John Bernard Books (John Wayne) a man who has only had one profession his whole life…. “Gun Fighter”. He is now an old man who is getting passed by because a man is his profession, and men are not needed and they are also not around much any more. He is also feeling his years catching up with him. He knew that a man can’t live forever when his doctor, Dr. Hostelter (Jimmy Stewart), told him shocking news. John stops to get some rest for a while at Widow Bond Rogers’s (Lauren Bacall) bed and breakfast. Her son Gilliam (Ron Howard), though, is really a kid who doesn’t know what kind of man he wants to be and, after losing his father, Gilliam is lost, so he now is interested in who his mother has taken in as a new tenant. There is one problem for Mr. Books though, he rode into a town with one man who is out for the blood of the man who killed his brother Albert, another old gun slinger who wants to challenge Mr. Books, and a friend of Gilliams who has something to prove.
John Wayne gives a performance that will never be forgotten once seen. It’s not your average John Wayne film. He shows you a side of him you didn’t even see when he was in the Searchers, he gives you a performance of a man who knows that gunslingers are becoming a thing of the past, and when he finds out that cancer is catching up to him things become real for Books really fast, and John Wayne embodies the character to a T since this was also his last film he would ever be in. As well as The Duke was fighting his own battle of cancer for 15 years, and died of lung cancer in 1979. It is a truly emotional film and when you know that about John Wayne and you get invested into it even more and you listen to every word he says, and you agree with it as well. There are not enough words to describe how good Wayne was in this film and how good Lauren Bacall is as well. She once again proves that she can stand toe to toe with any big male leading role and prove she is worthy. The falsehood that Maureen O’Hara recommended her to play the Character of Bond is outrageous, her and Bacall were not friends, and John Wayne recommended her for the film. As well as O’Hara, a long time friend and a co-star of Wayne’s, auditioned but Seigle felt she wasn’t fit for the role. To continue Bacall truly shows how a woman hiding her feelings about a recent loss of her husband is affecting her but she feels that she can’t be emotional all because she has duties to take care of as well as how she will stand up to Books and tell him how she feels and doesn’t care that he is a man. Ron Howard gives people an excellent performance as a teen growing up without a dad to guide him and isn’t sure if he wants to go down the road of life of crime or do what is right as well as how Wayne becomes a father figure and friend to Gilliam and tries to show him how to live his life but in the end it is up to him on what he wants to do with his life. The directing in this film is truly outstanding and Don Seigle gives a true western aesthetic to the film with big panoramic shots and then intense shoot out scenes and how he pushes Wayne and all the other actors to their fullest ability. The true actors that stand out in this film are Wayne and Bacall because they truly connect with each other in this film in a way that is romantic and sad at the same time because Bond isn’t sure if she wants to get into another relationship and Books is a man who just wants to have one more interaction that doesn’t end in a shootout. I Give this film 10 gold bars for acting, 9.5 Gold bars for Directing, and I give this film a 10 for the overall rating. I will see you the next time you want to come back to the movies.