John Wayne Classics: Always on Target
Paramount releases the poignant 'The Shootist' and the comic 'Hatari!'


     Until this year, Paramount Home Video had been slow in bringing out digital editions of its classic films. Now, vintage titles are being released every month on DVD.
     The latest offerings from Paramount are two John Wayne flicks--"The Shootist" and "Hatari!"--and the western musical "Paint Your Wagon" ($30 each).
     Wayne gives a moving, poignant performance as a dying gunslinger in the 1976 western "The Shootist." The film, Wayne's last, also stars Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Jimmy Stewart, Richard Boone and Hugh O'Brian. The digital edition includes a crisp wide-screen transfer of the film (which was directed by Don Siegel), the trailer and a short but touching documentary on the making of "The Shootist" featuring interviews with O'Brian; producer William Self; Peter Frankovich, the son of producer Mike Frankovich; and screenwriter Miles Hood Swarthart.
     Wayne was not the first choice to play "The Shootist." The actor was battling cancer, and the producers didn't think he had the stamina for the role. So it was offered to George C. Scott. But Wayne heard about the project, lobbied for the part and ultimately got it.
     "Hatari!," from 1962, is a rollicking action-comedy set in then-Tanganyika. Wayne plays a muy macho trapper who catches wild animals to sell to zoos. Hardy Kruger, Gerard Blaine, Red Buttons and Elsa Martinelli also star. Howard Hawks directed. Henry Mancini composed the score, which includes "The Baby Elephant Walk." The DVD features a nice wide-screen transfer and the trailer.
     "Paint Your Wagon" (1969), based on the Lerner & Loewe Broadway musical, is a turgid, overproduced comedy weakened by the fact that the three stars--Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg--can't sing a lick. The digital edition features a wide-screen version of the film and the trailer.
 

By SUSAN KING

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