The Shootist

John Wayne made a lot of movies in his acting career and a good portion of them were westerns. Well, he also played cops, hunters, soldiers, and everything in between, but it looked like westerns were his forte. It seemed right, whether he could tell or not, that his final film would also be a western.

In a decision that looked completely unreal, Wayne plays the part of a gunfighter who is dying of cancer while he himself had the exact same situation. The Telltale Mind said in their review, “Truly strange and yet poignant at the same time, for as he goes through the film, it is almost as if he is saying goodbye to the audiences that loved him throughout his career.  His performance was nothing short of phenomenal as he was able to relate so personally to the role.” This part, unlike any other he had played in the past, made him look for just once, not the larger than life character he always played.

The film also has a great supporting cast from an older Ron Howard, Jimmy Stewart, Richard Boone and Lauren Becall. These are great performances if anyone has seen one. Ron Howard was really amazing to see outside of “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Happy Days.” The Telltale Mind credited, “His capability of playing the wide-eyed and innocent young teen next to Wayne’s experienced and aging cowboy was a smart piece of casting.”

John Wayne had starred in the majority of his long list of films he made and almost all of them were considered the best. The Searchers, True Grit, The Longest Day and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance are some that are called his best films and would be said as his finest. That can also be said for “The Shootist” as his greatest film. TheTelltale Mind ended their review by saying, “A truly wonderful and riveting performance from the Duke in what would be his final film aided and abetted by some of the best co-stars in any movie.”

There’s a funny story that Don Siegel was working with John Wayne on this movie and made a terrible mistake. The villain sneaks around the room and John Wayne comes up from behind the villain. Siegel had told Wayne to just shoot the villain and Wayne questioned, “Shoot the man in the back?” Siegel said, “Just shoot him, and get rid of him because you got four other guys.” Wayne told Siegel, “I don’t shoot anyone in the back.” Siegel made the mistake of saying, “Well Clint Eastwood would have shot him in the back.” Wayne turned blue and said to Siegel, “I don’t care; I don’t shoot anyone in the back! If you want, go call that kid!” It’s a funny story, when you think about it. John Wayne saw the footage and noticed that it was edited to show him shooting a man in the back. He said to them that he made over 250 films and never shot a man in the back, demanding that they change it, which they did. However, John Wayne had shot men in the back in several of his films, like “The Searchers.”

All of that aside, this is another one of those must-see Westerns that everyone has to see. As the final film John Wayne did, he went out with a drop of the hat. I would even say this is another one of my favorite Westerns. Seeing how nice the weather is becoming now, it seems fitting to watch Westerns. I understand that people may not like Westerns because of the slow pace, predictable plot, but not all Westerns are like that. This is one that must be seen to be believed.

Well everyone, we have now come to the end of “John Wayne Month.” I hope I made some good recommendations for everyone and hopefully everyone will be watching some of these movies. Definitely don’t miss out on them. Check in next month for more exciting reviews.

True Grit

There is a moment in “True Grit,” released in 1969, when John Wayne and four or five bad guys fight one another across a mountain pasture. The issue is very evident: Someone will have to back away or die.

Roger Ebert said in his review, “Director Henry Hathaway pulls his telephoto lens high up in the sky, and we see the meadow isolated there, dreamlike and fantastic. And then we're back down on the ground, and with a growl Wayne puts his horse's reins in his teeth, takes his rifle in one of his hands and a six-shooter in the other and charges those bad guys with all barrels blazing.” As a scene, you should not take it seriously.

Ebert said, “The night I saw a sneak preview, the audience laughed and even applauded. This was the essence of Wayne, the distillation. This was the moment when you finally realized how much Wayne had come to mean to you. I have on occasion disliked his movies, most particularly "The Green Berets." But Wayne has a way of surmounting even bad movies, and in 40 years he has also made a great many good ones. In the early ones, like "The Quiet Man" or "The Long Voyage Home," he was simply an actor or simply a star. But long before many of us were born, John Ford began to sculpture the actor and the star into the presence.” Today there is not a movie actor who is more an archetype.

