I finally got around to seeing it.

 Last week I finally got around to seeing a movie that I have known about since its release in 1976. This film is somewhat ironic as it is the story of an aging gunfighter who is dying of cancer -- played by an actor who himself would die of cancer three years after the film's release. Although John Wayne had cancer surgery a few years before this film was made and would later  die of the disease, he was considered cancer-free when this film was made.

I will start off with the negative -- the ages of the actors playing the main characters.

James Stewart (Dr. Hostetler) turned 68 the month after filming wrapped up. Not that there is any problem with someone almost 68 being in a movie, it's just that his character says he has been practising medicine for 29 years. He looks like he is 80. Did he have a mid-life change of career?

James Stewart (Dr. Hostetler) Photo: Paramount/edgecenterarts.com

 

Lauren Bacall (Bond Rogers) was 51 during the filming. I have no objection at all with actresses getting older. She still looks good. However, her character lived in a house with electricity, a telephone, and indoor plumbing. She was not Mrs. Ingalls living in a little house on the prairie. Mrs. Rogers had been widowed for about a year. Her husband died at age 41 of a stroke. Either Mrs. Rogers had robbed the cradle when she got married or Bacall looked too old for the part.

Lauren Bacall (Bond Rogers) Photo: Paramount/theaceblackblog.com

 

Ron Howard (Gillom Rogers) turned 22 during filming. His character was 20, so no real problem.

Ron Howard (Gillom Rogers) Photo: Paramount/YouTube.com

 

John Wayne (J.B. Books) turned 69 the month after filming ended. The film ended on the character's 58th birthday. However, Wayne looked like he could have been someone who lived a hard 58 years, so again, no problem.

 

John Wayne (J.B. Books) Photo: Paramount/Gritty.com

 

While it may be a bit unusual to start out a discussion of a film pointing out problems, I did it for a particular reason: I would not have cast anyone else in those parts. They were excellent.

Not only were they excellent, but I don't think I have ever seen Wayne or Stewart any better. Wayne was sick before filming started and that seemed mellow him for the part. He did not have his booming "Lemme tellya Pilgrims" presence that he usually brought to a role. After Books gives Gillom some shooting lessons, Wayne gives a little heart to heart advice to the youngster in a soft, fatherly voice. Normally John Wayne played John Wayne. In this film he played J.B. Books

Gillom and Books Photo:Paramount/YouTube.com

James Stewart was also very believable. He did not have his usual "Wahl, gosh" persona that he normally brought to a role. His "suggestion" to Books was a very powerful scene -- one that could have easily been ruined by overblown acting. The story is that Stewart, being hard of hearing, missed some of his cues. That threw off Wayne. That may have brought some vulnerability to the two seasoned actors -- and that made their performances absolutely  amazing.

The Shootist was directed by Don Siegel who, among other things, directed Dirty Harry and the montage scenes in Casablanca. The film starts out with a number of scenes in black and white showing the history of Books. The reason these scene were in black and white (with yellow text giving the dates of when the events were to have taken place) was because Siegel used clips from old John Wayne movies to show the younger Books. Those scene were in black and white. It is not often that a director is able to provide a backstory to a film's main character by showing clips from old films of the actor who plays that character.

The film takes place in 1901. Books had seen a doctor in Colorado who gave some unwanted news. Rather than take that doctor's word for it, Books travels to Carson City, Nevada to see Dr. Hostetler who had saved Books' life fifteen years before. Hostetler is the only doctor that Books trusts. The news is the same.

The doctor tells Books that he can get a room in the house of Widow Rogers. Books tries to keep his identity a secret but it is soon revealed. While a romantic love affair does not develop between Books and the widow, a love affair of respect does.

The film does have a John Wayne ending as Books takes Dr. Hostetler's suggestion and also tries to do a little housekeeping for the town at the same time.

The Shootist is not a traditional western film. It marks the end of the western era as it leaves kicking and screaming. The film is a character study of people who are an anachronism in the new age.