John Wayne made not one, not two, but three Westerns with director Howard Hawks about a sheriff defending his office from outlaws. In between 1959’s Rio Bravo and 1970’s Rio Lobo, the duo shot 1966’s El Dorado, which co-starred Robert Mitchum as the drunken lawman opposite Duke’s gunslinger. Interestingly, Wayne had replaced Mitchum just a decade earlier in 1955’s Blood Alley after he was fired following a feud with the producers.
The two co-stars became good friends and their humour can be seen in how they fixed an on-screen gaffe during principal photography. Mitchum’s sheriff JP Harrah had been wounded in the right leg and needed a right-handed crutch. However, he switched this to the left in a scene when he’s driving a wagon.The story goes that Wayne made sure that his character Cole Thornton mentioned that this had happened in one of the film’s final scenes to fix the continuity error.
Apparently, director Hawks loved this so much that he left it in the movie as a wink to the audience. However, Mitchum’s retelling of what happened is slightly different. Apparently, Mitchum said that he objected to switching the crutch to maintain continuity, but that Hawks had insisted so that it looked better in that scene. However, when the director saw how bad this looked in the dailies, the star suggested that that additional dialogue be added at the end of the movie with Wayne’s gunslinger to cover for the mistake.
So, in the final scene, both characters can be seen having their crutches under the wrong arm. Wayne had been ill for much of 1974, having had a severe bout of viral pneumonia after filming True Grit sequel Rooster Cogburn, with Katharine Hepburn. It caused Duke to cough so violently that he damaged a heart valve causing more problems when he did eventually film The Shootist, which celebrates its 47th anniversary this month.
At first, his poor health and stamina on Rooster Cogburn meant he wasn’t initially considered for what would be his final film. The likes of Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, George C Scott, Paul Newman and Gene Hackman were offered the role but passed on it. The Shootist’s producers thought Wayne was too old at 69 to be believable as the gunfighter.
However, producer Dino De Laurentiis insisted on his casting even though the character JB Books was only 50 in the novel the movie was based on. Filming with co-stars Lauren Bacall, James Stewart and Ron Howard took place at Carson City. With a 4600ft altitude, Duke’s single lung capacity was compromised all the while struggling with mobility.
In the end, The Shootist’s production was shut down as Wayne was hospitalised for two weeks with influenza. The star had also been suffering from an enlarged prostate while filming, which wouldn’t be operated on until late 1976. At one point, it was actually uncertain if the movie would be completed since Duke was so ill his doctors were on the verge of forbidding him from finishing his work on the production.
Considering his significant health problems on the film, it’s unlikely he would have successfully managed to be insured for the project had the full extent of them been known. Of course, in the end, Wayne did complete filming, but his stomach cancer returned and he made his final public appearance at the Oscars on April 9, 1979. It was here that he used a secret trick to hide how noticeably thin he’d become.
It was later discovered that Wayne had worn a wet suit under his tuxedo to broaden himself out that night. The Western star was welcomed by a standing ovation as he announced The Deer Hunter as Best Picture. He died just two months later on June 11, 1979 at the age of 72 with his family around him.
His daughter Aissa held his hand and asked if he knew who she was and he replied with his last words. Duke said sweetly: “Of course, I know who you are. You’re my girl. I love you.” Shortly before he died, the 72-year-old converted to Roman Catholicism and asked that his tombstone read, “Feo, Fuerte y Formal”, a Spanish epitaph meaning “ugly, strong and dignified.”