I am surprised that I missed this one. But it's better late than ever!
Yesterday marked 63 years that the John Wayne, Jack Warden, Lee Marvin, Cesar Romero and Elizabeth Allen feature, Donovan's Reef was released. It was the last feature Wayne was directed by John Ford.
I remember seeing it at the old Balboa Theater in the Vermont Ave./Manchester Blvd. section of Los Angeles with my parents and a couple of friends. It was paired with King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Donovan's Reef was the first movie shown of the double-feature. We mainly went there to see the Godzilla movie, but we enjoyed the light comedy set in the South Seas.
Above, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Allen and John Wayne in Donovan's Reef.
Yesterday, the official John Wayne Facebook page posted the following:
Today marks the 61st Anniversary of the release of Donovan's Reef (1963).
“Yeah, well, frangipani and flamethrowers donʼt seem to go together, but thatʼs the way it was.” —John Wayne Michael Patrick “Guns” Donovan in Donovan’s Reef
This is the final film in which John Wayne appeared under the direction of John Ford. Duke worked on 22 films with John Ford over the course of his career. Duke began in the props department herding geese on the set of John Ford's film Mother Machree (1927).
It is hard to believe that 61 years have passed since June 12, 1963. My parents took two friends and I to see King Kong vs. Godzilla at the Balboa Theater in the Vermont and Manchester area of Los Angeles. It was the co-feature with Donovan's Reef, which played first.
Fortunately, we weren't bored with it and found it enjoyable. I think this may have been the first John Wayne movie I saw theatrically. I was nine years old at the time.
Yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara western comedy, McLintock! It was a western version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
This was the second John Wayne movie I saw in 1963. I saw Donovan's Reef at the Balboa Theater in Los Angeles with King Kong vs. Godzilla, which was released in the U.S. in June of 1963. Two friends joined my parents and me to see the double-feature.
I do remember that the Kennedy cortege passed by a movie theater with McLintock! on the marquee. So November would be right.
Above, the Kennedy cortege about to pass a theater showing McLintock!
It is hard to believe sometimes how much time has passed.
Sixty years ago yesterday, Toho's King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) was released in the U.S. by Universal Pictures on June 26, 1963.
It was a heavily-edited version that really did an injustice to the original Japanese version. But, at least it was released theatrically around the country. It was the first Godzilla movie I saw on the big screen.
Above, looking south on Vermont Avenue, the Balboa Theater can be seen center left, early 1950s.
During its run, my parents took two friends and I to go see it at the Balboa Theater in Manchester/Vermont section of Los Angeles (the shopping area there got hit hard two years later during the Watts Riots of August 1965). It was the second feature to the John Ford/John Wayne comedy, Donovan's Reef. We sat up in the balcony.
After closing down, the Balboa Theater was used as a mosque. Currently, it is being used as a production studio.
Above, the Balboa Theater in the 1970s.
For us, it was a night of brawls. First, between John Wayne and Lee Marvin and then between King Kong and Godzilla.
Here's the Universal teaser trailer:
Back then, it was inconceivable to me that I would eventually interview actress Akiko Wakabayashi, know THE Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima and meet actor Kenji Sahara, all stars of King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Today marks 60 years since King Kong vs. Godzilla by Toho Co., Ltd. was released in Japanese theaters.
The movie holds the record for box office receipts in Japan at 11.2 million tickets during its initial theatrical run.
It was premiered in the United States on June 26, 1963 in New York City by Universal Pictures. It was the first Godzilla movie I saw in a theater. I saw it co-billed with Donovan's Reef at the Balboa Theater in Los Angeles.
For some unknown reason, I've been in the mood for watching John Wayne movies.
Last night, I went to El Paso Barbecue for dinner. A few doors away is the CD Trader, where new and used CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and LPs can be bought. Before going to dinner, I decided to go over to CD Trader after dinner to see if I can get two specific John Wayne movies: Donovan's Reef (1963) and McLintock! (1963). I have both on VHS, but I need to re-connect my VCR and stuff in order to use it.
So, after dinner, I headed over to CD Trader and I was in luck. They had both movies. They were used DVDs and Donovan's Reef was priced at $3.99 and McLintock! was priced at $5.99. I bought both and headed home for a "mini-John Wayne film festival".
Donovan's Reef was set in the South Pacific and it had a number of stars whose heydays were back in the 1940s such as Dorothy Lamour and Dick Foran. It was the last movie John Ford directed John Wayne in. It also co-starred Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, Cesar Romero and Elizabeth Allen. It was filmed on location in Hawaii.
McLintock! is a version of The Taming of the Shrew in a western setting with Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. McLintock! was a big box office hit when it was released. It co-starred Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne, Yvonne DeCarlo and Robert Lowery (who once played Batman in a movie serial). A new actress, Stefanie Powers, played Wayne's daughter.
Both Donovan's Reef and McLintock! were light comedies, I first saw Donovan's Reef at the Balboa Theater in Los Angeles. The second feature of the double-bill was King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Back in 1963, my parents took my friends and I to go see King Kong vs. Godzilla. It was playing with the John Wayne comedy, Donovan's Reef. It was directed by John Ford.
There was one actress in Donovan's Reef who seems to have disappeared: Jacqueline Malouf, who played Leilani Dedham, hereditary princess of the fictional island nation of Haleakaloha.
She also appeared, unbilled, in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. She appeared in television shows such as Petticoat Junction before leaving show business in 1966.
Her petite size allowed her to play an adolescent in Donovan's Reef, although she was a student at the University of Southern California at the time.
Unfortunately, Jacqueline Malouf is no longer with us as she passed away in 1999 of leukemia. Here is her obituary from the USC Alumni News:
JACQUELINE MALOUF NASSIR ’63, of Toluca Lake, Calif.; Oct. 12, 1999, at the age of 58. She was an actress, artist and teacher. While studying drama at USC, she was elected vice president of the Associated Student Body. She maintained life-long ties with the University and had been president of the San Diego Trojan League, the Trojan League in the San Fernando Valley and was a member of the Alumnae Coordinating Council of the USC Alumni Association. She also served as a member of the board of advisers of the USC School of Nursing. Before graduation, Nassir had already appeared in many feature films, including The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Donovan’s Reef (1963). She also appeared in episodes of the TV series “Petticoat Junction” and “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” As a painter, her French impressionistic-style seascapes were exhibited at the Claremont Art Guild, the Art Scene Gallery and the San Diego Portrait Society, among others. After her marriage in the mid-1960s, Nassir taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District and in a Montessori school. Sur-vivors include her husband, Andrew, two sons, her parents, a sister, a brother and a granddaughter.
UPDATE (11/17/22):
A Facebook John Wayne fan page posted the below photograph of the cast of Donovan's Reef. I had never seen it before. Jacqueline Malouf is at the far right.
