That'll be the day, indeed

Westerns don't get much better than "The Searchers" (pictured), John Ford's breathtakingly photographed 1956 film that gifted John Wayne one of the best roles of his long career. Starz's Encore Westerns channel is doing right by the Duke with a 100-hour marathon of his films starting on what would have been the actor's 100th birthday, Saturday, May 26. The list of flicks is a little slim on classics, save for "The Searchers" and 1947's "Angel and the Badman," but Wayne's charisma makes even the quickie 1930s and '40s oaters fun to watch. His was a face born to be on the big screen.