Spoiler (The door starts to open?)

Seems to me no one has a definite answer, including the bit about a stagehand opening the door too soon. A crewmember would, hopefully, never walk in in front of the camera before hearing the words "Cut." Since we don't know if "cut" was yelled, then I assume (and assumed when I first noticed the door opening) that the gunshot suicide was actually a post-production decision.

I haven't read the book, but I'm wondering if the CSA general (?) walks into the room... does he not intend on walking back out... or does he kill himself only to have the door swing open on him so that we may see his leg (or something) on the ground.

I was never pleased by the immediate gunshot effect, though. The effect was rushed, and didn't allow time for the general to walk into the room, close the door, ponder his thoughts, and even if we cut out the pondering, he had to have a short amount of time to pull the gun from its military holster and put the gun to his head.

Instead, the gunshot occurs within seconds of the door closing. The door opening is itself almost quick enough to make you think someone behind it was opening it with force, as if about to re-emerge.

I still don't think it was a crew member. And I also wondered, like others, why it wasn't cut. In fact, William could have edited the film so the door closes, and then we hear the gunshot over the shot of his son staring up at the door.

The goof isn't difficult to miss. Anyone paying remote attention to what's going on in the scene will notice it. I'm surprised, if it really was a goof, that editors missed it as well, *especially* since the "goof" takes place only a second's worth of frames before a cut.

Unless the suicide takes place in the book, I will assume there was a last minute "Changing of Fates" with the sound effect of a gunshot, and that the film had already been scored and re-editing the shot would be too expensive.

Like nocomputer1962, I came here to start a thread about this topic, only to find I am more than 4 years too late...

I saw this excellent movie (again) for the first time in some years and the opening door thing near the end jumped out at me. I assumed it was a goof and that either Tetley or a stage hand had opened the door too soon. I also thought it just missed the quality control when they were editing the final product and may not have cut the scene early enough.

Knight_ambulance makes an excellent point though, it seems too obvious to be a goof, as they usually don't jump out at you like this one did. As a piece of symbolism though (if that's what it was) it seems a bit clumsy. I mean, the hat over Fonda's eyes as he's reading the letter is a great piece of symbolism, and subtle too, but this just seems a bit corny (cheesy, if you like) if it meant to represent Tetley's son having a new beginning.

When I said I wanted to be a comedian, they all laughed at me. Well, they're not laughing now!

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OK.......I just re- re- re-watched that scene and this is what I deduced as explanations as to to the demise of Major Tetley. He goes into the room, you hear the door close and latch. You then hear a gunshot, then the door begins to open/unlatch.

Theories:

1)The Major went to kill himself, decided against it, and was comming out to confront his son.....

2)The Major was killed by one of the cowboys/vigilantes who decided he went to far......

3)It was all a mistake.......they shot the scene, called "CUT"......and the actor came back out....but it was the take they decided to use.


Well??

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