After a career that began in the silent era and blossomed with supporting roles in the early days of the talkies, John Wayne truly established himself as a leading man in the late 1930s, with a movie that is now regarded as one of the greatest ever made. Wayne would remain at the pinnacle of popularity for decades, earning himself a reputation that makes him synonymous with American cinema. And it all began with an imaginative Western directed by his preferred partner-in-crime, John Ford. The two made several classics together, including The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but their 1939 outing remains etched in the history books for its cultural significance. It’s currently streaming in the United States on HBO Max, but not for much longer.

The movie follows a vengeful man who breaks out of prison to nab his father’s killers. He joins an eclectic group that includes a doctor, a prostitute, and a salesperson, as they embark on a stagecoach journey across hostile territory. The movie was so beloved — it grossed more than $1 million at the box office — that Orson Welles claimed to have watched it 40 times while making <em>Citizen Kane</em>. In a conversation with fellow filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, Welles said that he watched the film “every night for about a month” after dinner. “It was like going to school.”