John Wayne infuriated James Caan on set – ‘I wanted to punch Duke’ | Films | Entertainment

Speaking on The Tonight Show in 1997, The Godfather star said of Wayne: “If he could intimidate you, he’d stay on you forever until you just crumbled. He’d try you. So this one night I remember I was between he and Robert Mitchum and Howard Hawks was about 72 at the time and we’re outside in this big old Western town.”

Caan shared how Wayne would approach him and tell him to turn around in a shot, take a step and “Give me that look that you me.” The young actor would do as Duke told him, but then director Howard Hawks would yell “Cut!” and tell him not to take the step.

The Western star then told him again to take half a step and this went back and forth until the Mississippi actor blew up. Caan admitted: “I was gonna hit him!” However, Mitchum ran up and broke up the confrontation just like with the chess game.

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