The Shootist (1976)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Glendon Swarthout (novel)
Miles Hood Swarthout (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 August 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

He's got to face a gunfight once more to live up to his legend once more. To win just one more time.

Plot:

A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.

Plot Keywords:

Gunfighter | Dignity | Marshal | Death | Room

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

John Wayne	...	J.B.Books aka John Bernard Books
Lauren Bacall	...	Bond Rogers
Ron Howard	...	Gillom Rogers
James Stewart	...	Dr. E.W. Hostetler
Richard Boone	...	Mike Sweeney
Hugh O'Brian	...	Jack Pulford (faro dealer at Metropole Saloon)
Bill McKinney	...	Jay Cobb (owner, Cob's Creamery)
Harry Morgan	...	Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido
John Carradine	...	Hezekiah Beckum (undertaker)
Sheree North	...	Serepta (Books' ex-girlfriend)
Rick Lenz	...	Dan Dobkins (reporter, 'Morning Appeal') (as Richard Lenz)
Scatman Crothers	...	Moses Brown (liveryman)
Gregg Palmer	...	Burly man
Alfred Dennis	...	Barber
Dick Winslow	...	Streetcar driver

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | USA:TV-PG (cable rating) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Carson City, Nevada, USA

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

The name of Scatman Crothers's character, Moses Brown, is an allusion to the McCandles Ranch cook played by Bill Walker in Big Jake (1971).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Sweeney is coming at Books with the table in front of him, the squib detonation wires are visible on the floor. The same wires are seen when Books falls to the floor after being shot by the bartender, and when Gillom shoots the bartender the second time.

Quotes:

Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: Hey, Books; did you hear what happened at the Metropole last night? Faro dealer, Pulford, shot a man clean through the heart at eighty paces. Maybe you should go to the Metropole, let Pulford deal you a game of cards.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-02-18)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Willow, Tit Willow

A ( Late ) Discovery

I have always admired John Wayne, the man the actor, his politics, films and the rest. However I did not know about this film ! I discovered it on a DVD recently and bought it straight off. I was certainly not disappointed. Sound and vision had been restored and the picture quality was awesome, as though it had been made yesterday. The theme music was both haunting and catching ! But above all the ACTING in this film was really FIRST RATE ! One of his best performances but also an EXCELLENT performance from Lauren Bacall and Ron Howard.

Although I knew JW was taken off to heaven by cancer, I read that he actually was in its throes when the film was made. Whether this is true or just legendary, I don't know but it's pretty ironic all the same !! The film is sad, funny, tender, witty, beautiful all in one go. Some of the dialogues are just out of this world. I was so happy to have discovered it. It's less a typical western than a man's reflection upon the end of his life.

To me, John Wayne will always represent what true American values are all about, and this film, on all levels is the most fitting end to his career that anyone could have dreamed of.