History
of the Red River D Buckle
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The
Red River D Belt Buckle Mystery
John
Wayne was arguably the most popular movie star in the history
of world cinema. Any time a person achieves that level of stature,
memorabilia and replicas surrounding his persona command hefty
values. In 1948, United Artists released Red River, the story
of visionary rancher Tom Dunson (Wayne) and his creation of a
cattle empire from the early days of the settling of the west
to later years when his ruthless individualistic values clash
with those of his adopted son, played by Montgomery Clift. John
Ford’s Stagecoach had established Wayne as a star in 1939.
Ford’s viewing of Red River prompted him to say of Wayne,
“I didn’t know the big son of a bitch could act.”
John Wayne, the actor, was born.
In Red
River the cattle brand for Wayne’s ranch is a D with
two wavy lines representing the banks of the river. Howard Hawks
the director of Red River had silver belt buckles with
a twisted silver wire rope edge, a D and two wavy lines in solid
gold, the words “Red River” in gold wire and various
initials and the date 1946 in cut gold made up as gifts for some
of the cast and crew. These buckles have been known since as the
Red River D belt buckles. John Wayne wore a Red River D belt buckle
in a number of his later westerns including Rio Bravo,
El Dorado and Rio Lobo, all directed by Howard Hawks.
In total Wayne wore a Red River D belt buckle in nine films.
I spoke
to David Hawks, son of Howard Hawks, director of Red River,
about the history of the buckles. He was seventeen years old when
he worked on the now classic western as a prop man. He recollects
that the buckles were constructed in two sizes. The larger ones
were given to himself, his father Howard Hawks, John Wayne, Montgomery
Clift, Walter Brennan, Arthur Rosson, the assistant director,
and Russell Harlan, the cinematographer. He couldn’t say
which size, if any at all, went to actor John Ireland.
He remembers
that the smaller buckles went to the women. His sister Barbara
got one as well as actress Joanne Dru. More were made, but he
has no memory of where they went. When I asked about the supposed
exchange of belt buckles between Howard Hawks and John Wayne,
he said that they indeed did exchange buckles as a sign of mutual
respect and admiration for each other. So the buckle that Wayne
always wore had the initials HWH in the circle in the bottom left
corner and Hawks’ buckle had the initials JW on it. When
I asked what happened to the buckle Wayne gave to Hawks, he said
he thought it had been stolen years ago. David’s own buckle
has the initials DHH in the circle and is two inches tall and
three and three-eighths long. He told me that a silversmith in
Nogales, Mexico made the buckles and not by (Bohlin) the silversmithing
company that claimed they had made the original buckles in 1946,
the year of production on the film. Each buckle had that year
inscribed on it to commemorate the year of production. Of course,
the film saw release in 1948.
Michael
Wayne, John Wayne’s oldest son and I, a few years ago (2001
up through 2003 at Michael’s passing), worked on copies
of the Red River D belt buckle from photographs of the original
with help from Gary Mathis of
Gary’s Custom Saddlery &
Silver Buckles to recreate the closest reproduction of the buckle
possible. And we succeeded! Michael told me that the original
buckles were made in Mexico by a Mexican silver smith who later
relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. Later Michael said that his
father used the same silversmith to make the 26 Bar belt buckles
that he gave out to friends and employees at his 26 Bar ranch
in 1968. The 26 Bar buckles are in the same size and style as
the Red River D buckles.
Michael
Wayne also told me that Howard Hawks’ and his father exchanged
their buckles out of mutual respect and admiration, and also he
said his father didn’t like wearing any kind of apparel
or accessory with his initials on them.
Michael
after his father had passed away sent his Red River D buckle in
to the silver smith Bohlins in order to make a copy for the singer
Eddy Arnold. Then in September of 1981, Michael again sent the
buckle to Bohlins to have seven copies made for himself and his
six bothers and sisters. Between four o’clock on the afternoon
of September 24, 1981 and one o’clock in the afternoon on
September 25, 1981 the John Wayne Red River D belt buckle was
stolen from Bohlins and has not resurfaced to this day.
Walter
Brennan got one of the Red River D belt buckles and it had the
initials WB inscribed in the circle in the bottom left corner.
Today his belongs to his son Arthur to whom Walter gave it on
Arthur’s forty-fifth birthday. The date 1946 had fallen
off and Arthur had another silver smith replace it.
I don’t
in fact, know how many belt buckles, both large and small, were
made, but I have been hearing all kinds of stories from different
sources for many years. One silversmithing company is claiming
that it made the original, but that could easily be fabrication
aimed at selling their buckles as the authentic reproductions
or duplicates.
Over
the years Western Costume Company, a huge Hollywood costume house
that provided costumes for movies and television, had a man by
the name of Bill Reyhell made some inexpensive copies of the buckle
for Wayne and his doubles to use so that Wayne’s original
wouldn’t be damaged in subsequent productions. Reyhell had
a metal shop with in Western Costume’s and would do any
kind of metal work needed for costumes or props having to do with
films. Wayne also had some buckles made for friends during the
1960s by an unknown silversmith.
So many
rumors, myths and misinformation about the buckles have cropped
up over the years that I felt the necessity to put some of them
to rest. Many disparate stories have been told about who made
the originals, what year was on them, what materials were used
to make them, and what initials were on them. I compiled the information
for this article from interviews with people in front of and behind
the cameras during the making of Red River and from many immediate
family members. Some information came from Michael Wayne, who
served as the family historian before his untimely passing in
April of 2003. I hope I have clarified some of the rumors surrounding
the Red River D belt buckle John Wayne wore, and I hope as well
that this article may be of some use to anyone seeking to purchase
a copy.
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