One of the great things of “True Grit” is that it recognizes Wayne’s great charisma. It was not directed by John Ford (who in any case might not have been intent enough about Wayne), but it was directed by another Western director, Henry Hathaway, who has made the movie of his career and gave us a masterpiece. This is the type of film you call a movie, instead of the type of movie you call a film.

It is one of the most pleasant, cheerful scary movies of all time. Ebert, “It goes on the list with "National Velvet" and "Robin Hood" and "The African Queen" and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "Gunga Din." It is not a work of art, but it wouldn't be nearly as good if it were. Instead, it is the Western you should see if you only see one Western every three years (an act of denial I cannot quite comprehend in any case).”

It is based completely on Charles Portis’ novel, and it tells the story of Mattie Ross from near Dardanelle, in Yell County. One day her father goes to the city and is murdered by a spineless snake. Mattie, played completely new by Kim Darby, goes to town to hire someone to go into the Indian Territory and capture the criminal.

She makes a deal with U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, who is a one-eyed, grimy, polished, roughshod, overweight mischief with a heart of gold completely covered by a screen of leather. Then a Texas Ranger, played by Glen Campbell, joins in when he shows up and says he has a reward for the murderer (who also, as it looks like, killed a state senator in Texas). “It is a small reward,” the ranger says, “but he was not a large senator.”

Ebert mentioned, “After two horse-trading scenes in which Mattie outtalks the horse trader and drives him to distraction, the three set out into Indian Territory. Rooster and the ranger can't get rid of Mattie so she comes along. And we embark on a glorious adventure not far removed from Huck Finn's trip down the Mississippi, for this is also an American odyssey. Portis wrote his dialog in a formal, enchantingly archaic style that has been retained in Marguerite Roberts' screenplay.”

Campbell, who needs some acting practice, finds it difficult to convince the dialogue but Hathaway helps him out. Also, Kim Darby, especially in the horse-trading parts, is a miracle. You may even laugh so much when she sees that geldings, in her experience, are not worth the money if you want to breed them. Ebert said, “And as for Wayne, I believe he can say almost anything and make it sound convincing. (In Otto Preminger's "In Harm's Way" he had to say: "I mean to get into harm's way," and he even made that convincing.)”

With no surprise, Wayne takes over this powerful movie. He is not playing the same Western character he always plays. Instead, he can play Rooster because of every Western character he has played. He brings a relief and authority to the character. He never reaches, nor does he hesitate. Everything is there, a silent confidence that comes out of 40 years of acting. You have to love the veterans.

Surprisingly, the film got a 1975 sequel, “Rooster Cogburn.” Dennis Schwartz started his review out by saying, “A disappointing ripoff film that exploits the two aging legendary actors, John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn, with this overbaked and awkwardly conceived sequel to the popular True Grit--the film that gave Wayne his only Oscar (albeit a sentimental one). The stars were both 69 at the time and with Kate coming off hip surgery and the Duke diagnosed with lung cancer. Wayne reprises his role in True Grit as the unschooled, gruff, one-eyed patch-wearing hard-drinking marshal who has a paunch. While Kate plays the same type of strong-willed, sharp-tongued, elderly spinster role she did in the African Queen, here as a Bible-thumping teacher at an Indian missionary. Aside from the good chemistry between the two stars, the film has little to offer but B Western antics and an uninteresting formulaic story line.”

In the Arkansas Territory in 1875, Judge Parker (John McIntyre) fires Marshal Rooster Cogburn for using extreme force and then re-hires him to track Hawk (Richard Jordan) and his 9-man team who killed an army patrol and stole a wagon filled with nitro-glycerine and a Gatlin gun so they can rob a bank in the nearby town. The Judge promises permanent rehiring as marshal if he brings in Hawk alive, and he also promises a team but they never arrive. Rooster rides off alone and finds that the outlaws killed the Yankee preacher father (Jon Lormer) of Eula Goodnight (the great Katherine Hepburn) and the family of the young Indian man Wolf (Richard Romancito) at the missionary. The two make Rooster take them with him so they can get revenge for the murderers of their family.

