The Shootist (1976)

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

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

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

Stars:

John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	J.B. Books
Lauren Bacall	...	Bond Rogers
Ron Howard	...	Gillom Rogers
James Stewart	...	Dr. Hostetler
Richard Boone	...	Sweeney
Hugh O'Brian	...	Pulford
Bill McKinney	...	Cobb
Harry Morgan	...	Marshall Thibido
John Carradine	...	Beckum
Sheree North	...	Serepta
Rick Lenz	...	Dobkins (as Richard Lenz)
Scatman Crothers	...	Moses
Gregg Palmer	...	Burly Man
Alfred Dennis	...	Barber
Dick Winslow	...	Streetcar Driver

Storyline

John Books an aging gunfighter goes to see a doctor he knows for a second opinion after another doctor told him he has a cancer which is terminal. The doctor confirms what the other said. He says Books has a month maybe two left. He takes a room in the boarding house and the son of the woman who runs it recognizes him and tells his mother who he is. She doesn't like his kind but when he tells her of his condition, she empathizes. Her son wants him to teach him how to use a gun. Books tries to tell him that killing is not something he wants to live with. Books, not wanting to go through the agony of dying from cancer, tries to find a quicker way to go.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to arizona | bisbee arizona | tucson arizona | highwayman | creede colorado | 

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Taglines:

He's got to face a gunfight once more to live up to his legend once more - TO WIN JUST ONE MORE TIME.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Scharfschütze

Filming Locations:

Carson City, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$5,987,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Dino De Laurentiis Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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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Goofs

When Gilliam picks up Books gun after the bartender shot him, there is red on the end of the barrel, apparently Books blood. When Gilliam shots the bartender, the red is still visible on the end of the barrel, but when he throws the gun away, there is no red on the end of the barrel.

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Quotes

Moses Brown: Mr. Books, you're the most famous man I ever knew, and the second bes' haggler.
John Bernard Books: Who's the best?
Moses Brown: [smiling broadly] Here I stand.

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Connections

Features El Dorado (1967)

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Soundtracks

Willow, Tit Willow
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by W.S. Gilbert
Performed by John Wayne & Lauren Bacall

User Reviews

Don Siegel crafted a milestone along the trail to the last sunset with "The Shootist"...

"The Shootist" begins with clips from Wayne's previous pictures: "Hondo," "Rio Bravo," "El Dorado" etc...

Wayne portrays J. B. Books, the most famous lawman in the West who killed thirty men in his life... Books arrives to Carson City in 1901, the day Queen Victoria died in England...

Wayne went first to get a medical diagnosis known to everyone as cancer.

Dr. Hostetler (James Stewart) was too practical... He gives Book the most potent pain-killer he gets, and tells him where to stay in town...

The film is build to one and only purpose: To let Wayne die with dignity, without physical pain, at the Metropole gambling saloon, in a showdown with three heavies: Richard Boone, a bad-tempered ugly man who wants to avenge his brother's death; Hugh O'Brien, a skilled dealer and a presumptuous gunfighter; and Bill McKinney, an unpleasant provoking gunman just released from prison...

Ron Howard plays the crude graceless adolescent, the first to meet Wayne in the street: 'The old man ain't worth a bullet,' he says, 'he looks all tuckered out.' In this particular scene, it comes to my mind the insolent young punk, Skip Homeir, who tries to prove something when he confronts Gregory Peck in the psychological Western "The Gunfighter."

Wayne seems surprised by the visit of Serepta (Sheree North), an unscrupulous aging lady-love who tries to take advantage of him, asking him to marry her simply for a marriage certificate, and a famous name... She surely was not the woman of quality, the good prostitute (Claire Trevor) in "Stagecoach."

John Carradine, who plays the mysterious passenger, also in "Stagecoach," makes a brief appearance as the undertaker...

Tying to overcome his bloody past, John Wayne shows, in the film, the other side of the 'Shootist,' his human side... We find him pleasantly amusing when he reveals to Stewart the truth about the red fancy cushion he carries in the film...

Filmed in Carson City, Nevada, and with a fine supporting cast, this untraditional motion picture is a lyrical elegiac Western of the highest quality, a moving tribute to a legendary actor and a tender farewell to a Super Star...