The Shootist will be forever remembered for one thing - it was John Wayne's last film. Admittedly, it contains a lot of cliches from the Western film genre - an aging gunslinger looking to find some inner peace, the host of villains who want to see him dead, a Wild West town where the sheriff is weak and the outlaws run the show. The Shootist has all these elements and the trailer (see it here), seems to be marketing all these cliches as the reason why you would want to see this film.
Beneath all the schlock, there are some really great moments of this film which make it worthwhile. First, the cast – Hollywood knew that John Wayne had health issues and that this might be his last film, so the stars just piled on to participate- James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, David Carradine all took salary decrements to joined the cast.
Secondly, this film’s value resides in those personal scenes where John Wayne’s character, John Bernard Books, struggles with his mortality: his conversation with Lauren Bacall on a horse-drawn carriage ride, his words of wisdom to Ron Howard while teaching him how to shoot, his discussion with James Stewart (the doctor) who tells John Wayne that his cancer is terminal. Ironically, John Wayne, who did not have cancer during this film, would die of cancer two years after making this film. And of course, Don Siegel's final shoot-‘em-up scene, shot with creative staging using mirrors of the barroom, allows John Wayne to exit from the silver screen for the final time in a blaze of glory.
Finally, the scene before the final gunfight is better than any other scene in the film and on its own makes teh film a classic. Books is preparing to leave the house, off to his final gun battle and Lauren Bacall meets him at the door. Everyone knows what’s going to happen- the audience knows it, John Wayne knows it and Lauren Bacall has already promised the night before not to question Books decision or try to stop him. Instead, their eyes meet and she talks about the weather- how it feels like “false spring” – a warmth that will not last. I read the scene as Hollywood’s on-screen coup de grace for John Wayne- a simple tribute, inexorably sad but without any open mourning for the Duke. Probably exactly what John Wayne wanted.
Unfortunately, I could not find this clip on the internet, so you’ll just have to watch it for yourself. You won’t likely be disappointed.
Beneath all the schlock, there are some really great moments of this film which make it worthwhile. First, the cast – Hollywood knew that John Wayne had health issues and that this might be his last film, so the stars just piled on to participate- James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, David Carradine all took salary decrements to joined the cast.
Secondly, this film’s value resides in those personal scenes where John Wayne’s character, John Bernard Books, struggles with his mortality: his conversation with Lauren Bacall on a horse-drawn carriage ride, his words of wisdom to Ron Howard while teaching him how to shoot, his discussion with James Stewart (the doctor) who tells John Wayne that his cancer is terminal. Ironically, John Wayne, who did not have cancer during this film, would die of cancer two years after making this film. And of course, Don Siegel's final shoot-‘em-up scene, shot with creative staging using mirrors of the barroom, allows John Wayne to exit from the silver screen for the final time in a blaze of glory.
Finally, the scene before the final gunfight is better than any other scene in the film and on its own makes teh film a classic. Books is preparing to leave the house, off to his final gun battle and Lauren Bacall meets him at the door. Everyone knows what’s going to happen- the audience knows it, John Wayne knows it and Lauren Bacall has already promised the night before not to question Books decision or try to stop him. Instead, their eyes meet and she talks about the weather- how it feels like “false spring” – a warmth that will not last. I read the scene as Hollywood’s on-screen coup de grace for John Wayne- a simple tribute, inexorably sad but without any open mourning for the Duke. Probably exactly what John Wayne wanted.
Unfortunately, I could not find this clip on the internet, so you’ll just have to watch it for yourself. You won’t likely be disappointed.
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