ABSTRACT
John Wayne was wont to say, " I don't act, I react." It was by no means an original phrase, and if it was meant as a selfassessment of his ability, he was shortchanging himself. At best, screen acting is a difficult art, whose subtleties often escape its critics; it demands great competence in all its aspects, of which, as the cliche indicates, reacting is one of the most important. In the theater, dialogue may be "king"—in films, the reaction is where most things happen.
