I've seen this movie numerous times. I could have sworn that in previous viewings, in the next to last shot, we can hear Joey yelling "Goodbye Shane!" echoing through the valley. But in recent viewings, I'm not hearing this. Is my memory faulty, or is there more than one version of this -- a suggestion I find very doubtful?
shareI recorded this off of broadcast tv onto audio cassette when I was a kid, and I'm tellin' ya, my cassette has the kid yelling "Bye, Shane!" at the very end - which I don't hear on recent showings.
shareI've watched this movie for years and also have the DVD and Joey yelled "Come Back!", never "Goodbye!". He was pleading with Shane up to the end to stay so saying goodbye would have meant Joey had given up hope Shane was returning which wouldn't have made much sense anyway.
shareIn the final scene as Shane rides, slouching, through the graveyard and into the high mountain pass, Joey's "Bye, Shane!" echoes up from below. I'll never forget Joey's final call.
See, Tim Dirks comprehensive synopsis/review:
http://www.filmsite.org/shan3.html
See, also:
http://www.filmsite.org/tearjerkers25.html
I do not know why recent versions of "Shane" omit Joey's goodbye. I've long wondered about it and posted, in fact, this very question to IMDB a year or so ago.
It's not in the script according to this:http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/s/shane-script-transcript-a lan-ladd.html.
As far as I can ever recall the only one who said goodbye at the end was Shane. You'd think that the Shane DVD version would have the complete unadulterated version of the movie, DVDs generally do except for the occasional "director's cut" of certain movies which have had some changes made.
It appears that this individual simply transcribed "Shane" from a recent version of the film, one similar to yours, which omits Joey's final goodbye. Let me assure you, however, the original film includes Joey's final call. Why later versions exclude it I cannot say, but I plan to investigate. This question has haunted me for a couple of years.
I'll post what I discover.
I have argued this point for years. It is a question in the original Trivial Pursuit. And I always lose, because the game says "Come back --- " is the final goodbye. They are wrong and I know I am right. This has always been a favorite of mine and since I am old enough to remember when the movie was originally released. Joey did say "Bye, Shane" and it was so poignant that it still haunts me every time I see the movie (originally as filmed)...
shareThe film does have many haunting aspects. What gives SHANE more poignancy is the early death of DeWilde and also Ladd's midlife suicide. So the line to Rhyker, "The difference between us is that I know my time has past" was prescient. Ladd may have sensed that being a movie star would end eventually just like the vocation of gunfighter. So if the film indeed had the boy calling out; "Goodbye Shane" it would imply the boy knew that the Shane of gunfighter lore was never coming back. A hired gun was soon to be a thing of the past like open range cattle breeding.
In HIGH NOON. The boy who brings the wagon for Kane and his bride after the final shootout is crestfallen when Kane throws his tin star into the dirt. To the boy Kane was a hero who would always serve the townsfolk. Joey sensed Shane would not be returning but the boy in HIGH NOON was still baffled at Kane's disgust at being a lawman.
I thought the kid said "Come baaaaack Shane!"
shareIt's not in the script according to this:http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/s/shane-script-transcr ipt-a lan-ladd.html.Wow. That has got to be one of the worst transcripts in script history!!! At least put the character names in there, and also some descriptions of non-verbal scenes. Wow. I'd hate to see the transcript of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly! lol
I just saw the movie on the network "Movies" in New York. I had never seen it before, so I didn't have any pre-conceived ideas or knowledge about what was said or not said at the end of the film by Joey. The very very last line of the movie, as played on the Movies! Channel, was "Bye, Shane". Which, as someone else noted here on the message board, was the most eloquent and deep message in its simplicity. Joey grew up. In those last few moments, he...understood and said goodbye, not just to Shane, but to other things. The very odd thing was, however, was that the closed captioning did not show that last line. Unsure why....But I heard it clearly...like I said, that last line was the one thing that brought tears to my eyes. Peace.
shareI actually just watched Shane for the first time last night on the Movies network, as well. NOW I get the Palance jokes and such reference after City Slickers came out!
