I agree - or at least it was my impression - that what makes John Wayne impressive to me is that he seems to really be the character he portrays rather than some actor. To use an English expression, he exemplified what I'd call "stiff upper lip" in his performances. Maybe that means he had a limited range, and maybe he wasnt ever gonna be much good at playing the Dane, but as a young man or an old man in the movies I saw anyway I believe in him more readily than most performances from far more acomplished actors.
I know some of his history, questionable views on race, Frank Sinatra threatening to punch him out (when the guy had like half a lung left) over a row about an alleged communist writer... but whether he is likeable or you agree with some of the things he thought, there is something honourable about a truly authentic person. (Sinatra also was in some regards a horrible asshole, and also in his way utterly authentic)
I can accept too that modern movies do tend to have more complex character development, and they do tend to want to show the emoionally tortured hero rather than the taciturn hard man.
But I think I prefer my action heroes to be hard men, not actors.
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."
The Gospel of Thomas
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