Schwartz said, “Rooster crows about his ornery ways, Eula nags and talks Bible talk, and Wolf hero worships his elders.” The three prove to be right for the gang, as they trick them into thinking they have a team with them and therefore the gang runs leaving the wagon behind. Hawk was in town with Breed, played by Anthony Zerbe, casing the bank and when he returns, he goes after the wagon. For some weird reason (Schwartz said, “Probably because it was in The African Queen script rooster”) Rooster takes the nitro and Gatlin gun downstream on a raft. Not to say it works out find, as he runs away from the gang and hits them with the nitro.

Not much to go on about. Schwartz said, “It was made strictly to cash in on the success of True Grit and offers nothing fresh. The writer Martin Julien was a pseudonym for producer Hal B. Wallis's wife Martha Hyer. It uses the True Grit story by Charles Portis, but Hyer pens the tailor-made parts for the Duke and Kate.” Director Stuart Millar looked like he was along with the film, as this is a great right and they overact because that the way they wanted to play it.

I personally think this is underrated and not really so bad like everyone else said. If you want a bad sequel, let’s take a look at “True Grit: A Further Adventure,” released in 1978.

Hard living lawman, Rooster Cogburn (Warren Oates), is with once again Mattie Ross (Lisa Pelikan) when he is given money to escort her across the country to Monterey, California where her grandfather lives. Along the way they make a stop at the home of Annie Sumner, played by Lee Meriwether, and her sons where he has to give bad news that her husband Jake was killed. However, Cogburn having gambled all of his money the lawyer gave him to take Mattie to California decides to stay for a little while in a nearby town to earn some money while keeping an eye on one of the Sumner boys who wants to be like his father who was a law man. Meanwhile, Mattie goes to change Rooster for the better in her typical direct manner.

Ignoring the fact that they changed actors we have a storyline where Rooster is one escort duty and staying in a town where he needs to raise some money after gambling everything away. Obviously this isn’t as easy and Rooster is dealing with some bad guys and blackmailers while trying to keep an eye on not only for Mattie but also the Sumner boys as he doesn’t want to see them end up the same way. He even makes some time to help Annie who could lose the ranch. TheMovieScene said in their review, “The thing is that it is an incredibly generic storyline with nothing to make it stand out or with this being a made for TV movie it feels like something you would find in the likes of "Bonanza" and "The High Chaparral" which isn't bad if you were bought up on these western TV dramas.”

Obviously the major thing about this movie is the change of actors and we have Warren Oates playing Rooster Cogburn. Unfortunately Oates trying to make his own mark on Rooster Cogburn ends up being a generic character and not the hard living one John Wayne made. TheMovieScene said, “On top of that this Rooster Cogburn has the whitest teeth of anyone I have ever seen in a western. As for Lisa Pelikan as Mattie Ross, well Pelikan plays her like a cross between Kim Darby's plucky Mattie and Katharine Hepburn's uptight Eula Goodnight and to be honest it kind of works as at least it is memorable.”

TheMovieScene continued, “What this all boils down to is that this 1978 version of "True Grit" is entertaining in its own right and kind of fun for those who grew up on western dramas such as "Bonanza".” However, if anyone is expecting it to be on the same level as John Wayne's "True Grit" will end up being disappointed.

I’m sorry to say, but this made-for-TV sequel put me to sleep a couple of times and I had to stop it so that I could wake myself up because of how bored I was by it. If anyone likes it, fine, but I personally did not. Just don’t see this one, but do see “True Grit,” as that is one of the best Westerns and maybe another one of my favorite Westerns, and “Rooster Cogburn,” as that is an underrated and wrongfully hated movie.

Check in next week for the finale of “John Wayne Month.”

