The 26-year-old later said of the two political conservatives: “They laughed and drank and told dirty jokes and slapped each other on the back. They tried to draw me into their circle but I couldn’t go along with them. The machismo thing repelled me because it seemed so forced and unnecessary.”
When filming began, Wayne had serious concerns over Clift being manly enough to play a rugged cowboy character who could stand up to him.
The young actor, who was considered one of Hollywood’s original method actors alongside Marlon Brando and James Dean, burned himself on the thigh with a blank cartridge while practising quick draws on the first day.
He was also nervous about standing up to Wayne, but was spurred on by Hawks, who encouraged him to see his scenes with Duke as David and Goliath. The director told Clift to underplay his scenes with Wayne before their first on-screen confrontation.
READ MORE: John Wayne was ‘enraged’ by Kirk Douglas – ‘We never saw eye-to-eye’