John Wayne's Final Film Gets New Free Streaming Release

Despite his dislike for director John Ford, Quentin Tarantino is a self-professed mega-fan of John Wayne. The trouble is that Wayne and Ford did the best work of their careers together. This has put Tarantino in an awkward position, forced to offer begrudging appreciation for movies such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach, and The Searchers. Wayne remains the greatest icon in the history of Western cinema, with a career spanning several decades. Now, the final film of his iconic run as a movie star has been added to a free streaming platform.

While the movie wasn't directed by Ford — a filmmaker Tarantino has admitted he hates — it drew a mixed response from the Django Unchained filmmaker. Tarantino wrote about the movie in his non-fiction book "Cinema Speculation," and noted that the movie in question doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel. Although it does offer the unique experience of watching a dying icon deliver his final screen performance. And this was more than enough for Tarantino.

He wrote, "The film really only has one purpose: to be a cinematic eulogy to Wayne's career. Not only is that a dubious reason to make a film, the maudliness inherently involved in such an endeavor seems a dishonorable pursuit for any serious artist. But as suspicious as I am when a director tries to tug on my heartstrings, even I think John Wayne ending his career with Rooster Cogburn & Lady would be a damn shame." Directed by Don Siegel, the movie was released in 1976, and Wayne died in 1979.

Here's Where You Can Watch the Western Swan Song for Free

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We're talking, of course, about The Shootist. The movie follows a dying gunslinger who puts his affairs in order before hanging up his boots one last time. Also starring James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, and a young Ron Howard, the movie now holds a 79% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Simple in story while sophisticated in texture, The Shootist is a fittingly elegiac swan song for one of Hollywood's most iconic stars."

You can watch the film on Pluto TV this month. Meanwhile, Tarantino is gearing up for the release of The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, a spin-off of his 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The upcoming movie features Brad Pitt as the titular character, with David Fincher serving as director. Tarantino has long claimed that he will retire after making his 10th film, which is why he didn't direct this one.