In a career filled with many memorable motion pictures, John Wayne always did it with class. His final project was no different. “The Shootist” is a story about a famous gunfighter dying of cancer, trying to live out his last days in peace.
The interesting screenplay was written by Miles Hood Swarthout and Scott Hale, adapted from the 1975 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout (father of the screenwriter). Director Don Siegel (“Dirty Harry” 1971) handled the all-star cast adeptly, which includes John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone, Hugh O’Brian, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Sheree North, Scatman Crothers, Rick Lenz, Bill McKinney, Dick Winslow, Gregg Palmer, and Kathleen O’Malley, daughter of J. Pat O’Malley.
John Wayne himself passed away three years later from cancer. This filmed capped a career that spanned half century, starting in a 1926 silent picture called “Brown of Harvard” where he played an uncredited role of a Yale football player. With Elmer Bernstein composing the musical score, “The Shootist” was a modest hit at the box office for Paramount Pictures. It received one Oscar nomination for Best Art & Set Direction.
The Shootist (1976)
cinema
My Review
In a career filled with many memorable motion pictures, John Wayne always did it with class. His final project was no different. “The Shootist” is a story about a famous gunfighter dying of cancer, trying to live out his last days in peace.
The interesting screenplay was written by Miles Hood Swarthout and Scott Hale, adapted from the 1975 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout (father of the screenwriter). Director Don Siegel (“Dirty Harry” 1971) handled the all-star cast adeptly, which includes John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone, Hugh O’Brian, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Sheree North, Scatman Crothers, Rick Lenz, Bill McKinney, Dick Winslow, Gregg Palmer, and Kathleen O’Malley, daughter of J. Pat O’Malley.
John Wayne himself passed away three years later from cancer. This filmed capped a career that spanned half century, starting in a 1926 silent picture called “Brown of Harvard” where he played an uncredited role of a Yale football player. With Elmer Bernstein composing the musical score, “The Shootist” was a modest hit at the box office for Paramount Pictures. It received one Oscar nomination for Best Art & Set Direction.