john wayne in australia

Ken Gargett · May 2, 2018

the things one remembers and why? i'm sure a shrink might be able to make sense of this but i was in the middle of writing a piece on Bollinger champers, partly but not solely on the connection with 007, when suddenly i thought of John Wayne coming out to Australia 40 years ago when i was a kid. he did a tv awards show and also a shoe commercial. yes, a shoe commercial.

lord knows why i remember that but even more bizarre is that i remember a report from the time. apparently the duke was regularly offered squillions to advertise things in the states but i gather he rarely did so. a local shoe producer heard he was coming and made what they thought was a good offer. it was apparently so absurdly low, compared to what he usually received, that he got such a kick out of someone offering a pittance (and genuinely believing it was a good fee) that he decided to do it.

i would not have seen it for 40 years but the internet being what it is, here it is.

and now back to bond and bolly.