It’s not often that an actor gets to choose what his “swan song” will be. But in the case of legendary actor John Wayne, that’s precisely what happened. When Paramount Pictures bought the rights to Glendon Swarthout’s novel The Shootist, there were a few actors on the list for the lead role. It was generally assumed that John Wayne’s poor health would prevent him from playing the role of J.B. Books, a gunslinger past his prime who is facing a potentially immediate demise. But The Duke apparently made it his mission to finish this one, and the ways in which the plot mirrors Wayne’s own condition only make the film more heartbreaking.
As the movie opens, legendary “shootist” Books arrives at a busy young town called Carson City. The aging gunslinger has been told he has a cancer and Books hopes to prove this diagnosis wrong by asking a second opinion of his old friend Doc Hostetler (James Stewart). After his worst fears are confirmed, Books rents a room from the prim yet caring widow Rogers (Lauren Bacall) and her impressionable son Gillam (Ron Howard). The old man’s arrival in Carson City sets off a whirlwind of gossip, and it’s not long before a few malcontents come crawling out of the frontier to dredge up Books’ chequered past.
The Shootist is lovingly directed by legendary director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and the screenplay is a crackerjack adaptation of Swarthout’s novel. One particularly clever sequence appears at the film’s opening, as several clips from Wayne’s lengthy earlier career are offered as a back story to the J.B. Books character. This makes the parallels between fiction and reality all the more poignant. As the Wild West’s last remaining gunslinger, Books appears due for extinction in the year 1901. But for Wayne and his fictional alter-ego, it’s not when you die that’s important, but how. (The final shootout of this film is remembered quite fondly, and deservedly so.)
Following a career full of blustery and over-baked performances, Wayne’s portrayal of J.B. Books is nothing short of brilliant. If he ever gave one excellent performance, it’s in this movie. Hollywood legends Bacall and Stewart provide ample support for The Duke, while a young Howard is also quite solid. In smaller yet colourful roles, Hugh O’Brian and Scatman Crothers add a lot, and Harry Morgan gives an enormously entertaining performance as the cruel town marshal.
It’s tough to watch The Shootist knowing it was a screen legend’s final curtain call, even more so when you realize how Wayne was struggling through cancer himself throughout the film’s production. While it’s an entertaining and touching movie, this film is more than that. It’s a testament to John Wayne’s legendary screen presence and a wonderfully bittersweet farewell to the golden age of Western movies. They just don’t make Westerns like they used to, and The Shootist was one of the last great ones.
