Customer Reviews

The Shootist [VHS]

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As movie genres come and go, the American Western was gasping for its last breath when John Wayne starred in "The Shootist" in 1976. This story about a dying gunfighter counting down his last days in the New World is loaded with an extremely heavy dose of symbolism. This is a quiet western, completely emphasizing dialogue over action. Directed by Don Siegel, a master of the western, the overall mood laments the passing of the Old West and its ideology. I agree with other comments that this film has a slightly made-for-TV quality about it, but it's clear this is supposed to be a delicate look at the death of a revered cowboy, and not a wide-open prairie epic. Like the character himself, John Wayne was dying, and provided for us what would be his final performance. The last words Wayne ever said onscreen at the end of this film are the same words I'd say to him if I had ever met him - "Thank you, sir."

Set in Nevada in 1901, Wayne plays John Bernard Books, considered one of the last infamous gunfighters of the Old West. Books settles into Carson City and learns he's dying of cancer. Hoping to live his last few days quietly, he is befriended by a strong-willed widow (Lauren Bacall) who owns a boarding house, and her impressionable son (Ron Howard). His presence becomes known, and enemies from his past emerge looking for a fight, while other so-called friends try to coax the legendary outlaw into letting a little fame rub off. Books soon develops a tender friendship with the Bacall character, while becoming a mentor to her eager son, even though the local Marshall is pressuring him to leave town immediately. Books soon figures out how to rid himself of his enemies and his debilitating condition in one swift stroke. The cast is a large who's-who of western actors and they do an all-around great job; Lauren Bacall looks a little less glamorous than usual, but fits right in as the stern yet feminine widow. Ron Howard gives a brash, "aw shucks" grown-up version of Opie, and Harry Morgan provides a little humor as the cowardly, trash-talking town deputy. There's also a small but fantastic supporting role by the eternal Jimmy Stewart as the doctor who informs Wayne of his ailment.

As the titular dying gunfighter, Wayne's role is not as complex as it was in "The Quiet Man" or "The Searchers", but this is still some of the best acting he's ever done. This is a solemn film, about someone reaching the end of their life and isn't afforded much time to rest and reflect because their past is catching up. The sad perspective of the Old West as an antiquated era also shows how we sometimes have trouble trying to stay with the times when the rest of the world is rapidly moving forward. This movie has grown in appreciation over time with many Wayne fans due to his calm, age-old performance. I can't think of another film that has served as such a fitting goodbye to an actor. "The Shootist" is - both literally and figuratively - the Duke's final bow.

An aged gunfighter tries to find a quiet corner to spend his last days after learning he has terminal cancer, but the world has other plans.

John Wayne plays the old cowboy in THE SHOOTIST, truly one of the most remarkable westerns ever. For one thing, this is Wayne's last movie, and it's fitting that the movie cowboy icon bows out in a movie about a famous gunfighter coming to terms with his own mortality. That the character has `a cancer,' as doctor Jimmy Stewart barks out at one point, makes it all the more immediate. At the time THE SHOOTIST was filmed Wayne had already lost one lung to cancer. Wayne, an understated and honest actor, is so perfect for the role it was a little surprising to hear, on the short `making of' documentary on the dvd, that George C. Scott was consider for the role. Scott was a powerful and clever actor, and certainly would have done a good job with this juicy role, but he lacked Wayne's personal history with cancer and icon status. The cast is filled with strong character actors, most of them playing varying degrees of baddies. Henry Morgan is the sheriff who can't wait for Wayne to kick the bucket. John Carradine plays the gaunt mortician who has a particular interest in what happens after the bucket is kicked. Hugh O'Brian and Richard Boone are a couple of old foes with serious scores to settle.

But the movie is content, wisely, to concentrate most of its attention on character. The heart of this movie is in the scenes between Wayne and Lauren Bacall, as the widow from whom he rents a boarding room from, and her son, played by Ron Howard. Fans of Wayne, those familiar with his earlier westerns, will find these scenes quietly moving. For my money THE SHOOTIST is a classic, contains what may be Wayne's best on-screen performance, and is essential viewing for those who love western movies. A five-star gem.

John Wayne's last film serves as an epitaph of his enormously popular career in film.

"The Shootist", directed by Don Siegel in 1976, went through numerous delays and battles before the film was finished. But what the audience is left here is nothing short of a masterpiece. This should serve (and in my opinion, it does serve)as the pinnacle of both John Wayne's and Don Siegel's careers.

Many people who are not John Wayne fans will get the exact same enjoyment out of this film as much as his biggest fans do. Simply because the film is beautifully shot and is deeply heartfelt and moving.

