The Shootist is a novel written by Glendon Swarthout and published in 1975.
The book was made into a 1976 Western film directed by Don Siegel and is noted as being the final film role of actor John Wayne. Scott Hale and Miles Ho
Background
The character of J.B. Books (Swarthout based the character on John Wesley Hardin) serves to parallel the final days of John Wayne, who died from stomach cancer three years after production ended. The Shootist would be his final film role, concluding a legendary career that began during the silent film era in 1926. The knowledge of Wayne’s health during the production would inspire much of the dialogue and imagery of the film. Lauren Bacall had suffered through the 1957 death of her husband Humphrey Bogart, who died of throat cancer, adding further shading to the parallels of the film.
A popular urban myth holds that Wayne was dying of cancer when he made this film. Although he was in poor health during the production and this was generally considered to be his final film role, he had been cancer-free since undergoing surgery to remove his left lung in 1964. The cancer would not return until the last year of his life.
At the time the movie rights were purchased, John Wayne was not seriously considered for the role, due to questions about his health and his ability to complete the filming. The producers had wanted George C. Scott, but Wayne actively campaigned for the role and made completion of the filming a personal mission.
The film was shot on location in Carson City, Nevada and at studios in Burbank, California. In Carson City, the house at 500 N. Mountain Street that doubled for J.B. Books’ rooming house (owned by Bond Rogers in the movie) is three doors south from the Nevada governor’s mansion. The only change to the house was a portico added on the southern side. Besides changing the location from El Paso to Carson City, and having his horse Dollor written in, Wayne also changed the ending of the screenplay. Books was supposed to shoot Jack Pulford (Hugh O’Brian) in the back, and then Gillom Rogers (Ron Howard) was to shoot Books. Wayne said “I’ve made over 250 pictures and have never shot a guy in the back. Change it.” He also did not want the young Gillom killing him. The screenplay was changed, having him shoot Pulford in the head, the bartender then shooting Books, followed by Rogers shooting the bartender.
The horse that J.B. Books (Wayne) rides in the film, Dollor (‘Ole Dollor), that he gives to Gillom Rogers (Howard), had been Wayne’s favorite horse for ten years, through several Westerns. The horse shown during the final scene of True Grit was Dollor, a two-year-old in 1969. Wayne had Dollor, a chestnut Quarter horse gelding, written into the script (although there is no mention in the book of a specific horse) of The Shootist because of his love for the horse, it was a condition for him working on the project. Wayne would not let anyone else ride the horse. Robert Wagner was a rare exception, who rode the horse in a segment of the Hart to Hart television show, after Wayne’s death.[2]
John Wayne and Lauren Bacall made one previous film together two decades earlier called Blood Alley (1955), a seafaring adventure set in China.
James Stewart and John Wayne also made one previous film together, John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).
od Swarthout (son of the author) wrote the screenplay.
Reception
Upon its release in June 1976, The Shootist was a minor success, earning nearly $6,000,000. It received fair-to-excellent reviews, with enormous praise heaped on Wayne by many critics. It was named one of the Ten Best Films of 1976 by the National Board of Review, along with All the President’s Men and Network, and was nominated for one Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA award, and a Writers Guild of America award. The film currently holds a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cast
- John Wayne – John Bernard “J.B.” Books
- Lauren Bacall – Bond Rogers
- Ron Howard – Gillom Rogers
- James Stewart – Dr. E.W. Hostetler
- Richard Boone – Mike Sweeney
- Hugh O’Brian – Jack Pulford
- Harry Morgan – Carson City Marshal Walter J. Thibido
- John Carradine – Hezekiah Beckum (undertaker)
- Sheree North – Serepta
- Scatman Crothers – Moses Brown
- Bill McKinney – Jay Cobb (owner, Cob’s Creamery)
- Rick Lenz – Dan Dobkins (reporter, ‘Morning Appeal’)
