On This Day: John Wayne’s ‘Cast a Giant Shadow’ Hit Theaters on March 30, 1966 — It Still Splits Audiences

Actor John Wayne built an expansive filmography, including the action movie Cast a Giant Shadow. He wasn’t necessarily proud of all of the films that he made over the course of his career, especially in the days of his B-movie Westerns. However, even Wayne’s biggest fans didn’t see the value in every role he played on the silver screen. Many of them are split on Cast a Giant Shadow, even though it was one of his later roles.

‘Cast a Giant Shadow’ hit theaters on March 30, 1966

Cast a Giant Shadow follows the esteemed U.S. Army Col. David Marcus (Kirk Douglas) after the Israelis enlist him in the mission of preparing their nation against a war with the Arabs. However, the task is much more difficult than he could ever imagine. David ultimately doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the local leaders, resulting in him leaving to retreat back home to be with his pregnant wife (Angie Dickinson) in America. He faces an incredibly difficult situation when he decides to return to help the Israelis form an army.

Wayne played Gen. Mike Randolph in Cast a Giant Shadow, which first played in theaters on March 30, 1966. His character appears as David’s commanding officer during World War II, who now is a senior general officer at the Pentagon.

Cast a Giant Shadow is a fictionalized account of a real-life Jewish-American military officer, whose story unfolded during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

John Wayne fans are divided on ‘Cast a Giant Shadow’

The Cast a Giant Shadow Letterboxd score reflects how divisive the film is among fans of Wayne and Kirk, as well as general audiences. It’s sitting at a three-star average out of a possible five, displaying how the majority of audiences fell somewhere in the middle on this title.

One of the most popular user reviews wrote that Cast a Giant Shadow is “too mired in clichés and corny melodrama to achieve lift-off.” However, they recommend it to die-hard Douglas fans who want to see him perform a role that made sense for him.

Another user wrote that Wayne and the rest of the cast are “excellent,” pointing to the Western star as having a fun special appearance role here. However, even this review thought that the overall film “never really rises above the mundane.”

Meanwhile, the audiences who loved Cast a Giant Shadow called it “one heck of a war film,” emphasizing the decision to explore this story in the first place. They celebrated its focus on a lesser-known narrative in America’s history.

Wayne fans always love to see him on their screen, whether it’s in a leading role in True Grit or a smaller role in Cast a Giant Shadow. However, they still recognize when he’s made a misstep. The fans’ reactions to this war film were all dependent on how much they were willing to get past the clichés to enjoy the performances that were a true highlight for them across the board.

‘Cast a Giant Shadow’ was also polarizing for critics

Longtime fans of Wayne weren’t the only ones to split on Cast a Giant Shadow, as critics also had mixed reactions. The film’s reviews on Rotten Tomatoes lean negative with critics, while the audience score sits at a 50% at the time of writing. Douglas, Wayne, and the rest of the cast earn positive remarks, but they weren’t quite able to get over the biopic’s “superficial” nature.

Cast a Giant Shadow had a pro-Jewish message that critics applauded, but the film’s hollowness worked against it. No critics raved about the film as some audiences did, although a few were able to find some elements well worth discussing.