Rio Bravo

Howard Hawks was the master of mockery. His films were filled with them (SF Said said in his review, “think of Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday”) but “Rio Bravo,” released in 1959, is the best one. It’s mainly a western, but it’s really about a bunch of friends who name call one another, put down one another, and mainly joy in their friendship. They give one another nicknames. John Wayne’s risk-taking Sherriff is named Chance. Then there’s his lame friend Stumpy (Walter Brennan) and drunk deputy Dude (Dean Martin), also called Borachón (Spanish for “drunk”).

They get caught up in a fight with a villainous rancher (John Russell), who has countless heavies at his side. “A lame-legged old man and a drunk – that’s all you got?” one (Ward Bond) asks Wayne. “That’s what I got,” he corrected them concisely. In Hawks’s movies, all a man needs is his team of friends, however dysfunctional they appear.

Luckily, the team encounters a sharp woman named Feathers (Angie Dickinson) and a quick youngster Colorado (Ricky Nelson), who plot to outsmart the villains with a flowerpot. Said mentioned, “Dickinson also runs romantic rings around Wayne, making this icon of Hollywood machismo look like a bumbling fool. That was the kind of fun Hawks loved to have with his stars; he made Cary Grant wear drag for most of I Was a Male War Bride.”

Said continues, “Hawks said he liked "three-cushion dialogue", in which no one says what they mean. Rio Bravo is full of it, yet some of its most eloquent moments are silent.” Dean Martin getting over alcoholism is seen not through speeches but his trouble to roll a cigarette. We know Wayne loves him because he’s always ready to give him his own. That’s the type of info that makes this film. It’s warm, human and completely necessary, even 59 years later.

I have to be honest; this movie is just a joy and a lot of fun to watch. I love the banter between Wayne and Martin, and you will as well when you watch this one. You have to see this, if you’re a fan of Wayne and Westerns. If you haven’t seen this film, go out and watch it. This is one of those must see movies and possibly another one of my favorite Westerns.

Check in next week when I look at a trilogy of Westerns that Wayne had starred mostly in, in “John Wayne Month.”

The Searchers

The month of May is going to be exciting because I will be looking at an actor’s work who I have been thinking about looking at for some time now. That actor is none other than one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Western actor ever, John Wayne. I don’t think I have ever looked at Westerns before, but now I will. Let’s dive in with one of the greatest John Wayne westerns ever, “The Searchers,” released in 1956.

This film is considered by many to be the greatest western ever made and Wayne’s best role. Highly praised, wonderfully shot, with John Wayne at his best, and with a great supporting cast, the movie is very entertaining and touches on areas like revenge, family, racism, trust, and industry as Wayne and his friends help find a white girl taken hostage by Comanche Indians.

The story starts three years after the Civil War with Wayne playing Ethan Edwards, nearing a border home. Looking tired and exhausted, Ethan was a Confederate soldier. Ethan is met by his family including his brother Aaron (Walter Coy), Aaron’s wife Martha (Dorothy Jordan) and their two children, teenagers Debbie (Lana Wood and Natalie Wood) and Lucy (Pippa Scott). Everyone is happy to see Ethan, and Ethan brings out gifts, leftovers from the war, and they have dinner. During dinner, Martin Pawley, played by Jeffrey Hunter, arrives. One-eighth Cherokee Indian, Martin was adopted by the Edwards family after Ethan saved him as a child from an Indian attack. Because Martin is part-Indian, the racist Ethan treats him with disrespect, his eyes showing the racism he has for Indians. The next morning at breakfast, more disruptions arrive when Sam Clayton, a reverend and a captain of the Texas Rangers, played by Ward Bond, shows up. Sam Clayton comes to ask Ethan’s help in tracking a neighbor’s cattle that was stolen by Comanche Indians. Ethan makes Aaron stay with the women, while he leaves with Martin and the Rangers. In one of the classic shots of film history, Clayton looks away on purpose as Martha caringly gives Ethan his Confederate coat while Ethan kisses her on the forehead. Does Ethan love Martha, his brother’s wife, making it one of the reasons why he didn’t return after the War? As Ethan leaves with the Rangers, Martha and Debbie look far away after them.

