Last Rites: John Huston, James Joyce and The Dead

SteynonLine ^ | December 27, 2025 | Rick McGinnis

[Twotone]

John Huston was dying when he made The Dead, his last movie, in early 1987. It's the kind of thing that the mordant Huston would have found amusing, but the details of filming, as recalled in Jeffrey Meyer's biography John Huston: Courage and Art, are a grim read.

"Huston," he writes, "was a dead man walking, or wheeling, attached to a tall green rocket of oxygen that shot air into his failing lungs and enable him to breathe." He would have preferred to shoot on location, as he always did from the moment he freed himself from the Hollywood backlot, but director Karel Reisz was on standby to take over should the emphysema take an early victory, and Huston's doctor had forbade him to get on a plane and fly to Ireland.

"His lungs are like lace," the doctor said, "and he'll be dead when he steps out of the plane."

And so, except for some second unit exteriors filmed in Dublin, The Dead was shot in a warehouse in Valencia, in Santa Clarita, thirty-five miles north of Los Angeles. "He had bags under his watery eyes," Meyer writes," hollow cheeks and drawn features. He abandoned his once-stylish clothes and, bundled up in a warm vest and jacket, wore an old man's zipped-up track suit. The ailing Huston said he could now concentrate fully on the picture since 'there were no longer any distractions.'"

The film is based on the final and what's generally considered the best story in Dubliners, James Joyce's collection of short stories, published in 1914.

[jimwatx]

I’ve read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist and decided that was enough.

[Savage Beast]

'“I love Eric Clapner music!” Dr. Joycelyn Elders Surgeon General for B. Clinton (1993)'

Say what you will about Dr. Joycelyn, but her recommendations will decrease chances of catching the clap.

[Albion Wilde]

The Dead is one of my all-time favorite films. This is a lovely review by Steyn.

[simpson96]

Same here.

I recall wanting to see Huston’s last film, back then. It was quite a yawner.

[Albion Wilde]

I stand corrected by post 15: Steyn did not write this review that appears on his web site.

[Trump_Triumphant]

Why don’t you call me when you have no class?

[sasquatch]

Expected Jerry Garcia comments. Or Pigpen.

[Rummyfan]

I don’t believe anyone has ever read FINNEGAN’S WAKE… it is written in a language Joyce created.

[Rummyfan]

My favorite Huston-directed film is THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING.

[Rummyfan]

Bellini also managed to great a great drink named after himself.

A Bellini is a cocktail made with Prosecco and peach purée or nectar. It originated in Venice, Italy.

[Rummyfan]

Rick McGuiness doesn’t weekly movie review on Steyn Online every Sunday. He took over this assignment from another reviewer. A woman whose name I can’t recall who sadly passed away quite young.

[Rummyfan]

Ah… a reference to Dr Elders recommendation that pubescent students be given instruction on how to masturbate… in public schools?!

[Rummyfan]

James Joyce? Joyce Kilmer? Or Joyce Brothers?!

[Rummyfan]

Any movie titled THE DEAD is not a date- night flick…. Unless it’s a zombie comedy.

[Rummyfan]

I would rank Brothers with Freud… as ninety per cent of the profession is booshwa fantasy.

[Rummyfan]

He was great in his role in CHINATOWN….

Buildings, politicians, and whores get respectable when they get old….

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Haahahah! Good Excellent point. I remember that old Woody Allen movie
"Annie Hall" where he was always taking his dates to see Marcel Ophuls
downer documentary "The Sorrow and the Pity" about the Holocaust.
Definitely not a "date night" movie!

[Rummyfan]

LOL! Dead Heads are always lurking….

[Rummyfan]

LOL! I remember that from ANNIE HALL too.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Very strange guy.