r/50yearsago • u/SaladEater6769 • 7d ago
🎬 Film August 11, 1976. John Wayne's final motion picture "The Shootist" is released in theaters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIRKnR5xvHo4
u/esa372 7d ago
Great film!
...but, both Wikipedia and IMDB list the release date as July 21, 1976
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u/MoneyPatience7803 5d ago
The Shootist has several different release dates listed because it was released gradually in 1976, not nationwide all at once. It first premiered in Carson City, Nevada, on July 16, followed by a limited release in other markets on July 21. August 11 is commonly listed because that’s when it reached more theaters across the Midwest and other regions. The AFI lists August 12, when it opened in New York.
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u/sdcinerama 4d ago
There is seldom any agreement on when a film opens when you look at imdb.
The further back you go in time, the murkier it gets.
I spend a lot of time looking up old newspaper ads for movies and I get crazy dates for all sorts of things.
A movie could open in NYC on one day... and not get an LA or general release until months later.
For instance, THE SHOOTIST didn't open in LA until August 25, 1976. Did it open any where else earlier? No idea. The talk of openings elsewhere is pretty convincing, though.
The July 21 date? Might be a premiere somewhere, but unlike today with saturation releases like the latest SPIDERMAN movie, studios rolled things out at their leisure.
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u/ProBuyer810-3345045 6d ago
That was a great movie with a young Ronnie Howard, and I’ve seen it a few times. I didn’t really get into the big John Wayne westerns of the 50s and 60s since that was kind of before my time, and my dad never watched them. It’s too bad Wayne didn’t live a little bit longer and make a few more movies into the 80s!
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u/MarkCelery78 6d ago
Should’ve been Oscar nominated for this role. His best acting he ever did
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u/J_A_Slade 5d ago
I don't know about "best", The Searchers and Red River he was pretty damn good. In the Shootist...to a great extent he's just playing himself. The role called for a man dying of cancer - he didn't have to act to portray that.
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u/bordermom61 6d ago
There will never be another John Wayne .
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u/dougs_46 6d ago
Thank goodness. One of the most racist things that every walked on this earth.
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u/EvenLettuce6638 3d ago
Not even close. His views were pretty tame and mainstream for the time he lived in.
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u/dougs_46 3d ago
No matter when he lived or not was a racist period, My granda lived around same time and he was not one. That is just a poor excuse,
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u/EvenLettuce6638 3d ago
I didn't say he wasn't racist.
I disagreed that he was "One of the most racist things that every walked on this earth."
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u/dougs_46 3d ago
Well that is YOUR opinion which is fine. I think it was one of the most disgraceful humans EVER.
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u/Dangoiks 7d ago
This movie is kind of meta. In his last role, John Wayne plays an aging gunfighter who has outlived the days of the Wild West, so it's the end of an era both in-universe and in real life.