There may be other movie stars with the mass appeal of these two, and with the credentials to put them into the same category.
But for the sake of this thread, try to put into words why you prefer one of them over the other.
What about “your choice” is the defining characteristic that puts him above the other and all other contenders?
Hard to pick. Wayne had a slight edge for the pure number of top-notch roles, but Eastwood is interesting in that as he gets older, he gets better. I also think Eastwood has made fewer bad films, though Wayne made more films overall.
The way I compare the two is that Wayne was more of a bully and in-your-face Big Guy whose physical presence demanded at least space if not respect. Most of his roles had him monochromatic and simplistic in his morals and “code.”
I prefer Eastwood by a large margin because of his quiet but menacing “you do NOT fuck with me” approach to life and problems.
Both guys were quite capable of moving away from the cowboy or gunslinger parts into city life and modern issues. Eastwood just did it without dragging his Man With No Name baggage along, where Wayne always looked uncomfortable in a suit.
I suppose Wayne in The Quiet Man was as far from his cowboy persona as he got, while The High and The Mighty put him in another uniform where he could be the Big Boss type.
Of his non-Western roles, and aside from those monkey movies he did for laughs, Eastwood’s range was tested best in Play Misty for Me (1971) which happened to be his first shot as a director which has proven to be at least as strong a statement of his talents as his acting has.
Eastwood. For me it’s not even close.
While Wayne certainly had a prolific and legendary career, I feel like Eastwood has had more diversity and quality in his roles. Some 75-80% of all Wayne’s roles were westerns or war pics. There were definitely more than a few sports flicks, some RomComs and even a musical or two in there, but he is unquestionably most identified with the western/war pictures. Eastwood, while confined to westerns in his early career, has played a wide range of roles as he’s aged. Eastwood is also an accomplished director; Wayne only directed or produced a couple of films IIRC.
Two of my favorite actors. Both well aware of who they are and who they play. I love the Duke. The Quiet Man and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon are two of the best movies ever made. Wayne could do more with a look and a stand than anyone (The Searchers). He play funny as well.
Clint is…Clint. I have to give him the edge if for nothing else than learning how to not only direct others, but also himself. Every film gets deeper and better. The man is just great at what he does. The Outlaw Josey Wales stands up to anything Wayne ever did, and Unforgiven is not far behind.
Let’s call it a tie. Wayne for paving the way, Eastwood for taking that path and turning it into a superfreeway.
Strangely, the first John Wayne movie that comes to mind when I think of him is Donovan’s Reef; a comedic action/romance with a moral message.
We watched that one last week. The wife had never seen it. What’s the moral message - never share a birthday with Lee Marvin? 
(I know what it is. Just kidding. The real message is that it is ok to abandon a wife and child in cold, snowy Boston if it means you can shack up with a Polynesian princess in Paradise.)
The doctor’s wife was dead. She died while he was serving in WWII. At least he did try to make things right with his daughter, by giving his interests in the shipping company to her.
The film is critical of the hypocritical shipping company, which proclaims the immorality of alcohol while gladly transporting it (to their profit). But I think the biggest moral message is the one against racism. I’m reading Mitchener’s Tales of the South Pacific (slowly, as I have the opportunity), and stories in it point to (and at least implicitly indict) the racial elitism of well-to-do Easterners. I’m under the impression that such views (even amongst the not-well-to-do and non-Easterners) were common at the time. The daughter’s Eastern family and the stockholders of the shipping company Do Not Approve of intimate relations between White Men and Brown People. I think the film promotes racial tolerance.
As to the OP, it’s hard to say. John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit was great. But so was Clint Eastwood as Josey Wales. I’d watch either of those any time.
Just some simplistic observations here. Identifying features, if you will.
Wayne:
– that walk
– the way of standing on one leg so as to appear ready to sit down
– that reddish shirt
– the bandanna around his neck
– light colored pants
– a leather vest
– almost always had a sidekick
– didn’t mind hitting you first
– one-liners like soundbites (did he really say “pilgrim” all that much?)
– easily imitated by John Byner and that crowd
Eastwood:
– the scowl
– the squint (Squint Eastwood)
– raspy growl of a voice/whisper
– talks through clenched teeth
– the serape/poncho
– big-ass guns
– big hair (while he had it)
– lots of running and exercises to show of his bod
– one-liners that became Pop Culture Gems
– if anybody has done a convincing impression of him, I haven’t seen it, but Jim Carrey could
In The Outlaw Josey Wales at least, Eastwood’s guns weren’t really that big. I seem to recall .36 caliber Colt Navies, .36 caliber Colt Pocket Models, and .44 Caliber Cold Armies. But he had a bunch of them.
John Wayne tended to carry just one revolver and a rifle. ISTR a .44 caliber Colt Dragoon Model in True Grit, which held more powder than a Colt Army; so I’d consider that marginally ‘big-ass’.
No contest - my dad’s a John Wayne fan, I’m a Clint Eastwood fan. My dad likes straightforward movies with good guys and bad guys, I like mine murky and full of moral gray area. (Yes, yes, I know, The Searchers, whatever.)
