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John Wayne: Shootist
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John Wayne rose beyond the typical recognition for a famous actor to that of an enduring icon who symbolized and communicated American values and ideals. By the middle of his career, Wayne had developed a larger-than-life image, and as his career progressed, he selected roles that would not compromise his off-screen image. By the time of his last film The Shootist (1976), Wayne refused to allow his character to shoot a man in the back as was originally scripted. [38]
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The great John Wayne's career from the mid-1950s and on is saluted in this terrific program that offers a look at Wayne's world through movies like "Hondo," "The Searchers," "The Alamo," "The High and the Mighty" and "McLintock." Check out how John almost played Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke," his Oscar win for "True Grit" and his farewell in "The Shootist." 88 min. Soundtrack: English. NOTE: This Title Is Out Of Print; Limit One Per Customer.
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John Wayne is always considered a "movie star" rather than an actor. Movie Stars developed personas which they played off in film after film. Wayne's output does match this definition, but he did turn in some powerful performances, and though not a "trained actor", his screen work can be quite varied when investigated. His roles in "The Searchers" and "From Here to Eternity" deserved acting accolades, but it wasn't until 1969, late in his career, that he was awarded the Oscar for portraying one eyed Rooster Cogburn in the film "True Grit." He spent another decade on the nation's movie screens, but during the 70s a differnt kind of movie became popular, and though Wayne's star never really faded, it did sink lower into the sunset of American film. Wayne died of lung cancer in 1979. In his last role, in 1976's "The Shootist", he plays a gunfighter dying of cancer who perishes onscreen.
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John Wayne fans will not want to miss this terrific compilation of promotional films, behind-the-scenes footage and trailers featuring Duke at his best--and most revealing. Listen to Maureen O'Hara talk about the filming of "McLintock!"; see John and Howard Hawks work on "El Dorado"; and check out a rare trailer for "The Shootist," his last film. 85 min.
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Amid all of the shouting and agonizing over his politics, Wayne won an Oscar for his role as marshal Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, a part that he later reprised in a sequel. Wayne weathered the Vietnam War, but, by then, time had become his enemy. His action films saw him working alongside increasingly younger co-stars, and the decline in popularity of the Western ended up putting him into awkward contemporary action films like McQ (1974). Following his final film, The Shootist (1976) -- possibly his best Western since The Searchers -- the news that Wayne was stricken ill with cancer (which eventually took his life in 1979) wiped the slate clean, and his support for the Panama Canal Treaty at the end of the 1970s belatedly made him a hero for the left.
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In 1976, John Wayne starred in his last motion picture. The plot closely mirrored his current situation - both he and his character in The Shootist were dying of cancer, only Wayne didn't know it yet. (Or maybe he did subconsciously - he insisted the screenwriter be more graphic about what would happen to his character when the cancer took over.)
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