A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Girl on Streetcar
- (as Melody Thomas)
- Man Outside Metropole
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJames Stewart agreed to play a cameo role in the film only because John Wayne had specifically requested him. His brief screen time proved to be rather difficult. The bad acoustics of the huge, hollow sound stages worsened his hearing difficulties, and he stayed by himself most of the time. He and Wayne muffed their lines so often in the main scene between them that director Don Siegel accused them of not trying hard enough. Wayne's reply was a variation on an old John Ford line, advising the director, "If you'd like the scene done better, you'd better get a couple of better actors." Later on, the star told friends that Stewart had known his lines, but hadn't been able to hear his cues, and that in turn had caused his own fumbling.
- GoofsIn the final shooting when the bartender shoots Mr. Books, the squib detonation wires are visible on the ground and leading up each man's leg.
- Quotes
Gillom Rogers: [first lines, voiceover] His name was J.B. Books, and he had a matching pair of 45's with antique ivory grips that were something to behold. He wasn't an outlaw. The fact is for a while he was a lawman. Long before I met Mr. Books, he was a famous man. I guess his fame was why somebody or other was always after him. The wild country had taught him to survive. He lived his life and herded by himself. He had a credo that went:
John Bernard Books: I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sneak Previews: The Top Ten Films of 1976 (1977)
- SoundtracksWillow, Tit Willow
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by W.S. Gilbert
Performed by John Wayne & Lauren Bacall
Wayne portrays J. B. Books, the most famous lawman in the West who killed thirty men in his life... Books arrives to Carson City in 1901, the day Queen Victoria died in England...
Wayne went first to get a medical diagnosis known to everyone as cancer.
Dr. Hostetler (James Stewart) was too practical... He gives Book the most potent pain-killer he gets, and tells him where to stay in town...
The film is build to one and only purpose: To let Wayne die with dignity, without physical pain, at the Metropole gambling saloon, in a showdown with three heavies: Richard Boone, a bad-tempered ugly man who wants to avenge his brother's death; Hugh O'Brien, a skilled dealer and a presumptuous gunfighter; and Bill McKinney, an unpleasant provoking gunman just released from prison...
Ron Howard plays the crude graceless adolescent, the first to meet Wayne in the street: 'The old man ain't worth a bullet,' he says, 'he looks all tuckered out.' In this particular scene, it comes to my mind the insolent young punk, Skip Homeir, who tries to prove something when he confronts Gregory Peck in the psychological Western "The Gunfighter."
Wayne seems surprised by the visit of Serepta (Sheree North), an unscrupulous aging lady-love who tries to take advantage of him, asking him to marry her simply for a marriage certificate, and a famous name... She surely was not the woman of quality, the good prostitute (Claire Trevor) in "Stagecoach."
John Carradine, who plays the mysterious passenger, also in "Stagecoach," makes a brief appearance as the undertaker...
Tying to overcome his bloody past, John Wayne shows, in the film, the other side of the 'Shootist,' his human side... We find him pleasantly amusing when he reveals to Stewart the truth about the red fancy cushion he carries in the film...
Filmed in Carson City, Nevada, and with a fine supporting cast, this untraditional motion picture is a lyrical elegiac Western of the highest quality, a moving tribute to a legendary actor and a tender farewell to a Super Star...
- Nazi_Fighter_David
- Nov 7, 1999
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Posljednji hitac
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,091,910
- Gross worldwide
- $8,091,910
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1