John Wayne plays J.B. Books, a gunfighter looking to retire. When he returns to Carson City 15 years after one of his greatest gunfights, he is a changed man. He is also an ill man. Doc Hostetler (played be Jimmy Stewart) is forced to tell Books the bad news that he is dying of cancer. (Unfortunately, Wayne truly was dying of lung cancer during the filming of the motion picture). Obeying Hostetler's orders, Books gets a room at Widow Rogers' (Lauren Bacall) boarding house and intends to live out the rest of his life in peace. This does not happen however as the rumour spreads quickly around the town that Books is dying and every gunfighter trying to make a name for themselves unsuccessfully try to shoot him down.

With just days before his 58th birthday, Books decides to "go out in style" (guns blazing). He gets Widow Rogers' son, Gillom (played by Ron Howard) to tell local gunfighters Cobb, Pulford and Sweeney that he will meet them at the Metropole Saloon on his birthday. It's just hours before the Rogers' realize what Books is planning to do.

The film does tend to become depressingly downbeat at times but in the end, this proves to be John Wayne's finest work. Wayne gives the performance of his career with this film and it's probably just as well that the "Duke" went out with this blaze of glory than say the sequel to "True Grit". (Not that "Rooster Cogburn" is a bad movie, but it doesn't even compare to this magnificent piece).

Also watch for excellent performances by Richard Boone (Sweeney), Hugh O'Brian (Pulford), Harry Morgan (Thibido), Scatman Crothers (Moses) and especially John Carradine as Beckum, the undertaker. (Surprise, surprise!!!) The scene in the barber shop between Books and Beckum is truly wonderful.

Parents, if you intend to show this film to your children, let them know there is some bloody violence and strong language (for a John Wayne movie). Otherwise, show them this fine work of art. That's right, this is art.

I want to agree with the excellent comments offered here already about this very fine film.

I became a huge John Wayne fan when I was five years old. It was 1976 and I watched "The Sands of Iwo Jima" on TV. I've since watched alot of John Wayne movies with my personal favorite being "The Searchers"; but I cannot say any them were a more emotionally moving experience than the first time I saw "The Shootist."

I darn near cried. As another reviewer stated, this movie probably will not effect people who are not John Wayne fans the way it will those who are. The fact that this was his last movie and that he was already starting to suffer the effects of the cancer that would kill him three years later add a poignancy to the film for Duke Wayne fans. Combine that real life drama with a truly compelling story of an dying gunfighter, who has outlived his time, and the wonderful performances that bring that story to life and the result is a truly great film.

I can think of no better "swan song" for the career of an American icon than "The Shootist." In 1975, John Wayne was JB Books. An icon. A legend. Yes, John Wayne was never a sheriff. He was never a soldier. He was never a cowboy. Yet he represented the American ideal so well that people believed he was all those things. His outspoken patriotism during the Vietnam era made him a hero to millions of Americans. He was also a man who had outlived his genre as had JB Books outlived his era. In 1975, the western film genre was dying. With exception of Clint Eastwood(who has made just 3 westerns since '75), John Wayne was the only actor in the '70s who still made westerns respectful of the genre. The rest of Hollywood either ignored the genre or made fun of it in revisionist films. Like JB Books who felt out of place in the turn of the century West, John Wayne was an anacronism in 1970's Hollywood. John Wayne is JB Books. If you watch "The Shootist" with that in mind it will surely add poignancy to an already moving film.

In my opinion, this is one of John Wayne's most underrated films. Oh, people like it well enough, but few see it for what it really is: the twilight of a great epoch in American cinema. In it, Wayne gives one of his finest and most believable performances, and stars opposite a great cast of old contemporaries (like James Stewart) and up-and-comers (like Ron Howard).

This final film of the Duke could not have been more fitting. Wayne plays an old gunfighter who's dying of cancer. He knows he's dying, and tries to live out his final days in peace. The real tragedy of the story is that no one will let him--he is constantly harassed by would-be heroes, newspapermen, and people seeking to play a part in the death of a legend. The role is a different one for the Duke--he doesn't play the tough-as-nails cowboy this time--and yet he seems to fit it perfectly.

This is perhaps the most fitting farewell of a Hollywood legend conceivable. No matter what people think of him, few can deny the everlasting impact that John Wayne has had on American society. This film is the last hurrah, the blaze of glory. Wayne's character, and Wayne himself, senses the end of his era, and goes out with style.

The Shootist is the last film of John Wayne, but its also an end of an era. The end of the John Wayne legend and his style of western

Wayne plays an aging gunfighter (J.B. Books) who is dying of cancer. He wants to spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.He wants his last gunfight, rather than cancer. It is 1901, so the American West is dying, as Books is..it is growing civilized and has no need for the gunfighters/the shootist of old.

