Contents
Reviews
How
Discs Are Rated
#
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
News
Archives
DVD
Guide
Contest
Video
Game Reviews
About
DVDlaunch
Meet
The Staff
Contact
|
Click above to purchase "The Shootist" at amazon.com
The Shootist
review by Anthony D.
Studio: Paramount
Running Time: 98 minutes
Starring John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James
Stewart, Hugh O'Brian, Sheree North
Written by Miles Hood Swarthout and Scott Hale
Directed by Don Siegel
Retail Price: $29.99
Features: Theatrical Trailer, Documentary
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital Mono, French Dolby Digital Mono, English Closed
Captions, English Subtitles, Scene Selection
Released: July 24th, 2001
It seems, in hindsight, that releasing "The Shootist" in
the year of our nation's bicentennial was a stroke of luck,
or genius. Sure, other films have dealt with the theme of
the death of the "Wild West," and have been successful, but
none were as fortunate in their timeliness as "The Shootist"
finds the final screen appearance of a true American Icon:
John Wayne. As I write these words, it occurs to me that
there is now an entire generation of Americans who don't
know who John Wayne was; and although it was at a time chic
to be anti-Wayne, one has to consider the vast legacy of
film that he left behind.
"The Shootist" actually opens with a montage of John
Wayne clips (in glorious black and white) beginning with a
youthful appearance in FOX's widescreen wonder of 1930's
"The Big Trail, and culminating with his appearance in
Paramount's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." These clips
enable us to not only see John Wayne, but to give a definite
back-story to the character that he portrays. For "The
Shootist" is about the last seven days in the life of a
gunslinger, or more aptly, a shootist: a rare breed amongst
the men of the west, whose reputation for quick thinking and
faster fingers would soon fade from memory as the American
West became civilized. This brief montage takes us through
thirty years of John Bernard Books life, from the year 1871,
up until the present day of the film, 1901. To be precise,
January 22, 1901, when the headlines of newspapers still
called out the death of England's Queen Victoria. ; thus
brilliantly linking the decline of two entire eras: The
Victorian Age and that of The Westward Move of Americans.
When we meet John, he is en route to Carson City, but
waylaid by an unsuspecting robber who doesn't know that he
is trying to steal from the last of the great gunslingers,
and promptly faces his own mortality. Books arrives in a
town that has its own history with him, for it was in Carson
City that he engaged in one of his most famous shoot-outs.
But this time, Books is coming to town to seek the advice of
homespun doctor, James Stewart, whose second opinion of
Books' condition is that he is indeed dying, of a cancer to
large to be operable. Stewart compassionately tells him that
to cut out the cancer, he's have to entirely gut Books's
body. Armed with his trusty guns, and his tasseled cushion
(stolen he says, from a whorehouse), Books seeks the comfort
of a respectable boarding house to spend his final days.
The house is of course run by a widow woman, the
beguiling Lauren Bacall, and her maturing son (Ron Howard).
Another of the thematic devices of "The Shootist," the son
coming into manhood at the end of an era rings, solidly
true. The major device of having such a well-known actor,
Wayne, portraying a man dying of cancer, is handled with
dignity and pathos, in the knowledge that Wayne himself
would pass on, only a few years later - - of lung cancer.
Wayne, who knew a good script when he read one, bravely
takes on this role; a return to the western genre following
two contemporary detective roles in "McQ" and "Brannigan,"
roles which could have ended his career on the downside.
In "The Shootist," Wayne revels in the return to form,
and his performance is a towering achievement. There's none
of this wallowing in self-pity often associated with
disease-of-the-week movies shown on tv, nor none of the
bathos associated with a certain blockbuster about "a girl
who died." No, this dying man, will face his illness
head-on, and chose to make his death a dignified, quiet
affair; that is until the news of the arrival of the famous
shootist reaches the towns peoples' ears. As the days drift
by, dated on the screen with titles, Books is confronted by
a newshound out to make a buck on Books' life story, whether
through fact or fiction, family members of those Books had
gunned down ("I never killed a man who didn't deserve it"
Bools proudly proclaims to the Widow Rodgers), a gunslinger
("You have two ways of leaving this establishment:
immediately, or dead.") whose reputation could improve
vastly were he the man to kill Books, and old girlfriend who
is more harridan than comfort as well as the promises made
in the dark and the note of false spring offered on Books'
final birthday.