Just some more food for thought and discussion perhaps. According to IMDB’s rating system, here are their Top 20 roles:
John Wayne
Actor
(8.66) - Brown of Harvard (1926)
(8.10) - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
(8.02) - Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)
(8.00) - Rio Bravo (1959)
(8.00) - The Searchers (1956)
(7.99) - The Quiet Man (1952)
(7.87) - Annie Laurie (1927)
(7.80) - The Longest Day (1962)
(7.79) - Red River (1948)
(7.79) - Stagecoach (1939)
(7.69) - Fort Apache (1948)
(7.69) - The Shootist (1976)
(7.59) - El Dorado (1966)
(7.42) - The Drop Kick (1927)
(7.38) - They Were Expendable (1945)
(7.37) - Baby Face (1933)
(7.29) - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
(7.29) - True Grit (1969)
(7.29) - Rio Grande (1950)
(7.19) - Hatari! (1962)
Clint Eastwood
Actor
(9.00) - Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)
(8.88) - “Rawhide: The Enormous Fist (#7.2)” (1964)
(8.40) - Gran Torino (2008)
(8.30) - Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)
(8.30) - Unforgiven (1992)
(8.20) - Million Dollar Baby (2004)
(8.04) - “Rawhide: Incident of Fear in the Streets (#1.17)” (1959)
(8.04) - “Maverick: Duel at Sundown (#2.19)” (1959)
(8.04) - “Rawhide: Incident with an Executioner (#1.3)” (1959)
(8.02) - “Highway Patrol: Motorcycle A (#1.27)” (1956)
(8.00) - Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
(7.97) - “Rawhide: Incident Below the Brazos (#1.18)” (1959)
(7.92) - “Rawhide: Incident of a Burst of Evil (#1.22)” (1959)
(7.90) - “Rawhide: Incident of the Power and the Plow (#1.6)” (1959)
(7.90) - Dirty Harry (1971)
(7.88) - “Rawhide: Incident of the Big Blowout (#3.14)” (1961)
(7.87) - “Rawhide: Crossing at White Feather (#8.13)” (1965)
(7.80) - The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
(7.78) - “Rawhide: Incident of the Town in Terror (#1.9)” (1959)
(7.77) - “Death Valley Days: The Last Letter (#5.7)” (1956)
Maybe somebody would like to do similar comparisons by dropping Wayne’s earliest stuff and Eastwood’s Rawhide things.
Fun poll.
Director, Eastwood, hands down. Range of acting, Eastwood, hands down. Best film, Eastwood in Unforgiven.
However, if stranded on a desert island with only a DVD set up (solar power recharge!) and one man’s output, I’d choose Wayne for the more entertaining movies. Shootist, True Grit, Rio Bravo, Quiet Man, Searchers
I did that sort of thing and dropped Wayne’s stuff before Stagecoach which was allegedly his breakout role as a star.
I also dumped all of Eastwood’s TV stuff.
I dropped anything for either of them lower than a 7.0
Here’s the result:
Filmography by rating for
John Wayne (I)
Actor
(8.10) - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
(8.00) - Rio Bravo (1959)
(8.00) - The Searchers (1956)
(7.99) - The Quiet Man (1952)
(7.80) - The Longest Day (1962)
(7.79) - Red River (1948)
(7.79) - Stagecoach (1939)
(7.69) - Fort Apache (1948)
(7.69) - The Shootist (1976)
(7.59) - El Dorado (1966)
(7.38) - They Were Expendable (1945)
(7.29) - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
(7.29) - True Grit (1969)
(7.29) - Rio Grande (1950)
(7.19) - Hatari! (1962)
(7.18) - Hondo (1953)
(7.09) - The Cowboys (1972)
(7.09) - In Harm’s Way (1965)
(7.09) - McLintock! (1963)
(7.09) - 3 Godfathers (1948)
(7.09) - Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
(7.09) - The Horse Soldiers (1959)
(7.07) - The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Filmography by rating for
Clint Eastwood
Actor
(9.00) - Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)
(8.40) - Gran Torino (2008)
(8.30) - Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)
(8.30) - Unforgiven (1992)
(8.20) - Million Dollar Baby (2004)
(8.00) - Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
(7.90) - Dirty Harry (1971)
(7.80) - The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
(7.70) - Where Eagles Dare (1968)
(7.61) - El magnifico extranjero (1967)
(7.60) - High Plains Drifter (1973)
(7.60) - Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
(7.50) - Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
(7.30) - A Perfect World (1993)
(7.20) - In the Line of Fire (1993)
(7.20) - The Beguiled (1971)
(7.20) - The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
(7.10) - Pale Rider (1985)
(7.00) - Play Misty for Me (1971)
(7.00) - Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
(7.00) - Magnum Force (1973)
Impressive lists! It’s a taste thing in the final analysis.
Who would be #3 behind these guys?
That’s pretty much exactly why I keep saying Keanu Reeves is so under-rated as an actor.
Good way of putting it. My first inclination is Clint Eastwood because he’s been such a major player for so long, but John Wayne was like a force of nature.
Didn’t the Dragoon belong to Mattie, inherited from her father?
Gary Cooper. Although I’m not sure I’d put him behind them.
I’m surprised Wayne and Eastwood never made a movie together.
Back in his Rawhide tv days, I suspect Eastwood would have jumped at the chance.
Worth being on the list, for sure.
Look over the list at Western Movie Stars for other candidates.
I’m of the opinion that when you go looking for somebody on the list with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, in spite of the fact that they did other categories of roles, you’re mainly looking at Westerns. But that’s just my opinion.
Who on that list rises to their level?
James Stewart
Robert Mitchum
Burt Lancaster
Paul Newman
Robert Redford