Posted on 12/20/2021 11:47:28 AM PST by DFG
At the risk of spoiling a 50-year-old film, the most efficient way to introduce The Cowboys, a 1972 western produced and directed by Mark Rydell, is that it's the one where John Wayne gets killed. To be sure, Wayne died in more than just one film, but of the ten where he does, five of the deaths are offscreen and one of them is so early in his career that his unfortunate character doesn't even have a name (1933's Central Airport).
But The Cowboys was notorious for Wayne's death, one full act before the film's finale, as it had been over a decade since the Duke bought the farm in a film, playing Davy Crockett in The Alamo, making a heroic exit by blowing up the fort's powder magazine and a whole bunch of Santa Anna's troops. He'd die again onscreen, of course – four years later in The Shootist, his final film. But Wayne's death in The Cowboys happened at a cultural moment when killing John Wayne wasn't just a plot twist but a political statement, or at least that's how it was interpreted during the long twilight of the '60s that seemed to last until the middle of the '70s.
Following the ironclad rule that there's no such thing as a period film as much as a movie about the time when it was made, dressed up in costumes, The Cowboys is a story about generations – one receding, the other emerging. Even if events offscreen didn't underline this theme, it would be hard to miss from the elegiac tone and the forlorn mood that seems to have overtaken the older characters.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
One of John Wayne’s finest movies, AND every BOY should see it. With the ORIGINAL ending, not sure though, lol.
How many “Alec Baldwin” wardrobe malfunctions did John Wayne have during his many years of gunfights and shoot-em-outs? Still zero?
Saw an interview with the Duke one time. He recounted that he told Bruce Dern that America was going to end up hating him for killing John Wayne in a movie.
Bruce Dern was one of the best bad guys in the history of westerns. The tone of his “smart-ass” voice was perfect for such roles. He was so good at those roles, he made it easy to hate him. I have tremendous admiration for Dern’s talent for playing those roles.
In his older days, I noticed him playing some supporting roles where he is hilarious. I am truly a Bruce Dern fan!!!!
I liked The Shootist.
I think it was his best job as an actor. It remains a favorite of mine.
“C&I: Were you at all intimidated by The Duke?
Dern: I might have been. But right at the start, he says to me, “I want you to do us a favor.” He was including himself, [director] Mark Rydell, and the scriptwriters. He said, “From now on, consider me to be somebody you can publicly kick the shit out of 24 hours a day on the set. Because I want these little kids [playing the cowboys of the title] to be absolutely terrified of you.” He gave me carte blanche to just treat him like a turd. So I was on him, talking back to him and stuff, for the few days I was there. And he would do things like call out: “Hey, Mr. Dern, would you get over here?” I thought, Hey, John Wayne gives you a “mister” status. My first day, he’s calling me mister. How about that? That’s pretty cool.”
https://www.cowboysindians.com/2015/12/the-dastardly-bruce-dern/
IIRC, I thought the shootout in the bar was pretty good...but it has been a long time...:)
I liked the concept. What happens to old gunfighters?
Hammond (Bruce Dern): Hell, Mr. Pierce, we’d be willing to do it for a lot less than ten thousand dollars.
Frank Pierce (Bruce Cabot): If you could!
The lead character - Billy McBride ( Billy Bob Thornton ) has a continuing dream / premonition of his own death as played out in kind of a High Noon way. The character played by Dern is a frontier outlaw in the same costume and smart ass attitude as his character in The Cowboys-
Dern shoots Billy Bob in the chest - Billy Bob then wakes up.
Billy Bob Thornton is obviously a big fan of classic Westerns - I loved it
Had the movie been made truer to the book, “The Cowboys,” by, William Dale Jennings, the movie would be hailed a landmark achievement. Jennings was a homosexual and had a lot of homoeroticism in everything he ever wrote including this book. It would have been a kids’ Brokeback.
As it is, the movie is a coming of age stories. It is not about killing. It is about the boys identifying with their profession and one another and working together to get a job done. It would have been the same movie if John Wayne got COVID and died and the boys finished the work, just not as exciting and without Browne’s classic lines. It’s a movie, for crying out loud, and they went for dramatic effect.
City Slickers is essentially the same movie. The characters find purpose and meaning by taking on a job and seeing it to completion, just no one dies, except for Curly, two horses, and a cow.
I love that Wayne’s character cured a speech impediment.
So did I.
Too bad it had a young Ron Howard in it. Still it was a good movie with the great Jimmy Stewart in it.
Zero
Bookmark
It’s time to play Cowboys vs Communists again.
Wayne was right. Dern could have face a huge amount of hate, but fortunately he quickly departed the public eye to make his next movie, a studio science-fiction movie, “Silent Running”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.