The supporting cast of this film is first rate. Such talent as James Stewart, Laurel Bacall, Richard Boone, Hugh O'Brien,Harry Morgan, Scatman Crothers, John Caradine and Ron Howard assist Wayne in this last film.

the film is directed by Don Siegal, who directed many of Clint Eastwood's hits including Dirty Harry, Two mules for Sister Sarah, and Coogan's Bluff. It is part tribute to the Wayne Legend and part western

Is it worth getting? YES. To me it is a classic western more than Wayne's Searchers is, just like the Good, the Bad & the Ugly is to me

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

The Shootist DVD

It's difficult to watch the Shootist, knowing that John Wayne was, in fact, dying of cancer, as was his character in the movie, and this was his last completed movie. John Wayne plays a dying cowboy/lawman that has come to town to die. It is, also somewhat symbolic of an Age dying, when you see the street cars down the middle of the main drag.

Highly recommended for fans of John Wayne, Western movies, and action films.

Gunner April, 2008

I'm not rating this 5 stars because I'm a John Wayne fanatic, because I'm not. I'm not rating this 5 stars because I have a special fondness for Westerns, because I don't. I'm rating it 5 stars because it's one of the most poignant films ever made, absolutely appropriate that the Duke's final film would be about a dying gunslinger's last act to save a young wannabe from following in his sad, lonely, misunderstood footsteps.

The plot of the film, its phenomenal cast, etc., can be easily found in other reviews on this page, so I won't go over that again. Let me just say that this bit of historical knowledge---John Wayne dying of cancer portraying J.B. Books dying of cancer---elevates "The Shootist" from a bittersweet Western character study to a very, very special piece of movie history. In one of his finest performances, the Duke subtly displays the pathos of a man forced to be a loner who now is forced to rely on the kindness of people who owe him no kindness; he can now only repay them by effectively ending one young man's quest to imitate his gunfighter hero. Wayne's performance is perfect; as an actor would say, the best acting is when it doesn't feel like acting. Knowing what he was going through makes the story all the more real.

The film is not up to the level of "High Noon" or "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," IMO the two greatest Western films ever made. But by quietly telling the story of the end of a legend who lived a decidedly unquiet life, "The Shootist" earns, and is not simply given, a unique slot in movie history.

I grew up in the shadow of the Viet Nam war, and so never truly developed an appreciation for John Wayne until later in life. This is hardly surprising. After all, I was a dove, he was an outspoken hawk, and besides most of his later films weren't much to write home about. True Grit was mildly entertaining piffle, but Oscar-worthy? Puh-leeeze!!

The intervening years since Wayne's death, with the growth of cable TV and the video market, have given me an opportunity to gain respect for the man and his work. Films like Red River, The Searchers, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Quiet Man and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance are now among my personal favorites. But the one film that I think he truly deserved an Oscar for was The Shootist. Knowing that it was probably his last film, being a cancer-ridden actor playing a cancer-ridden gunfighter, and a lifetime of Western acting in every line on his face -- all this gives the film and his portrayal of J. B. Books a resonance unlike any other film in his long career. Whether he's flirting with Lauren Bacall, sparring with Jimmy Stewart, or teaching a callow Ron Howard, Wayne is always sure-footed, dignified and larger than life and all-too-human at the same time.

Adios, Pilgrim.

Along with his performances in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON and THE SEARCHERS, John Wayne isn't just playing a character, he IS the character. Considering that J. B. Books is dying of cancer, is called "Methusalah" by one man, and that another says that his kind is dying out, one has to wonder what was going through Wayne's mind as he made this film. He and director Don Siegel had strong disagreements throughout the making of it, but there is something so perfect and so (for want of a better term) "zen" about the Duke's performance that the arguments must have made this the great film it is. There is not a false note in the film, and some performances besides Wayne's (Bacall, John Carradine and especially Richard Boone-damn, what a great character actor and what a face [just observe Boone when he strides into the Metropole Saloon towards the end and his reaction to the others there-perfect]) are just astounding.

But it is Wayne's film, and it is a shame that it did not do better at the box office when it was released, but that could have been due to indifference from younger viewers, the same from the studio, or possibly a sadness from Wayne's loyal fan base that just did not want to see him playing his older, dying self onscreen. Nonetheless, no other actor, movie star or just plain American icon had as fine a farewell to us as Marion Morrison had with THE SHOOTIST.

My only complaint with the DVD release is this: why no commentary with Bacall, Howard, or O'Brien? This is your typical Paramount DVD with little or no extras for an older film, and [the price]? C'mon, guys! If you aren't going to spring for a commentary track, how about knocking [money] off the list price? This was my main complaint with THE UNTOUCHABLES and the main reason I didn't buy that disc. At least MGM/UA with its paucity of extras has the decency to lower the price (even if THE ALAMO is the short version), so what gives here?