John Wayne’s Highest-Grossing Movie Was This Western with an Absurdly Stacked Cast

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Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features and reviews, and has interviewed the cast and crew of Dark Winds. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His first work of self-published fiction – The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain – became a #1 Best Seller in "Religious Fiction Short Stories" on Amazon in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

When it comes to epic Westerns, John Wayne is the Hollywood giant who always instantly comes to mind. Having made The Searchers, Fort Apache, and Rio Bravo, among many other iconic horse operas, one may be surprised that the Duke's highest-grossing film is none of these classics. Nor is it the time he shared the top billing with James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — although he and Stewart were both featured here. No, the honor of Wayne's biggest box office hit goes to none other than the Western epic How the West Was Won, which is a masterful take on the Old West that elaborates on the 19th century in a spectacular production that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

'How the West Was Won' Was John Wayne's Highest-Grossing Picture

A collaborative effort between directors Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall — who each directed segments in the film, with Hathaway spearheading the first, third, and fifth portions — the picture is a sprawling (and stacked) tale of westward expansion. How the West Was Won covers the majority of the 19th century in a breathtaking span of nearly three hours, though because the whole thing is segmented into five unique parts, it never feels egregiously long. A groundbreaking cinematic achievement, it's no wonder that this 1962 film was Wayne's most financially successful. According to IMDb, the film grossed over a whopping $50 million worldwide during its initial release. Domestically, The Numbers reports that the epic raked in an impressive $46,500,000, which was no small chunk of change. Combined with its international numbers (which are a bit harder to pin down), How the West Was Won did quite well on its $12 million budget, solidifying its place as not just the Duke's highest-grossing Western, but his highest-grossing picture period.

While Wayne's 1962 war flick The Longest Day is often cited as one of his most financially successful films (with a combined box-office return of over $50 million, rivaling How the West Was Won), its domestic earnings were far less than the multipart Western extravaganza, bringing in only around $39 million, according to The Numbers. So, as far as Westerns go, How the West Was Won is a straight shooter that takes the cake — and for good reason. Beyond the Duke himself, there was plenty of reason for audiences to flock to How the West Was Won. With a cast that features 24 of Hollywood's greatest stars from the genre's Golden Age, like Henry Fonda, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, and Carroll Baker, the film was penned from a story by famed Western author Louis L'Amour himself. And that's not to mention that it was the only other film after The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance to reunite Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, if only in the credits.

With An Amazing Cast, 'How the West Was Won' Elaborates on the Breadth of the 19th Century

What is so novel about How the West Was Won was not just its impressive cast, crew, or its ties to L'Amour (though those things are certainly of note). It's really the way in which the story is presented that makes this Western stand out from the rest, between the narrative segments and the striking visuals that tie it all together. Consisting of five stories that depict life in the Old West from 1839 to 1889, How the West Was Won takes its time to thrust the audience into a full-scale tale full of adventure, excitement, war, romance, and heavy drama full of historical significance. It begins with frontiersman and explorer Linus Rawlings (Stewart, who replaced none other than Gary Cooper), who meets with the Prescott family of pioneers, only to fall in love with their eldest daughter, Eve (Baker).

From there, each new segment follows a member of either the Rawlings or Prescott clans, as the families continue to spread out across the American West and fight for the civilization of these wild lands. Sisters, sons, cousins, and more find their way into this narrative, which certainly influenced the way that Steven Spielberg's 2005 miniseries Into the West would later be structured. But as for the Duke, well, he had a significant part to play, even if it was a smaller one. Wayne is featured only in John Ford's third segment here, titled "The Civil War," as famed Union General William Sherman following the Battle of Shiloh. Funny enough, this was one of only a select few instances where Wayne reprised a role from a previous production. In this case, he tackles the part of Sherman again, in reference to his brief cameo in a 1960 episode of Wagon Train, which was, notably, also directed by Ford.

While certainly not the Duke's finest or most impactful role, his part as Sherman is significant to be sure. However, Wayne also contributed to the production in another (and certainly lesser-known) way beyond his typical on-screen talents. After sinking large sums of his own funds into his passion project, The Alamo, Wayne's depiction of the U.S.-Mexico conflict didn't do terribly well at the box office. However, Ford found a use for some of the footage from the Duke's failed picture in his segment of the 1962 epic, choosing to add it into the film as a way to expand the scale of the story without adding to the budget. It may not have been John Wayne's most important role in the genre, but How the West Was Won remains the Duke's highest-grossing horse opera, and it's one you ought not to miss.

How the West Was Won is available to rent digitally on Prime Video.