The Shootist (1976)

[The Firecracker]

Arguably The Duke's best role and certainly the best of his output in the 70's.
The villains (Boone, O'Brian and Mckinney) should have been fleshed out more but whatever.
Discuss.

[cigar joe]

Definitely, the villains were pretty sparse character wise, and those studio sets looked great!

[The Firecracker]

Definitely, the villains were pretty sparse character wise

Yeah they're all nothing more than extended cameos.
The whole cast was due to favor pullings mostly on Wayne's part.
O'brien admitted to not even being payed and Boone was given a car.

and those studio sets looked great!

That's good though, right?

[cigar joe]

That's good though, right?

Oh yea, you know to be honest, the El Paso set for FAFDM, should have looked more like the city in The Shootist a bit more modern and turn of the century, but it was probably the best that could Leone could do with the budget he had. 

[T.H.]

I have to disagree about the sets - I thought they looked too modern, tame and wholesome.

I love the Spanish and/or Mexican look of the sets in the Dollars trilogy, the style perfectly complements Leone's style.

I really don't care for The Shootist because of its scenery - landscapes, sets, etc. It's a bland looking movie imo.

[cigar joe]

I have to disagree about the sets - I thought they looked too modern, tame and wholesome.

I love the Spanish and/or Mexican look of the sets in the Dollars trilogy, the style perfectly complements Leone's style.

I'm just talking strictly about the El Paso set the rest are great, if the time frame of the film is 1899-1901 El Paso should look more modern, Leone should have used Gaudix, Spain as the stand in.

El Paso 1900



El Paso 1900 +

[T.H.]

I'm in no way an advocate for historical accuracy, so I loved the sparse look of Leone's El Paso. I don't think such a developed town would have meshed with the overall set design of the movie. It reminds me of the town from something like The Wild One or Violent Saturday.

I just think the underdeveloped, desert look perfectly suits the western - the more open space, the better. But that's just me.

[drinkanddestroy]

If I recall correctly, the only reason to say FAFDM takes place around 1901 is because that is when Tucumcari became a town. But if you arw willing to accept it as an anachronism, can't we very well say that FAFDM can take place shortly after the date in the El Paso newspaper (what was it, 1873)? I think the El Paso set in FAFDM was absolutely wonderful, as important as anything in the film (even if it indeed was historically inaccurate) Perhaps my favorite Western production design 

And I absolutely loved The Shootist 

[cigar joe]

No not the only reason, Tucumcari incorporated as a town, that is just one of them, the other is the railroad, there was no Railroad to El Paso until after 1885, and the railroad through Tucumcari didn't connect through to El Paso until 1901. Mortimer is wearing a tie tied in a knot that became popular after 1880. Groggy tosses El Indio a Colt SAA revolver with gutta percha grips available from Colt post 1885.

And again, Mortimer is looking for evidence of Manco, he flipping through a binder In the El Paso Newspaper Office of all the past  newspapers published by the paper, its about a 1 1/2 thick binder, he FINDS an article about Manco dated 1873 in about the MIDDLE of it that means there is about 3/4 of the binder yet to go to get to the PRESENT  day issue, ergo you'll have a good 20-25 years of newspaper issues to get to the present.

The El Paso set is fine, I like it too.

[Groggy]

I don't think you ought to assume a literal interpretation of anything in FAFDM Joe. Going by Eastwood's age and your timeline, Manco would have been a gunslinger at age 7 for your idea to be feasible.

[cigar joe]

I don't think you ought to assume a literal interpretation of anything in FAFDM Joe. Going by Eastwood's age and your timeline, Manco would have been a gunslinger at age 7 for your idea to be feasible.

Well, lets push it say he's 45 at the oldest that would put him at 17 in 1873, I guess ol' Uncle Blondie taught him pretty good, no.

[Groggy]

Well, lets push it say he's 45 at the oldest that would put him at 17 in 1873, I guess ol' Uncle Blondie taught him pretty good, no.

  Fair enough.

[drinkanddestroy]

I don't think you ought to assume a literal interpretation of anything in FAFDM Joe. Going by Eastwood's age and your timeline, Manco would have been a gunslinger at age 7 for your idea to be feasible.

 

I know Leone loved historical accuracy when it came to the sets and costumes, but if I had to bet, (not basing this on any fact whatsoever), I'd guess that he wasn't particularly concerned about what year a particular railroad passed through a particular town, etc.

[drinkanddestroy]

No not the only reason, Tucumcari incorporated as a town, that is just one of them, the other is the railroad, there was no Railroad to El Paso until after 1885, and the railroad through Tucumcari didn't connect through to El Paso until 1901. Mortimer is wearing a tie tied in a knot that became popular after 1880. Groggy tosses El Indio a Colt SAA revolver with gutta percha grips available from Colt post 1885.

And again, Mortimer is looking for evidence of Manco, he flipping through a binder In the El Paso Newspaper Office of all the past  newspapers published by the paper, its about a 1 1/2 thick binder, he FINDS an article about Manco dated 1873 in about the MIDDLE of it that means there is about 3/4 of the binder yet to go to get to the PRESENT  day issue, ergo you'll have a good 20-25 years of newspaper issues to get to the present.

The El Paso set is fine, I like it too.

also, how do you know how often the newspaper was printed? is it possible that it was a daily paper? if so, the entire book may be from just one year's issues...?

[Groggy]

I know Leone loved historical accuracy when it came to the sets and costumes, but if I had to bet, (not basing this on any fact whatsoever), I'd guess that he wasn't particularly concerned about what year a particular railroad passed through a particular town, etc.

Yep. I think it was Frayling who commented that Leone prefers to go for the appearance of authenticity rather than strict realism. But then that's a debate for our resident semantics experts, Jenkins and Titoli.