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John Wayne may not have served in World War 2, but he made up for it by starring in many patriotic films about the conflict, including one that celebrates its 70th anniversary this week.
Back in 1955 he starred in The Sea Chase as German Captain Karl Ehrlich, complete with Duke’s usual southern drawl.
Despite losing his command for refusing to support the Nazi regime, the naval officer is tasked with transporting Lana Turner’s spy Elsa.
This cat and mouse adventure follows a German steam freighter racing to return home from Sydney, after Hitler invaded Poland, while being chased across the seven seas by the Australian and British navies.
The picture was directed by John Farrow, but Wayne didn’t think he was good at his job and blamed him for issues on the production.
Wayne later said of Farrow: “[He] prove[d] to me that he should not be put in charge of a producer-director position. He failed to tell the good story that was in the book [adapted from Andrew Geer’s novel of the same name]. But now, we’re talking about a matter of opinion and that’s only my opinion. For some, he may be considered a fine director.”
The filmmaker also didn’t get along with Turner on The Sea Chase set, as the leading lady felt he gave her no direction at all and claimed he was unpleasant to her and the other actors. Meanwhile, Duke suffered from two ear infections during filming in Hawaii, which specifically impacted his performance in the movie.
Just prior to principal photography, Wayne went scuba diving in Hawaii and developed an ear infection, which meant he was in severe pain for much of The Sea Chase shoot. As a result, many of his scenes had to be captured only on his good side, because the infected ear was so swollen. Between takes, he’d even have to go and lie down to rest due to the soreness.
