The Bootleg Files: John Wayne Great Western Savings Commercials

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 899: “John Wayne Great Western Savings Commercials” (1978 series of television advertisements for a California financial institution).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell between the proverbial cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

John Wayne fans know their beloved actor made his final big screen appearance in the 1976 film “The Shootist,” but that was not his final performance before the cameras. In 1977 and 1978, Wayne received $350,000 per year from the Los Angeles-based Great Western Savings and Loan to promote its financial institutions to California television viewers.
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Invisible Roots: Afro-Mexicans in Southern California (2015)

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Phil Hall

It is estimated that more than one million Mexicans can trace some of their ancestry back to the African slaves brought to North America by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th and 17th centuries. This documentary short by Tiffany Walton and Lizz Mullis focuses on a community in the Los Angeles area of Afro-Mexican heritage.

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