I once read that the studio owners approached Wayne during the filming about changing the ending where John Wayne didn't get killed but he nixed that idea saying that he had to get killed in the movie for it to have a great effect.
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I haven't seen that movie since I was a little kid, but I'll never forget that scene...it was so shocking and heartbreaking to see The Duke get shot in the back like that.
shareI remember this was the first John Wayne movie I had seen. I remember being about 5 yrs old and seeing the video tape box at the rental store and showing it to my dad saying " Look dad! John Wayne your favorite!" I had heard my dad talk about him before and had seen pictures of him, but being so young I could never sit through one of his films. Well, anyway my dad and I rented it and I loved it and I thought that the Duke was bigger than life as I watched it. Then came the tragic ending of The Cowboys, I remember being heartbroken,it was like watching your grandpa get shot in the back. I remember looking at my dad after the scene and saying something like "He's dead.isn't he..." and my father said, "Yeah I hate that part too." As tragic as that scene was and it is still hard for me to watch to this day (I'm 25 by the way). I remember it was one of the first father/son moments I had with my father; going down to the video store (my generation's drive in) and renting a John Wayne movie with my dad and having the moment of realizing that all heroes die one day whether its in the movies or in real life. But even though they die their spirit lives on, not just in movies, but in the people that watch them.I'm sure a lot of fathers and sons have had similar experiences to what I have described here. As tragic as the scene was, alot of good realizations can come from it. Thanks for the memories duke, happy 100th birthday.
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What a wonderful post! Wish there was more of this at imdb.
shareJohn Wayne was quoted that he had been asked about changing the ending where he lived. In other words they could have had some of Dern's men hold him and let Dern beat him up good instead of shooting him. But Wayne said something like "No! The ending doesn't change. If I don't die then this Mr. Chips influence on the young boys is diminished."
This is not accurage but it is somewhat he was quoted as saying.
Stompterra, what a wonderful story about your "Cowboys" experience with your father.
Thanks for sharing.
I introduced my nephews to this gem via DVD when they were 11 and 13, about the same age as the actors.
They really enjoyed it and talked about it for quite some time afterward.
Stephen, age 11 got a kick out of imitating one of the bandit-rustlers when he is shot by the little kid named "Weedy" (the rustler convulses when he is hit by the bullet).
We are about due to watch it again.
Stephen and Carl are now 16 and 18...it will be interestng to see their reactions hence five years.
Oh, brother! After I saw John Wayne so brutally and sadistically murdered by that psychopath Long Hair, I cried for hours. (I was at least 35 years old at the time.) It really struck a nerve in me, so much so that I can never watch that scene again. So I admire you for handling it a little better than I did when you were just a little boy. Your father sounds like a fine, decent man--sort of like Wil Andersen. Oh, God, I'm getting tears in my eyes! If you haven't done so already, you should read the interview with Mark Rydell, the director. It sheds new light on John Wayne, a fellow whose politics infuriated me but whose actor's heart was in the right place. Much as the polarized politics of the present day tempt us to pigeonhole those with whom we disagree, the time to make up your mind about people is never, as Tracy Lord so beautifully put it in "The Philadelphia Story." We all seethe with contradictions, which is what makes people so fascinating.
And I join you in saying thanks to The Duke, especially for insisting on not phonying away from that scene that will haunt me till the day I die.
Wayne was correct. If he didn't die, then any effect (on the 'cowboys' or the audience) is diminished. In fact, his dying contributes as much to the 'boys' coming of age as them actually being on the drive. If he had not died, they would still be boys.
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