8. Old and Wise &...

Lyrics

As far as my eyes can see
There are Shadows approaching me
And to those I left behind
I wanted you to Know
You've always shared my deepest thoughts
You follow where I go

And oh when I'm old and wise
Bitter words mean little to me
Autumn Winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine
And the sadness would be Lifted from my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

As far as my Eyes can see
There are shadows surrounding me
And to those I leave behind
I want you all to know
You've always Shared my darkest hours
I'll miss you when I go

And oh, when I'm old and wise
Heavy words that tossed and blew me
Like Autumn winds that will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they ask you if you knew me
Remember that You were a friend of mine
As the final curtain falls before my eyes
Oh when I'm Old and wise

As far as my eyes can see


This is a very moving 'farewell song.' It's most probably about death, although any interpretation involving some sort of farewell makes (at least a little bit of) sense. It's a very famous song, but most people probably would have no idea what the Alan Parsons Project is, if you'd ask them. At least I had heard this song, long before I heard that there was a band called the Alan Parsons Project. It's not a really great name for a band. The movie I've chosen is John Wayne's final movie in which his character is dying of cancer. I thought that Wayne himself was also dying of cancer while making the film, but it turned out that was not the case. He died three years after he played in it. Still, this does add some poignancy to the film.

The Movie: The Shootist (Don Siegel, 1976)

One of the reasons I've started this blog was to urge myself a bit more to watch more diverse movies. There are whole genres and periods from which I have hardly seen any movie. I have hardly seen any movies from before 1970 and I am not very familiar with the great stars from that era. I have not seen Casablanca or Citizen Kane for example. I have hardly seen any movie from the great non-American/English directors. A Bout de Souffle is the only movie from the French New Wave I've seen. I have hardly seen any silents or any really experimental films. And I have hardly seen any true westerns. In fact I can list all four I've seen: John Fords' Stagecoach, Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, The Coen's True Grit and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars. And now, The Shootist, which besides being my fifth western, is also only my second John Wayne film (after, obviously, Stagecoach), my second James Stewart film (after Vertigo), my second Lauren Bacall film (after Murder on the Orient Express), and the second film directed by Don Siegel I've seen (after The Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Don't worry, I won't do this again. I just wanted to show that I've seen very few films of these classic directors and stars.

Anyway, I liked The Shootist a lot and it may now be my favorite western. John Wayne may not have known that this was his last film, it is certainly made as it would be his last. Right at the start the movie wants to establish that John Wayne and his character J.B. Books belong to an era that that has either ended or is about to end. The movie introduces Books with black and white clips from John Wayne's old films in which he is young and energetic. But then the movie turns to color and we see the old John Wayne playing the now old Books. Books goes to some town where 15 years ago he was helped by a doctor (James Stewart). He has been diagnosed with cancer and wants a second opinion from the only doctor he trusts. The big news in town is that the British Queen Victoria has just died. It's 1901, the Victorian era and the 19th century has just ended. A new era and a new century is starting. And the town is preparing itself for modern inventions, like electricity and even more importantly cars. There will be no more cowboys on horses.

The doctor confirms that Books has cancer and that he has very little time left. Books wants to spend his last days calmly and die with some dignity and rents a room at Mrs. Rogers hotel. Now the rest of the movie we just see Books preparing for his death. The movie manages to be very entertaining, with quite some humor even, yet it is always respectful of Books and is never going for cheap sentimentality. As hard as he tries, Books just can't live out his final days peacefully. He is notorious and famous as a great shootist who has killed 30 men. Books claims they all had it coming. Mrs. Rogers is not very happy that he is in her hotel, because he scares away her customers. But when she hears he has cancer, she sympathizes with him and even creates some sort of friendship. Her son Gillom is excited that such a celebrity is in their hotel and bugs Books with all kinds of questions and wants Books to give him shooting lessons. Both Marshall Thibido and the local undertaker cannot wait to see Books dead and regularly visit him to see his 'progress.' And a journalist and an old love of Books try to persuade him to let them write and sell his memoirs. As I said this is all done very entertainingly and respectfully. The last sequence is a bit problematic though.

Earlier the doctor told Books that a courageous man such as him should try to avoid dying in the enormous pain that all cancer patients die in. So Books arranges himself a final shootout with three of his former enemies, who, because of their criminal activities, are not the most beloved people in town. This sequence is wonderfully filmed and creates quite some suspense. But, besides the fact that it could be argued that the sequence posits that sometimes killing people is courageous and moral, it also does not make much sense. If after all Books kills his enemies, he won't die himself. Of course he eventually does kill his enemies and is then killed by the barman of the saloon in which the shootout takes place. This is a little bit silly and too coincidental. The barman is in his turn killed by Gillom, who the movie sets up as the new John Wayne. Ron Howard who plays Gillom, would not become the new John Wayne. He would become though the Oscar-winning director of A Beautiful Mind.