Why Did J.B.Books Defend Himself in the Saloon Gunfight at the End?
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pjamese3 — 18 years ago(December 05, 2007 10:32 PM)
Books wasn't the kind of man to commit suicide. If he was, he could have just shot himself in the head with one of his own guns. Instead, he chose to go out the way he'd lived for so longin a gunfight. He stacked the odds to make it near-impossible for him to win, but neglected to consider that he was better than the gunfighters he invited. He couldn't throw the fight or react slower than his top speed. That would be akin to suicide. His only hope was that despite how good he was, the three gunfighters would be better. Alas, not.
You can see it on Books' face after the fight. He'sannoyedthat he's still standing. If he hadn't gotten shot in the back, he would probably have probably gone off and tried to take down a bank robbing gang or something of similarly high odds. -
captmurdock — 17 years ago(April 27, 2008 08:29 AM)
My question has always beenwhy Pulford (Hugh O'Brien?)
Cobb was an ass. No big loss.
Sweeney had a grudge against him, so might as well see about settling accounts.
But he never met Pulford before, did he? The only gunfight we see Pulford beforehand is the one where the guy who lost as the faro table and accused him of cheating, came back in and tried to kill him. Clearly self-defense, and well within Books' own moral code.
Of course, Pulford didn't have to accept the invitation, and could have just sat out the fight while Books nailed Cobb and Sweeney. Hmmm. He might have shot the bartender before he shot Books in the back.
OTOH, ya gotta love Hugh O'Brien's move, when he draws his gun while simultaneously flipping the deck of cards out of his other hand. Nice. -
teddy-996 — 17 years ago(October 06, 2008 12:10 AM)
Watched this again the other day, decided to check the boards. My take on this has always been that O'Brien was meant to be Books' trump card (pardon the pun). Books, I'm fairly certain, thought O'Brien could do the job if the others couldn't.
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phillipsdan83 — 11 years ago(August 14, 2014 06:51 PM)
Although Gary Wills claims that Thibido tells Books about the no-goods in the movie and not the novel in his book "John Wayne's America, actually it's vice versa. In the film Books has encountered Cobb and Sweeney already, and Thibido only tells Books of Pulford. The book's Thibido basically tells Books that if he were to kill the local troublemakers, the town would pay for all the funerals, Books included. Books probably is counting on Pulford to be his killer, and if not, Books'll just take Pulford out too.
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buddyboy28 — 11 years ago(September 07, 2014 08:47 PM)
He says to Gillom
"They blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull a trigger. I won't".
He'd been winning shootouts and showdowns for so many years that his survival instincts wouldn't just drop within that moment.
What the hell is a gigawatt?! -
gorgsharpy — 3 months ago(December 12, 2025 02:32 AM)
I think Siegel went filmic about it.
Like Books said:
It's usually some
six-fingered bustard
that couldn't hit
a cow in the tit
with a tin cup
that does you in.
Those lines recurring … and Books seeing the boy in his moment of death - his surrogate son - crying out to him to watch out. What better way to die than that. Having the boy's support and sympathy. And getting the death he wanted. And his words coming true.
Epic.