Is it true that in some movies with John Wayne, the doors were made narrower so that he appeared more big-shouldered?

yes, i believe that is true although he was naturally a big man it is a common Holloywood trick with big stars to "aid" in there image another star Allan Ladd was quite short and they often used lower level floors and camera angles to make him appear taller especially with his leading ladies.

jim cullen

I can find no source mentioning the narrowing of doorways on movie set to enhance John Wayne's size. However, several sources did mention that he wore lifts and corsets. Rock Hudson was quoted as saying "I did a movie with Duke Wayne and I was surprised to find out he had small feet, wire lifts, and a corset. Hollywood is seldom what it seems."

The source I am using involves comparing Wayne's height to known heights of other actors.

Source: Wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Wayne/Archive_2


The Rick Hudson quote is also cited in:

Celebheights.com/s/John-Wayne-8.html

Also noted in the celebheights.com site is the mention by author Scott Eyman that Wayne filled out an application in 1943 stating his height was 6 feet, 3 and 3/4 and weight of 212 pounds.

He received deferrals from military service...I wonder what those records show.