A big plot hole for me came at the very beginning, when the newspaper men acted as if they had no idea of who Tom Doniphon was and that he had died. As important as he was in the push for statehood, and as popular and powerful and handsome, it seems that he would have achieved some sort of legendary status despite his withdrawal from the community later, and would be known by all, and certainly by the oldtimers and the journalists.
shareI thought the same thing. And what's the big mystery if a Senator comes back to the town where he got his start and found his wife.
shareAlso, in the about 25 years that had passed wouldn't you think that Tom Doniphon had married and found happiness with another woman? I know he had loved Hallie but one eventually has to move on. It is made to sound like Tom was alone the rest of his life (aside from his friend Pompey) but it seems that lots of women would have been happy to hook up with him. Then at the funeral Tom's widow could have been there relating her fond memories of the life they had made together.
shareWas tom torn up over losing Hallie of the fact he "murdered"? Or both I suppose.
shareI know a guy who knew a girl/woman about 13 years They only dated and got close, in that last year when he asked her to marry him twice She moved out of town, about an hour away, at the 7-8 month, He had a good thing going and was putting money back to buy a bar, probably in the town she was at, BUT he found the time to get over to he 2-3 days a week, a week before Christmas she called and told him she was getting married to someone she met there. Saw him and her at the 50 year class reunion, She was with her husband, He was alone. He had moved way out of the area and started a newer venture,,All of us were at the same table for dinner and someone asked him WHY he never got married. Although he had dated, and lived with women his answer was "I have only been able to fall in love once, when ever anyone talks about it I see her JUST as she was"
Some folks can only fall in love ONCE
Tom probably became something of a recluse after losing Hallie. He never even rebuilt the house he tried to burn down.
The journalists may have come from outside of Shinbone after most of the town's old-timers had died off. If they knew of Tom, but not much about Tom, they could easily be surprised that a powerful senator would come all the way across the country to pay his respects to an old hermit.
Add the fact that men at the turn of the century didn't often make it past their 50's and you have about 95% of the region knowing next to nothing about Tom Doniphon.
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There still would of been stories from the old days about him. Seemed like there was a good remaining chunk from the territory days. Heck my granddad knew guys like that, that settled an area. They were all famous in their communities because they were real cowboys. There before the trains in the cars and the laws.
shareMaybe we're asking too much of movies for them to become completely realistic in every way, which I think is impossible -- or else they would be real life instead of just movies.
Nevertheless, Tom wouldn't be well remembered by anyone who came along after the territory achieved statehood. Tom banished himself from society and spent the remainder of his days drinking too much and just ekeing it out on his small spread of land, never marrying and starting a family and thus no longer having any ambitions toward bettering himself. Probably seldom went into town (Pompey could run all the necessary errands and pick up supplies).
Sure, there were a few oldtimers left who knew Tom (like Pompey and Link) but not terribly many (remember, life expectancy was much lower in those days and people tended to die off before reaching the age of 60.) But after many years of him no longer being "in the game," what would the locals have to say about him other than that he was just an old reclusive drunk?
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