History Film / TheShootist

-->''John B. Books: ''[Interrupts]'' Bat Masterson?

* {{Deconstruction}}: It's pretty mild compared to other Westerns of the era but for a John Wayne film to end the way this does, ''The Shootist'' counts.

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:Ironically subverted with the final shootout. Rather than dying in a blaze of glory, Books's instincts kick in and he kills his three opponents while receiving non-fatal wounds himself. And then just when it seems the cancer will be the thing killing him after all, the bartender comes in from behind...]]

* TwoShotsFromBehindTheBar: [[spoiler:This is who finally kills Book. He invites three people with a grudge against him to a saloon, wanting to die quickly in battle rather than slowly from cancer. But he's so good he out-shoots his opponents, only to get shot InTheBack by the bartender. Who then gets shot by Gillom who's just arrived on the scene]].

* YoureCuteWhenYourAngry: When Ward tries to get Books to leave her house, he responds thusly:

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: In the climactic gunfight, Books kills one of the bad guys by shooting through the barroom table top which the bad guy is holding in front of himself.

%%* YourDaysAreNumbered

* BittersweetEnding: Creator/JohnWayne, uh Books dies as he wanted to, in a blaze of glory defeating bad guys. It's accepted that this was a far better fate than the cancer that was killing him. The happier conclusion is that [[spoiler:young Gillom, after shooting a man to defend the dying Books, throws the gun away in disgust and shows he will not take the path of being a gunfighter]].

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* BreakTheHaughty: It's ambiguous whether or not it's dignity or pride, but Books does take several blows to it as he is increasingly forced to accept help. In the book its worse for him: [[spoiler: Gillom, whom he failed to set right, physically overpowers him and he is brought to tears by an encounter with an ambitious reverend]]. However, on his way to the final fight, he recalls his small victories and contentedly decides that there's still a lot of him left to kill.

* BadassGrandpa: Even in his sixties, in chronic pain from the cancer that's killing him, and outnumbered three to one, Books wins because he's still ''just that good.''

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amsel_the_shootist76_poster_8986.jpg]]

J.B. Books, a famous gunfighter of the Old West, has traveled to Carson City to see an old doctor friend ([[Creator/JimmyStewart James Stewart]]) about some health troubles. Said doctor tells him straight it's cancer and that Books has only weeks to live. Told to rest in town, Books makes his way to a widow's house (LaurenBacall) and under a false name rents out a room. The widow's son Gillom (Creator/RonHoward) quickly finds out Books's real identity and word quickly spreads that the gunfighter is in town. Soon enough, Books's old enemies come looking to settle scores and a local gambler is intrigued with the idea of making a name for himself as the Man Who Shot John Wayne, uh J.B. Books...

%%* DeathSeeker: Books, obviously.

%%* FaceDeathWithDignity: Books plans on doing this.

%%* MetaCasting

J.B. Books, a famous gunfighter of the Old West, has traveled to Carson City to see an old doctor friend (Creator/JimmyStewart) about some health troubles. Said doctor tells him straight it's cancer and that Books has only weeks to live. Told to rest in town, Books makes his way to a widow's house (LaurenBacall) and under a false name rents out a room. The widow's son Gillom (Creator/RonHoward) quickly finds out Books's real identity and word quickly spreads that the gunfighter is in town. Soon enough, Books's old enemies come looking to settle scores and a local gambler is intrigued with the idea of making a name for himself as the Man Who Shot John Wayne, uh J.B. Books...

* BigBad: Mike Sweeney, Jack Pulford, and Jim Cobb.

* DeathSeeker: Books, obviously.

* EvilIsPetty: Jim Cobb.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Books plans on doing this.
* GlorySeeker: Jack Pulford.
* TheGunfighterWannabe: Gillom.

* JobTitle

* MetaCasting

* {{Undertaker}}: Beckum.
* WidowWoman: Bond Rogers.
* YourDaysAreNumbered

* BreakTheHaughty: YMMV on whether or not it's dignity or pride, but Books does take several blows to it as he is increasingly forced to accept help. In the book its worse for him: [[spoiler: Gillom, whom he failed to set right, physically overpowers him and he is brought to tears by an encounter with an ambitious reverend]]. However, on his way to the final fight, he recalls his small victories and contentedly decides that there's still a lot of him left to kill.

* [[spoiler:InTheBack]]: [[spoiler:Courtesy of the bartender's double-barrel shotgun]].

** It should be noted that at one point two guys try to ambush and kill Books in his sleep. After Books dispatches them, the marshal identifies the pair, but Books has no idea who they are. The marshal quips "Well, they know you."

'''''The Shootist''''' is a 1976 {{Western}} directed by Don Siegel and starring Creator/JohnWayne as the title character.

* {{Badass}}: Books (Creator/JohnWayne, natch).
** BadassCreed: "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 of them."
** BadassGrandpa: Even in his sixties, in chronic pain from the cancer that's killing him, and outnumbered three to one, Books wins because he's still ''just that good.''

'''''The Shootist''''' is a 1976 {{Western}} directed by Don Siegel and starring JohnWayne as the title character.

J.B. Books, a famous gunfighter of the Old West, has traveled to Carson City to see an old doctor friend (Creator/JimmyStewart) about some health troubles. Said doctor tells him straight it's cancer and that Books has only weeks to live. Told to rest in town, Books makes his way to a widow's house (LaurenBacall) and under a false name rents out a room. The widow's son Gillom (Creator/RonHoward) quickly finds out Books's real identity and word quickly spreads that the gunfighter is in town. Soon enough, Books's old enemies come looking to settle scores and a local gambler is intrigued with the idea of making a name for himself as the Man Who Shot JohnWayne, uh J.B. Books...

* {{Badass}}: Books (JohnWayne, natch).

* BittersweetEnding: JohnWayne, uh Books dies as he wanted to, in a blaze of glory defeating bad guys. It's accepted that this was a far better fate than the cancer that was killing him. The happier conclusion is that [[spoiler:young Gillom, after shooting a man to defend the dying Books, throws the gun away in disgust and shows he will not take the path of being a gunfighter]].

* ShoutOut: Mrs. Rogers' first name is a reference to veteran western actor Ward Bond.
** The name of Scatman Crothers's character, Moses Brown, is an allusion to the McCandles Ranch cook played by Bill Walker in ''Film/BigJake''.

* FaceDeathWitDignity: Books plans on doing this.

* EndOfAnAge: both in the film as Carson City is entering the twentieth century with electric lights, automobiles, and ''[[OlderThanTheyThink dry cleaning]]'' signaling the end of the Wild West as we know it; and on a serious meta-level as being the last John Wayne Western EVER signalling an end to the clear morality of Right and Wrong that Wayne's Westerns created.

* BigBad: Mike Sweeney, Jack Pulford, and Jim Cobb.