John Wayne

A wounded gunfighter is taken in and nursed by a family of Quakers, and their gentle faith slowly wears down his thirst for revenge against the man who killed his foster father. John Wayne produced and starred; it was the first film his own company made. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Romance

A federal marshal working undercover as a drifter arrives in a town being terrorized by a gang led by a respectable citizen who is secretly hoarding gold and driving out the ranchers. John Wayne stars in one of his early Lone Star westerns. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

A breezy, arrogant freshman arrives at Harvard and makes enemies of his roommate and a rival for a professor's daughter, then has to claw back his reputation on the crew and football teams. William Haines stars as Tom Brown, with Jack Pickford as his devoted friend and Mary Brian as the girl, in this MGM silent directed by Jack Conway. The film is best remembered today as John Wayne's screen debut, an uncredited turn as a Yale football player. The film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner square off over drilling rights on Indian land in Oklahoma — and over schoolteacher Catherine Allen — in a feud that escalates from fists to sabotage to a race against a burning oil field. John Wayne stars opposite Martha Scott and Albert Dekker, with Gabby Hayes, Marjorie Rambeau, and Dale Evans. One of Republic's biggest pictures of 1943, later reissued as War of the Wildcats. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Romance · Drama

A 1963 American Western comedy film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, the film follows aging cattle baron George Washington McLintock, the richest man in the territory, as he navigates numerous personal and professional crises. His estranged wife Katherine (O'Hara) returns seeking custody of their daughter Becky, while government officials, land-grabbers, and corrupt Indian agents all want a piece of his empire. The film features a famous mudhole fight scene and a memorable chase through town. Produced by Wayne's company Batjac Productions and co-starring Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers, Yvonne De Carlo, and Chill Wills. The film is marked Public Domain on Archive.org.

Western · Comedy

A drifter rides into a town where everyone has been massacred and is promptly framed for the killings by the real culprit, a bandit hiding out in a secret lair. John Wayne stars in an early Lone Star western. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

A government agent posing as a singing cowboy arrives in a valley where a land baron is monopolizing the water supply to force out the homesteaders. John Wayne's first Lone Star western and one of his rare singing-cowboy roles. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

An innocent man escapes from prison and heads west to find the real killer, joining up with an outlaw gang to get close to his quarry. John Wayne stars in an early Lone Star western. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

John Wayne plays Sheriff John Higgins, who resigns in disgrace after believing he has killed his own best friend in a shootout, and takes to the desert as a prospecting recluse. When his dead friend's sister Bess (Lucile Browne) arrives to run the ranch and is targeted by the real killer, Higgins is pulled back into the fight to clear his conscience. One of the sixteen Lone Star westerns Wayne made for Monogram in the mid-1930s under director Robert N. Bradbury, all shot fast and cheap around Lone Pine and all built around Wayne's still-forming screen persona — the easy drawl, the moral guilt, the horsemanship that would carry him to Stagecoach four years later. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal of copyright.

Western

A wagon-train epic shot on location across seven states, The Big Trail follows a party of settlers from the Mississippi to the Pacific Northwest, led by the young scout Breck Coleman. Raoul Walsh shot the film in Fox's experimental 70mm Grandeur process, and the wide frame gives the landscapes and the wagon-train set pieces a scale the standard 35mm version could not match. The film is John Wayne's first leading role, at 23; he plays the kind of plainspoken, decent hero he would spend the rest of his career refining. Tyrone Power Sr., in his final film, plays the villain. The film's widescreen version was little-seen at the time and the picture flopped, but it survives as a landmark of early sound spectacle. Published in 1930, it entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2026.

Western · Adventure

A college football hero is expelled after a scandal involving a vampish society woman and must redeem himself in the big game. Richard Barthelmess stars, with a young John Wayne among the gridiron extras, in this silent collegiate drama. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Drama · Sport

Chapter one, "The Wrecker," of the twelve-chapter Mascot serial. Pilot Larry Baker hunts the masked saboteur called the Wrecker, who caused the train crash that killed his father and now threatens the Hurricane Express. John Wayne stars in this early sound cliffhanger. The serial entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Action · Adventure · Crime

A young easterner heads west to partner with an old family friend on his ranch, and the two strike gold, only to be targeted by a crooked assayer who wants the claim for himself. John Wayne stars with George Hayes in an early Lone Star western. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

A drifting cowhand stumbles onto a racket in which a gang cripples rodeo riders to fix the betting, and sets out to bring them down. John Wayne stars in an early Lone Star western that also features him singing. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

A U.S. marshal and his Native American sidekick hunt a mysterious outlaw known only as the Shadow, who has been terrorizing the frontier. John Wayne stars in an early Lone Star western. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

A man posing as a ranch hand searches for the outlaw who killed his father and kidnapped his younger brother years before. John Wayne stars in one of the better-regarded Lone Star westerns. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western