Trivia
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Spoilers (1)
While this is marked as James Stewart's final appearance in a western movie, he did lend his voice to the cartoon movie An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, where he voices an aging hound dog sheriff named Wylie.
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John Wayne greatly admired director Don Siegel and had said he would like to have played Clint Eastwood's role in Dirty Harry. Wayne was never actually offered the part however because of his age, although he later made two cop movies of his own.
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There had been some opposition to the casting of John Wayne, since the producers thought that at 68 he was too old to be believable as a gunfighter.
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Contrary to popular belief, John Wayne did not have cancer when he made this film. His entire left lung and several ribs had been removed in surgery on 16 September 1964, and in 1969 he was declared cancer free. It was not until 12 January 1979, almost three years after this movie had been filmed, that the disease was found to have returned.
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When viewing footage of the final gunfight in the bar, John Wayne saw that it was edited to show him shooting a guy in the back. He said, "I've made over 250 pictures and have never shot a guy in the back. Change it." They did. However, Wayne had shot men in the back in several of his movies, including The Searchers.
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To add a sense of realism to John Wayne's character, archive footage from several of his westerns was used to introduce J.B. Books after the beginning credits. Included was footage from Red River, Hondo, Rio Bravo and El Dorado.
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When J.B. Books (John Wayne) arrives at Dr. E.W. Hostetler's (James Stewart) office, Hostetler mentions that it has been 15 years since they last saw each other. The inside joke is that Wayne and Stewart last worked together on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 15 years before.
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John Wayne fell ill with influenza during the production and was hospitalized for a fortnight. It was uncertain at one point whether the film would actually be completed.
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John Wayne was great to the Carson City locals while he was staying at the Ormsby House Hotel during the filming. He signed autographs for young people readily, including one signed for future famed Nevada Opera lead mezzo soprano Mary Anna Replogle.
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The title of the film comes from a famous quip by the gunslinger Clay Allison. Allison, a bounty hunter and hired killer whose marksmanship and drunken, homicidal rages made him feared across Texas, would reportedly tell anyone brave enough to ask that he was employed as a "shootist".
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John Wayne liked working with Lauren Bacall in their first film, Blood Alley so much that he hand-picked her as his leading lady for this film.
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George C. Scott was originally offered the role of Books, and accepted it on the condition that not one word of the script be changed. However, the role was given to John Wayne after he expressed interest. The producers claim they had wanted him all along, but did not believe he would be interested in the film.
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An interviewer asked Ron Howard if John Wayne had given him any tips on acting. He said that, during the filming of the final shootout, Wayne took him aside and said he had some advice for him. As Howard eagerly awaited some profound advice, Wayne said "Ron, if you want to look menacing - close your mouth."
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John Wayne did a TV Public Service Announcement for the American Cancer Society that began with a clip of the scene in which the doctor tells Books he has cancer.
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Maureen O'Hara was considered for the role of Bond Rogers, but director Don Siegel felt she wasn't suitable for the part.
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At the beginning of the seventh day, Gillom whistles a Scott Joplin song made famous to audiences three years earlier in The Sting.
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The engraved Colt Single Action Army revolvers used by J. B. Books in this film were in reality a pair of 1950's-made replicas.
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Hugh O'Brian wanted to be in the film, so he was given the character of Pulford, who was originally in the novel. Pulford was a card dealer. In the movie, his gun fight with a patron is depicted as occurring after Books comes to town. In the book, however, the gun fight took place much earlier.
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The name of Scatman Crothers's character, Moses Brown, is an allusion to the McCandles Ranch cook played by Bill Walker in Big Jake.
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Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the movie proved to be one of John Wayne's least successful movies ever on its release.
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Although now widely regarded as one of the finest final movies of any star, along with The Misfits starring Clark Gable and On Golden Pond starring Henry Fonda, this was never actually intended as John Wayne's last movie, particularly since it was not until January 1979 - three years after filming had begun - that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. In July 1978, after recovering from open heart surgery, he announced that he was intending to make a movie called "Beau John" with Ron Howard, but for some reason it never happened.
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The movie has often been compared with The Gunfighter, a part John Wayne had wanted to play but which had instead gone to Gregory Peck.
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James Stewart only agreed to play a cameo role in the film because John Wayne had specifically requested him. His short time on the film proved to be trying. The bad acoustics of the huge, hollow sound stages worsened his hearing difficulties, and he stayed by himself most of the time. He and Wayne muffed their lines so often in the main scene between them that director Don Siegel accused them of not trying hard enough. Wayne's reply was a variation on an old John Ford line, advising the director, "If you'd like the scene done better, you'd better get a couple of better actors." Later on, the star told friends that Stewart had known his lines, but hadn't been able to hear his cues, and that in turn had caused his own fumbling. Because Stewart's movie career had ended several years before, he was only paid $50,000 for his part.
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After 47 years in Hollywood, John Wayne did not film a picture in the year 1975. Production on The Shootist started in January 1976.
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Two years prior to the release of this film, Richard Boone, Harry Morgan and Rick Lenz had co-starred in the NBC television series, Hec Ramsey which was also set in 1901 and depicted the fading of the Old West and the coming of modern law enforcement.
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Hugh O'Brian's character, Pulford, is the faro dealer. O'Brian was already well known for his portrayal of western law man, Wyatt Earp. Earp was a part-time lawman and earned the majority of his income as a faro dealer.
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When Books arrives in Carson City and stops to read the newspaper, you can see an early, but familiar, Coca-Cola sign past his shoulder in a storefront window.
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In the opening street scene, utility poles are shown, along with wires on the crossarms. City Marshal Thibido confirms that Carson City has electricity and power. The Rogers house has both. But in all subsequent street scenes, there are no utility poles or wires.
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Spoilers
The original screenplay had Gillom Rogers (Ron Howard) shooting and killing J.B. Books (John Wayne). In the screenplay, the killing disturbed Gillom so much that he throws away the pistol and leaves the bar, repulsed by the act. Wayne had the screenplay changed so that Books is killed by the bartender, who is then killed by Rogers.
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