Face Off (Part 1)

When Don Siegel began pre-production for The Shootist (1976), his casting guy hoped to be able to get Jimmy Stewart for the role of the Doctor. Siegal thought it would be a great idea, but didn't think they could get such a well-known actor for such a small role. Stewart said yes to the role, partly for the opportunity to work with his old friend and fellow screen legend, John Wayne.

The scene where Dr Hostetler (Stewart) tells J.B. Books (Wayne) that he has cancer the two actors play it straight (under Siegel's orders*), delivering their lines with an economy of emotion that would make Stanisavski proud. The potency of Scott Hale's dialogue comes through all the more powerfully without the jostling of egos vying for the audience's attention (more to come on this particular pet-hate).

Time and fate have added a level of poignancy to the scene; Rumours were rife around Hollywood before preproduction began on The Shootist regarding Wanye's health. He had a few years earlier had half a lung removed. He had bad turns on set during filming (at one stage nearly closing down the production). About two-and-a-half years after the theatrical release of the movie, Wayne succumbed to cancer of the stomach and lung. While - rightly or wrongly - some critics prefer to protray Wayne as a one-trick pony who either played himself in very movie he did or began early on to believe his own press releases, but I challenge anyone to watch The Shootist and tell me the guy couldn't act.

* Don Seigel. A Seigel Film: an autobiography. Faber & Faber 1996. I just started reading this last week. It's really a film biography - the kind of stuff moviebuffs wet their pants over. Think Hemmingway's A Movable Feast, if he'd grown up in Hollywood. Anyway, it's an entertaining read, and not as prissy as some filmmakers tend to get talking about their work (yes, I'm looking at you, Scott Hicks).