Ethan, Martin and the Rangers do find the cattle murdered and see it was all a trap to get them to leave so that the Comanches could break into Aaron and Martha’s home. When Ethan returns home, they find the house burned, and adults murdered and Debbie kidnapped. Furious, Ethan and Martin team up to ride through the whole west to find Debbie from the Indians.

As they look, they sleep long nights out on the open range, visit saloons for help, kills Indians and robbers, and make a pit stop at the home of the neighbors the Jorgensens (John Qualen and Olive Carey), where Martin is fallen in love with by their nervous daughter, Laurie (Vera Miles). Despite Martin and Laurie both being in love, his mission is more important, and he leaves her unhappy and eager to marry. Ethan and Martin ride off again, Martin buys an Indian wife (Beulah Archuletta), and they find the Comanche camp led by an evil chief named Scar (Henry Brandon), who wants to avenge his sons killed by white people. Inside the camp is now a grown Debbie. Ethan thinks she is no longer white and wants to kill her when she sneaks into their camp, but Martin protects her, a creek standing between him and Ethan, showing their differences. An Indian arrow stops Ethan right in time, and he and Martin barely escapes. Back at their home, a final battle with the Indians develops, with the goal to get Debbie from the hands of Scar. Can Martin stop Ethan before he murders Debbie?

Movieguide said in their review, “THE SEARCHERS was made before the days of political correctness. The women are docile, but feisty, domestic engineers, swooning over men and cooking. Ethan and Martin, conversely, are rough and tough. At one point, Martin kicks his unfortunate, well-meaning Indian “bride.” Finally, the lead Indian is played by a Caucasian, and the Indians’ presence is seen as threatening. Unlike the recent DANCES WITH WOLVES, no attempt is made to understand or appreciate the Indian culture, although DANCES itself is an idealized portrait of Indians and may be considered to be a racist diatribe against white American society of the 1800s. Yet, all these things do not diminish the complexity, beauty and emotional pull that THE SEARCHERS displays. THE SEARCHERS is actually a transitional film from the 1950s that makes a strong statement against racism.”

Movieguide continues, “The wide-open space photography in THE SEARCHERS is breathtaking, and the interiors are detailed. Director John Ford arranges his images here in a wonderfully unique way, a quality which has earned this film a mention by some critics as one of the top ten cinematic masterpieces of all time. Both the lead actors and the supporting actors excel.” The most memorable is the little crazy, definitely silly Mose Harper, played by Hank Worden, who helps out occasionally in Ethan’s journey. Mose nicely shows gratitude to everyone and God, even when they’re in danger. Christian audiences will also love the hymn singing, prayers and Scripture said at the funeral and a wedding. Movieguide credited, “John Ford is a filmmaker who remembers his history lessons, that America was primarily populated by practicing Christians in the past.” Even the skeptical and tired character Wayne plays bows his head during a prayer before a meal.

Movieguide said, “THE SEARCHERS was produced before MPAA ratings came into effect, so therefore it uses restraint when displaying battles and attacks. The audience does not need to see the murdered or burnt bodies of the Edwards family to know the devastating blow it has on Ethan and Martin. Likewise, the shootouts are primarily bloodless. While this may not be authentic, it allows THE SEARCHERS to be accessible to a greater audience, including older children, and hence can be appreciated by some complete families or at least more members of the family.”

The movie has John Wayne in maybe his best role, which he often said was his favorite. The main story of the movie is whether his character Ethan will not go down the path of hatred and revenge. Ethan is the archetypal Western hero who has gone through a tragic loss and must choose if he will help his community or his own sinful desires.

When Western fans think of some of the best of this genre, “The Searchers” will definitely make it on their list. It’s a must watch for those who have never seen it. I might even say this might be one of my favorite Westerns.

Now with that classic looked at, check in next week for the next installment of “John Wayne Month.”