Word: honcho
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Besides the welcome participation of Stewart, The Shootist features Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, Scatman Crothers, John Carradine and Ron Howard, of American Graffiti, whose youthful presence must have helped ease the insurance premiums on the cast. Wayne, of course, is the honcho, and he performs well, although he must have been a little discomfited at having to play the lead in his own eulogy. Siegel starts The Shootist off with film clips to show Books in action over the years. The scenes, of course, are from previous Wayne vehicles. Some are of rather recent vintage, others antique, but they pertain...
...Instead, the movie is one long cheap shot. Honcho of the pageant is "Big Bob" Freelander (Bruce Bern), who is-you guessed it-a used-car dealer. His friends from the Jaycees are variously venal and small-minded; their wives, we are given to understand, are frigid. Big Bob's little boy is caught by the cops trying to take pictures of the contestants in their undies through a dressing-room window. He intends to sell them, of course. And so it goes...
...from the entering freshman class in any given year. Being "involved" means that you were in some ways unique. Your fellow high school students liked you (after all, they presumably elected you). Your teachers liked you. The local Harvard alumni recruiter liked you. As a one-time high school honcho you have "leadership potential." You have public spirit. You are ambitious. You are a Harvard freshman. Welcome aboard...
This theme remains dim, however. The viewer's thoughts are likely to wander to more pressing issues while battling to keep awake. In all such elaborately wrought plans, for instance, the main honcho always has an incredibly neat set of plans, immaculately typed on an electric typewriter. Who does this for him? Surely he is too busy with his villainy to take the time to sit down at the IBM himself. Does he have a private secretary? Does he phone up Office Temporaries? And what happens to these worthies once they set eyes on his secret plans and type...
...that Alfredo's head will fetch a bounty of $10,000 and that Bennie's girl friend (Isela Vega) has just wrapped up an affair with Alfredo, who really seems to have got around. Alfredo has also impregnated the daughter of some big back-country honcho (Emilio Fernandez), who happens to be the fellow looking to have him done in. Bennie does not find this out until practically the last scene, when he has eliminated a lot of middlemen, mostly by gunfire. For the balance of the action, blistering jealousy and outright greed suit him as motivation just...