“The last of the giants” is much more than a simple western: it is the cinematic will of a legend on the big screen. Back on this unforgettable farewell.
In 1976, John Wayne was running what will be his latest film. Already weakened by the disease, the emblematic actor of the western embodies a lonely shooter at the end of his life, plagued by cancer. A role that painfully resonates with its own reality. The film, directed by Don Siegel (known in particular for Inspector Harry), is called the last of the giants (The Shootist in VO) – A prophetic title in many ways.
When fiction joins reality
John Wayne is no longer the robust man of the big rides: he survived lung cancer in 1969, after a heavy operation and several years of treatment, as can be read in Duke, a love story : an intimate memoir of John Wayne’s last years’ de Pat Stacy with Beverly Linet. When he takes on the role of the character of JB Books, an ace of the trigger who feels death approaching, he delivers a performance that is both sober, dignified and deeply touching.
It is not only a role for Wayne, it is a form of confession. His game, imbued with gravity and nostalgia, reminds us that even the giants end up laying down. The film itself then becomes a poignant tribute to a whole section of American cinema – that of the classic western, already died at the time.
An exceptional cast for this memorable goodbye
Around Wayne, a gallery of prestigious actors accompanies him in this swan song: James Stewart, Richard Boone, John Carradine, the young Ron Howard and Lauren Bacall, with an intense and mysterious gaze. Together, they give the film an almost twilight dimension, like a fresco on the passing time and the legends that are erased.
Despite growing health problems during filming – difficulty breathing, chronic tiredness and even an ear infection that takes him away from the sets for 10 days – John Wayne gives everything left. He turns his scenes, then withdrew to rest, exhausted. The team feels it: this role may well be the last.
An overwhelming scene outing
Three years later, on June 11, 1979, John Wayne died at the age of 72, swept away by stomach cancer. The last of the giants then becomes, both symbolically and really, the last chapter of his immense career – and a farewell that fans will never forget. A film that is aptly named because it is the last western of a giant, in every sense of the word.
The last of the giants is to be found on DVD and Blu-ray.
Posted on August 23, Aude Mackau, Allociné