBI obtained word of the plot and
notified Wayne. The two Soviet agents, ironically masquerading as FBI
agents, arranged to meet Wayne at the studio. The real FBI agents arrested the Soviets and, at Wayne's request, put them temporarily in the custody of
the Duke and some of his stuntmen.
Wayne and the stunt crew took the
would-be assassins down to the beach, indicated that the Soviets would be shot, and made them kneel while holding pistols at the back
of their heads. The movie crew then shifted their weapons to the side
and fired blanks. Wayne then turned the Soviets back over to the
FBI. The Soviet agents, realizing that Stalin would not be pleased with
them if they were shipped back to Mother Russia with their task
not completed, defected and cooperated with the American authorities.
In 1958, Wayne had an
opportunity to speak privately with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev
revealed that he had cancelled the assassination order upon Stalin's
death.
Notwithstanding Khrushchev's disclaimer, there were additional communist attempts on Wayne's life, including one in Mexico in 1953 when Wayne was filming Hondo. There was also a plot in 1955 by homegrown pinkos in Burbank, California, which was derailed by Wayne's stunt crew who ran the would-be murderers out of town. In 1966, when Wayne was visiting American troops in Vietnam, a Red Chinese sniper was captured who was attempting to kill Wayne. The sniper revealed that Chairman Mao Tse Tung had put a price on Wayne's head.
Notwithstanding Khrushchev's disclaimer, there were additional communist attempts on Wayne's life, including one in Mexico in 1953 when Wayne was filming Hondo. There was also a plot in 1955 by homegrown pinkos in Burbank, California, which was derailed by Wayne's stunt crew who ran the would-be murderers out of town. In 1966, when Wayne was visiting American troops in Vietnam, a Red Chinese sniper was captured who was attempting to kill Wayne. The sniper revealed that Chairman Mao Tse Tung had put a price on Wayne's head.
These assassination attempts were first publicly revealed in
film historian Michael Munn's book John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth. Munn cites interviews with several independent sources for his information; unfortunately, all of these sources were dead by the time the book was published. However, despite the bizarre nature of the tale, it is probably true. Stalin (as well as Chairman Mao) clearly had the arrogance, ruthlessness, and chutzpah to order a hit on an American movie icon. And, if anyone could pursuade the FBI to turn over enemy agents to a private party for personal retribution in the days of J. Edgar Hoover, it certainly would have been John Wayne, who was the poster child for arch-conservatism and anti-communism as well as being a Hollywood demi-god.
No comments:
Post a Comment