Grapes of Wrath is a pretty good film but unfortunately the last scene from the book, arguably the most powerful, was omitted. Probably deemed too risque at that time.
What makes The Shootist the best is, it isn’t about the death of J.B. Books, but it’s about the end of the West. Changes are coming, and someone like Books is as outdated as gas lights and the Victorian era. He’s the last of his kind. When Books died, symbolically, the Old West died, too.
And it takes someone with the “baggage”, as it were, of Wayne to make it really work. Eastwood, for example, may have acted it better, but Wayne lived it.
Somewhere in America there is a college instructor in “Film Studies” or such who triads this film with The Wild Bunch and Cheyenne Autumn.
At another level it was the end of John Wayne westerns. There would be a few more westerns, but none with the Duke or anyone like him.
The Searchers is the only movie John Wayne ever made where he actually acted. His was not a likable character in the film and Hollywood changed that for the rest of his career.
I’d say he ‘acted’ in the film that won him an Academy Award for best actor, and the one he was nominated for best actor for, and also for several others.
Well, he lived it…on film. And he bought a ranch with his movie earnings. He went to USC fercrissakes.
Clint Eastwood can act?!?!?!
You know, I’ve been on SD for a decade, and I always forget. Did anyone actually think I thought Wayne was a late 19th century western outlaw?
Wayne had already shown his acting chops in “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” (he thought he deserved an Oscar nomination – and he was right) and “Fort Apache” (where he held his own with Henry Fonda). He was of limited range, but that was true of many stars of the era, and a good director like Ford or Hawks knew how to make it effective.
I think the movie is certainly good, but it’s clearly overrated
You’re telling me John Wayne wasn’t a method actor?!?
Captain Nathan Brittles: Were you ever scared, “Captain” Tyree?
Sgt. Tyree: Yes, sir. Up to and includin’ now.
No, but the way you phrased it I thought you thought he’d had a cowboy-ish upbringing. Sorry if I was whooshed.
Saw it once many years ago and was very underwhelmed. Monument Valley gave a great performance, but no film with Jeffrey Hunter can be all good (Natalie Wood is kinda obnoxious as well, though her role is brief). I thought it was one of Wayne’s better performances, but his character is a major dick and racist, and I did not enjoy spending nearly two hours with him. I was also distracted by the (failed) use of indoor sets and studio lighting to simulate the outdoors. And of course, fuck Ward Bond, a raging anti-semite and pro-blacklisting a-hole.
As for the film itself, more dinosaurs would have helped.
One thing you need to realize is that John Wayne and, to an extent, John Ford (the director) were somewhat racist. The interesting thing then is that the ending has Wayne’s character becoming somewhat less racist. At first, he decided to kill Natalie Wood’s character because she had tainted herself by having sex with an American Indian and even announcing that she would like to stay with the tribe. At the end, he realizes how evil he was for thinking that. He takes her back to her family. That may seem like a pretty small change, but that was a lot for some people at the time.
It has been a long time since I have seen it, but I think the implication was she betrayed her people though and Ethan accepts a bitter truth, she wants that life. I am not entirely sure the movie is meant to give the impression we have today. And yeah John Wayne was racist, so was Hollywood, the thing about true racists is they wouldn’t even have bothered to imagine Ethan’s ‘arc’.
Speaking of the devil - watched The Unforgiven tonight. Clint sure acted rings around the Duke - tho it may be unfair to compare movies made 35 years apart. And I even thought the scenery better than Monument Valley. 
I’m not critic, but IMO, in terms of viewing enjoyment, The Unforgiven is a far superior film than The Searchers.
Maybe Clint’s finest performance as actor and director. Generally I find his range as an actor no broader than the Duke’s.
I admit my ambiguity.
I mean, Wayne had played all the roles that J.B. Books had “lived”. As as audience, we’ve seen Wayne be those people. The flashback clips of Books were all actual footage from older Wayne films. That’s what I meant: that when we see Books’ career, we see Wayne’s career in characters. That’s why I think Wayne was the one right guy for the role.
Clint eastwood shows his great acting in “Bridges Of Madison County”. Cant remember Wayne acting much