Always wondered about that line, spoken by John Fain as he dies. He pronounces it "Who'r you?", which seems just wrong to me, when it should have been "Who ARE you" (emphasis on the "are"), to capture the thought of "You have beaten us all, you must be someone I have heard of".
Any thoughts?
I think it may have been the actor just reading the line wrong. He's sitting there reading the script, and he's like "Ok, so the line is 'who are you" and he doesn't put the emphasis on the are.
Another explaination could be that he just got shot and forgot how to talk. :-P
I think it may have been the actor just reading the line wrong. He's sitting there reading the script, and he's like "Ok, so the line is 'who are you" and he doesn't put the emphasis on the are.
Another explanation could be that he just got shot and forgot how to talk. :-P
I prefer Richard Boone's delivery of the line. If he had emphasised "are" in the line, it would have indicated his recognition of the job Jake had done on him and his bandits. It would have been the equivalent of saying "Wow who "are" you, you are really something...."
Jake's team had just delivered his fatal blow. He was in no mood to praise to him, but his curiosity forced him to ask the question....
"Who're you..."
As if he were just a hired gun, sent to get the boy, like he thought all along.
The stunning answer "Jacob McCandles" would not have worked nearly as well, If Fain had been expecting it to be someone of his Jake's caliber.
So I prefer the line not delivered in the predictable, expected way, and...
I'd rather him set up Wayne's line anyway, as no one delivers those short one liners like Duke...
"Just lead."
AGREED!
The quote "Who ARE you!" conveys admiration as an equal/ better in a gunfight, but "Who're YOU?" derisively asks of Big Jake just what sort of a "hired-hand" works so hard/ fervently in a prolonged battle for the life of a little boy he's never even seen.
IF you remember in the movie, Fain and McCandless have a conversation about both being just " a messenger " or "Hired to bring back the boy".
Which leads to the question ( which by the way was how Fain talked -- short clipped words and sentences -- "who'r you?"
And the short " Hmpf-- I thought you was dead!" right as his lights went out.
Richard Boone obviously said the line purposely in this manner. It made it more memorable.
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There's no way that JW would have let Richard Boone ruin a scene by delivering a line with the wrong emphasis.
Richard Boone was a very experienced western star...so he knew how to deliver the line. Why did he not emphasize the ARE???
My guess is they tried different ways and worked it out in rehearsal ---agreed on the delivery.