A lot of care went into the making of "The Shootist,"
from the authenticity of the costumes, set design and
overall feeling of the film. What could have been a bathetic
weepfest, is handled with every ounce of dignity the subject
matter deserves; which is not to say that "The Shootist" is
a downer. As much as it deals with the death of a man, it
also celebrates the living. There is humor in the script,
Henry Morgan deals out a dose of gallows humor when he, as
the town's marshal visits Books to force him out of town,
and the scenes of the bullheaded battles of communication
between Books and the widow are charming in their
truthfulness. The suspense element is textured firmly into
the film, even as Books is approached by the town undertaker
John Carradine in an inspired piece of casting) who eager
awaits Books' demise. Subtle touches, script wise and
visually re-enforce the central theme: Bacall is given a
minor speech about the new-fangled process of dry cleaning;
a telephone is in a central position in the boarding house,
and though still horse-driven, a trolley car runs on tracks
through the center of town. Time has passed John Booker by,
but civilization will continue to come to Carson City.
The print used for this presentation has a minor share of
grain, even in scenes in bright lighting, and a few
noticeable artifacts which never interfere with the film
itself. Like many Paramount films, the reds within "The
Shootist" are not truly red, but that orange-like tomato
red, but they remain stable. Siegel captures the atmosphere
of a western winter with aplomb, since it is not only the
physical winter his camera is capturing, but the winter of
John Books' life. Exterior shots are rightfully cold
feeling, even in the presence of sunlight. The spectrum of
colors, from the blacks and navies of clothing, to the plush
greens (and just how many shades of green are there?) in the
Metropole Saloon are striking without being shockingly
garish. Wayne's blue eyes are captured in their moments of
sadness, humor and romance with believable clarity. A
subdued range of colors more than adequately mirrors the
emotional sweep of the film's thematic essence. Edge
enhancement may be present, but not problematic. I don't
believe that a lovelier presentation of "The Shootist" could
be possible.
The soundtrack for "The Shootist" is presented with a
fitting Dolby Digital mono English track. "The Shootist,"
unlike the majority of westerns, relies more on dialogue
than gunshots; thus the track is quite appropriate. In
addition to the English language track, "The Shootist" can
be viewed with an alternative French language track. The
Closed Captioning provides literal transcriptions of the
English dialogue. The dialogue track is clean and precise,
with virtually no signs of age or ADR-produced dialogue. The
foley tracks present the gunshots with flair, and Elmer
Bernstein's short, sweet score is faithfully re-produced.
Spoilers abound in the disc's Special Features, so if
you've never seen the film, don't watch either the Original
Theatrical Trailer, nor the superb exclusive Documentary
before viewing "The Shootist." The two-minutes plus trailer
features the final conflict and its outcome, albeit out of
context, thus taking suspense away from a finale as wrought
as that of "High Noon." The self-congratulatory documentary,
though never patronizing, makes a great deal out of how the
ending of the source novel was changed for the film, thus
insuring that viewers should watch it only after having seen
the film. As I watched the trailer, I was struck by the fact
that the film's opening sequence of past John Wayne
cinematic triumphs are present in the trailer in their
original scratchy state, whereas within the film proper,
they have been cleaned up drastically. The Documentary, "The
Shootist: The Legend Lives On," a brief twenty minute piece,
is for all intents and purposes, promotional. This however,
is combined with telling interviews of several cast members
and crew. It's not hard-hitting, but a nice addition to the
feature. Hugh O'Brian is heard from, but an interview
featuring Lauren Bacall's comments would have been useful,
as her work with Wayne recalls her best work with Bogart. My
only complaint is the lack of the exquisite poster designed
for the film's release by noted artist Richard Amsel, whose
best known posters for Paramount would be The Indiana Jones
trilogy of films.
Would "The Shootist" ring true if it had not have been
Wayne's final film? I think that Paramount's presentation on
this disc would ultimately garner a "Yay" vote. For it is
not merely John Wayne's valedictory, it is a Don Siegel
western with a glowing supporting cast, each chosen with
inspiration, as well as rightness. There is a poignancy, as
there always will be, about this particular era in American
history, a poignancy which only grows stronger as our own
eras briefly unfold. With its fine eye and ear for detail,
and a stand-out performance from John Wayne, "The Shootist"
proves that a western film has more to offer than blood and
guts, this is the one with a heart and a brain, as well as
the courage to parlay those attributes into a loving tribute
to the men (and the women) who did indeed conquer the west.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3.5/5)
 (3/5)
 (1.5/5)
(3.5/5, NOT an average)
|
