There are many people who laugh, when John Wayne is called an actor. Those people have never seen The Shootist. Wayne, in the last film he made, gives one of the finest performances of his career. He plays John Books, a gunfighter. John Wayne over his career, played in many westerns. The majority tell the story of the west, from a Hollywood perspective. This movie is different. It has Wayne playing a man on borrowed time. This is not because the law or outlaws are coming for him. It is fate giving him something he can’t outdraw.
John Books rides into the town of Reno,Nevada, looking for Dr. Hostetler, (James Stewart). He doesn’t want to talk about old times, or start a poker game. Books was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, by another doctor. After Hostetler examines him, he comes up with the same diagnosis. Books is told he has a month or so. The doctor gives him pain medicine, telling him it will be effective in the short term. He also tells Books, that he wouldn’t want to die like that. This is an excellent example of foreshadowing.
Books is given the name of Bond Rogers, (Lauren Bacall). Rogers runs a boarding house. She knows who Books is. She gives him a room, in spite of her reservations. She has a son, Gillom, (Ron Howard) He knows who Books is and tells a few people. The news spreads fast. People who have grudges are ready to meet Books in the street. There is also Marshall Thibido,(Harry Morgan). Thibido is a jackass and a coward. He tells Books Reno is becoming a modern town, and his kind isn’t wanted. He is delighted about Books impending earthly departure. Thibido says he hopes Books dies quickly. It is later when he taunts Books, that he is threatened, by the gunfighter. Thibido says he wouldn’t kill a lawman. Books responds by saying what’s stopping him, a fear of dying.
Books is a celebrity. This prompts the local reporter to request an interview. He knows the newsman is another lowlife, seeking fame and fortune through him. He puts a gun to his mouth, terrifying the reporter. Books doesn’t allow the sleazeball to leave on his own. He boots him out literally. John Books later finds that his old girlfriend, Serepta,(Sherree North),cooked up the money scheme, with the reporter. The gunfighter is sickened by this. He is astonished that he once loved her. The somewhat noble shootist: a term that was used for gunfighter, decides on a plan, to meet the grim reaper on his terms.
The Shootist, has some of the best dialogue written for a movie. The screenplay was adapted from the book ,by Glendon Swarthout. This was done by his son, Miles Hood Swarthout. The screenplay was by Scott Hale. The brief scenes between James Stewart and Wayne show why they made a very good living in Hollywood. Stewart and Wayne were close friends. Stewart summed up The Duke in an appropriate quote. He said, “people identify with me, but they want to be John Wayne.” Lauren Bacall does some great acting. She has disdain for Books profession, but ends up falling for him. Her compassion and business sense cost her standing among the town’s residents. She doesn’t care. Bacall is that person that her husband, Humphrey Bogart made her; an exceptional actress. Ron Howard proves that he wasn’t just a regular child actor. He cut his acting teeth on The Andy Griffith Show. That helped him develop his thespian skills. His career as an actor, helped him become one of the industry’s most successful directors. Howard in his role as Gilliam Rogers, goes from a boy to a man. This is due to Books substituting as a father figure.
Successful actors have a talent of course. A director’s job is to get the most out of that talent. John Ford did it with John Wayne. Don Siegel did it with Lauren Bacall and Ron Howard. Siegel had been in Hollywood for over thirty years, when he directed this movie. His efforts behind the camera, helped make Clint Eastwood a star. John Wayne was a professional but he did not like Clint Eastwood. He felt that, he (Eastwood), was ruining the mythical version of the west,that Wayne and John Ford created. John Wayne always felt that the heroic cowboy image, should always be upheld.One of the most interesting things in the film, is the chronicling of John Books career. This is done by editing clips from John Wayne films. They are Stagecoach, Rio Bravo and El Dorado,among them. This was a great move, through the collaboration of the director and the editor, Douglas Stewart.
The Shootist is of course, a John Wayne western. The movie is more like the somber and gritty westerns of James Stewart and Anthony Mann. The movie depicts a man who is certainly not a hero. It does depict hero worship, by Ron Howard’s character. Books even honors Gillom Rogers request to teach him to shoot. Books life defines violence. He tries to get Gillom to become a good citizen. The film shows that every man is capable of having a positive influence. This was what John Wayne did. His last film, cemented that legacy.