John Wayne Movie Review: ****^The Shootist (1976)

 In this movie John Wayne plays a gun man, J.B. Books who is at the end of his days due to cancer.  His doctor (James Stewart) gives him something for pain, but lets him know the end is near.  He comes to town and takes room and board from Bond Rogers (Lauren Becall).  Her son is an impressionable teen, Gillom Rogers (Ron Howard) who is greatly influenced by the thought of being a gun fighter.  Books is looking for a way out rather than a slow agonizing death.  He finds that in three shady characters in town (Richard Boone, Hugh O'Brian and Bill McKinney, and invites them to meet him at the bar for a final gunfight.  

The theme of this movie seems to convince Gillom that the life of a gunfighter is not all heroics and glamour.  There is good in being a regular person.  

This movie is John Wayne's last.  He died of cancer in 1979. 

Movie Review: Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

***^Murder on the Orient Express (1974)  This is Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) at their best.  There is murder upon the train, this after the victim had asked Poirot to be his body guard, which he refused.  In this movie everyone is a suspect; and only after piecing everything together does the true nature of the movie come out.  I previously reviewed the version that came out this past year.  In this version, in addition to Finney there are Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins and Michael York among others.  A great cast, a tricky plot and overall a good movie.