Holy Christmas, it’s John Wayne! A Duke marathon rides tall on INSP TV

Exclusive John Wayne reminiscences with cruel cowboy villain Gregg Palmer, Chris Mitchum, and only surviving sons Patrick Wayne and Ethan Wayne shed light on the Hollywood icon’s latter day Westerns such as “Chisum,” “Big Jake,” and “The Shootist.” Seen here sitting atop Dollar, a sorrel gelding with a narrow blaze and high stockings on both hind legs, the Duke is mighty tall in the saddle during an early scene from “The Cowboys” where he rides into the nearly deserted trail town of Bozeman, Montana, circa June 1971. Photography by David Sutton / Warner Bros.

Saddle up, pilgrims! The INSP cable network is augmenting 2021’s quarantine Christmas with a marathon sampling 11 of John Wayne’s best Westerns, comedies, and adventures. Within an astounding 167-film canon, the American institution appeared somewhere in the neighborhood of 87 Westerns in his workaholic 50-year career on the silver screen.