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John Wayne did not, on the available evidence, shun Clint Eastwood in a lasting personal boycott. The better-supported account is narrower. Wayne reportedly objected to Eastwood’s revisionist Western High Plains Drifter (1973), and he turned down a proposed screenplay, The Hostiles, that would have paired the two men on screen. The collaboration never happened. Most of what is known comes from Eastwood’s own later recollection and from an anecdote that screenwriter Larry Cohen told decades afterward, so the story is best read as a reported disagreement about what a Western should be, not as documented proof of a feud.
What the sources establish, and what they do not
Each claim in this story rests on a different kind of evidence. Some are firsthand recollections given in interviews, some are anecdotes relayed through a biography, and none of the sources reviewed reproduce Wayne’s own words in an original document. The table below separates the claims by how they are supported.
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| 1 |
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Clint Eastwood: 3-Movie Western Collection (Two Mules For Sister Sara / Joe Kidd / High Plains... | $22.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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High Plains Drifter [Blu-ray] | $21.79 | Buy on Amazon |
| Claim | Attributed to | Type of evidence | Original document reviewed? | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne disliked High Plains Drifter because it did not depict the people who pioneered the West | Clint Eastwood, in later interviews | Firsthand recollection, reported by secondary outlets | No. The letter Eastwood described is not reproduced in any source reviewed | Clint Eastwood Archive, May 1, 2022; The Digital Fix, updated November 11, 2022; SlashFilm, April 26, 2025 |
| Wayne was offered The Hostiles and declined it | Reported in The Digital Fix and SlashFilm, drawing on the Cohen biography and Eyman’s Wayne biography | Secondhand account of a business decision | Not stated | The Digital Fix, updated November 11, 2022; SlashFilm, April 26, 2025 |
| Wayne’s son Michael handed him the screenplay on a boat, and Wayne threw it overboard | Larry Cohen, as relayed through Michael Doyle’s Cohen biography | Nested anecdote recalled decades later | No. No contemporaneous record was examined | SlashFilm, April 26, 2025 |
| A later television film, The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger, adapted Cohen’s script | SlashFilm, citing Cohen’s sale to Hallmark | Industry history | Not stated | SlashFilm, April 26, 2025 |
The Hostiles: the film that never got made
The Hostiles was a Western written by Larry Cohen. Its premise centers on an older man and a younger gambler who wins part of his estate. Cohen’s screenplay was pitched as a vehicle for John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, with Eastwood as the gambler and Wayne in the older role. The Digital Fix reports that Eastwood optioned the script. SlashFilm gives a fuller synopsis and says Cohen later sold the material to Hallmark, which produced a television adaptation titled The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger. That later film was not a Wayne–Eastwood project, and it should not be assumed to match Cohen’s original screenplay in every detail.
Wayne’s objection to High Plains Drifter
The clearest explanation for Wayne’s reluctance is a clash over how the American West should be portrayed. Eastwood recalled that Wayne wrote to him objecting to High Plains Drifter, saying the film was not really about the people who pioneered the West. Eastwood’s reported reply is the most direct statement of the disagreement:
#1 Best Overall
John Wayne once wrote me a letter saying he didn’t like High Plains Drifter. He said it wasn’t really about the people who pioneered the West. … I realised that there’s two different generations, and he wouldn’t understand what I was doing. High Plains Drifter was meant to be a fable: it wasn’t meant to show the hours of pioneering drudgery. It wasn’t supposed to be anything about settling the West.
Two secondary sources attribute this recollection differently. The Digital Fix quotes Eastwood as it appears in the book Ride, Boldly Ride, while SlashFilm attributes it to an interview Eastwood gave to Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan. Both sources are later reproductions, and neither reviewed Wayne’s letter itself. The quotation should therefore be read as Eastwood’s account of Wayne’s view, not as Wayne’s own wording.
Rank #2
- Brand: KL Studio Classics
- High Plains Drifter (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
Read against that account, the dispute is about purpose. Wayne’s Westerns presented the frontier as a story of settlers and their endurance. Eastwood’s 1973 film treated the Western as myth, with a stranger who arrives out of nowhere and a town that is morally compromised from the start. Eastwood told interviewers that he saw the film as a fable and never intended a realistic account of settlement. The two men were working from different ideas of the genre, which is why the disagreement reads as one about the Western’s meaning rather than a personal grievance.
The overboard anecdote
The most vivid version of the story comes from Larry Cohen, relayed by SlashFilm through Michael Doyle’s Cohen biography. In Cohen’s account, Michael Wayne handed his father another copy of the screenplay while they were on a boat. Cohen then quotes his own later conversation with Michael:
Rank #3
Well, Dad was sitting on the boat and I handed him the script. He looked at it for a few minutes and then said, ‘This piece of s*** again!’ And then he threw it overboard.
This is a recollection of a recollection, reported decades after the event. No contemporaneous transcript, letter or independent witness account was reviewed for it, so the scene should be treated as a colorful retelling rather than a verified event. It does, however, match the broader account that Wayne turned the project down.
Why “refused to work with” overstates the record
The phrase in the headline compresses at least two separate events: Wayne’s criticism of Eastwood’s Western and Wayne’s rejection of a screenplay that paired them. Neither event establishes a lasting refusal to share a set, a standing feud, or a pattern of avoidance. The sources describe a disagreement about the genre and one specific project. Readers who want the broader personal and professional context of Wayne’s career can consult Scott Eyman’s biography John Wayne: The Life and Legend, which The Digital Fix names as a source for its account.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Dates and source reliability
- Clint Eastwood Archive, “Clint & Wayne in The Hostiles,” May 1, 2022. A fan archive that states it is not affiliated with Eastwood and points to published books. Useful for corroboration, not as an official statement.
- The Digital Fix, Anthony McGlynn, “John Wayne rejected an offer to work with Clint Eastwood,” updated November 11, 2022. A secondary account that cites Eyman’s biography and Eastwood’s comments in Ride, Boldly Ride.
- INSP, John McGran, “Clint Eastwood and John Wayne … Friends or Foes?”, November 21, 2024. An entertainment feature that shows how the story is commonly retold, not a primary document.
- SlashFilm, Jeremy Smith, “Why John Wayne Refused To Join Clint Eastwood In A Thrilling Western,” April 26, 2025. The most detailed secondary account here, quoting Cohen through Doyle’s biography and attributing Eastwood’s remarks to his Turan interview.
None of these sources is a primary document for Wayne’s letter or the screenplay. The consistent core, that Wayne criticized High Plains Drifter and turned down the proposed pairing, is supported across several secondary accounts. The vivid details, including the boat scene and the exact wording of Wayne’s objection, rest on the recollections of the people involved.
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Summary of the story as far as it can be stated
- Cohen wrote The Hostiles as a Wayne–Eastwood Western, with Eastwood as the younger gambler.
- Eastwood reported that Wayne disliked High Plains Drifter for not depicting the West’s pioneers, and Eastwood answered that the film was a fable.
- Wayne declined the screenplay, and the proposed pairing never reached the screen.
- Cohen’s later account of the screenplay ending up in the Pacific is an anecdote, not a verified event.
Most of what remains unknown concerns Wayne’s private reasoning, which none of the sources documents directly.
Note for readers searching this topic: the questions “Why did John Wayne refuse to work with Clint Eastwood?” and “Why didn’t John Wayne like High Plains Drifter?” are best answered by the disagreement over the Western and the one proposed project, rather than by any broader personal feud.
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