Monday, March 08, 2010

The Shootist


Breda over at the Breda Fallacy has finally seen THE SHOOTIST, to me one of the greatest westerns ever made:
"It's not always being fast or even accurate that counts. It's being willing. I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need, aren't willing. They blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull the trigger...And I won't." -J.B. Books
It is an amazing movie (and an even more amazing book), John Wayne's near-perfect swan song.

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5 comments:

  1. iainmcphersn8:52 PM

    I'm with Breda. The book was better but Hollywood was not ready for the book ending then.

    Eastwood could remake it today with the book ending now though.

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  2. Moosejaw4:05 AM

    If you think about it, Eastwood did make 'The Shootist'...after a fasion.....with the movie ending. it was called 'Gran Torino'. Both excellent movies.

    2 of my kids are partners in a '72 Gran Torino....Old fart that I am, I want to pose with it and my Garand...just like the Eastwood poster...

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/Gran_Torino_poster.jpg

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  3. gunman427824:54 AM

    One of my favorite movies of all time. I sure miss John Wayne.

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  4. iainmcphersn12:07 PM

    Didn't think about Gan Torino when I posted the earlier comment. It's a great parallel. Thanks for mentioning it.

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  5. Matthew3:12 PM

    I mentioned this over at Breda's, but I really enjoyed how the director used clips from Wayne's earlier oaters to show the history of Bookes, watching him age on celluloid.

    It established the character as well as providing a nutshell of Wayne's filmography.

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