I was actually watching a Big Bang Theory syndication episode but at commercial surfed by this movie and it was the scene where Ryker and his men confronted the family and we see Palance stare down Alan Ladd - needless to say, I was awestruck and didn't flip back to Big Bang Theory.
Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic.
As I responded to the last scene question I found the film strangely haunting but for perhaps sentimental reasons. Brandon DeWilde died young and Ladd seems to have related deeply with the character of Shane. He seemed to have a stoic acceptance that his time was over.
Thanks for your caring and insightful comments about SHANE.
Shane tells Joey what he should do-look after his parents- always try to do the right thing. We sense that Shane had most likely never married nor had any children and yet still managed excellent parental advice. He rode off as a male whose time had past perhaps hoping his parting words to a young boy would be a more lasting and pertinent legacy than gunfighter.
shareBravo!
shareI am not sure what everyone is talking about. In the Youtube clip referred to in this thread, the last thing Joey shouts to Shane is, "Thank you!". That is very clear. What is strange is that it is NOT on the remastered DVD or Blu-ray version of the film. But, I am not sure why or how people are hearing, "Goodbye, Shane!" I still remember when I first got that question about the final line from SHANE in Trivial Pursuit and I answered, "The final line is "Thank you!"" and I got it wrong. I knew I was right, and yet in some copies of the film, the "Thank you!" is not there.
To my knowledge, this thread isn't about whether Shane dies at the end.
shareThank you, dustinthewind25.
shareTo all who remember Joey's final call of "Bye, Shane" echoing up the valley after Shane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6pIGyEacxw
(Thanks to Tim Dirks, www.filmsite.org)
No, we have not lost our minds, yet.
Would be interesting to know exactly what source that Youtube clip was recorded from- off the air, a VHS version, etc. just to nail it down further. If that final goodbye is indeed authentic maybe it was removed from for example the DVD (which I just watched that final scene and no bye Shane) because it is almost drowned out by the soundtrack anyway. Maybe director Stevens (he died in 1975) had it removed from prints for whatever reason or his son/descendents did in the VHS and digital age. Maybe someone felt the scene was better without the goodbye. Anyway this is very interesting at any rate!
EDIT: ok I read the discussion on TCM.com to get up to speed on that. I guess some have heard the "bye Shane" clearly on their VHS copies but not on the Paramount DVD (which I own). Apparently if I recall correctly from that TCM thread the "bye Shane" is not on TCM telecasts of the movie. From what I heard on the Youtube clip it's clearly "bye Shane" in what sounds like DeWilde's voice even though the voice is almost drowned out by the booming soundtrack. It certainly to my ears isn't an echo of "Come back Shane" which one person in that TCM thread keeps insisting it is. I'm tending to agree with those who think some kind of boo-boo occurred during the transfer of the movie to DVD and the voice clip got wiped out by the music, and it was deemed not worthy enough to fix. Heck it may have been a conscious artistic decision by Stevens Jr or ? to remove it from the DVD, possibly because the vocal was almost drowned out enough anyway by the music. It seems clear that the vocal was intended to be fainter than the previous cries from Joey because Shane was much further away from him by that point - even if that was one hell of a speedy walking climb by horse and rider from valley floor to mountain foothills in movie time!
I'm glad we've settled this, turtletommy, because Joey's last call of "Bye, Shane" caps, perfectly I believe, the emotional crescendo of Shane's final passage. Why? Because Joey's acceptance bursts our bubble of pent up sorrow and sympathy in the end, with a splinter of pride tinged, even, with gladness. Out of necessity Joey has grown. Of all things, this I remember about Shane--that it left me in tears but almost happy ones, and that drove the heartbreak even deeper.
Anyway, I hope that Paramount, or whomever owns the distribution rights to "Shane," corrects the omission of Joey's final call. And that's some discussion over on TCM!
Just watched it streamed on Netflix. I can confirm that Joey does in fact very clearly shout "Bye, Shane!" in the closing scene. Heck, it's even subtitled.
In addition, it was very apparent that Shane was still alive all the way to fade-out. Pay close attention to Alan Ladd's right arm randomly moving intentionally from side to side controlling the reigns. I really think that if the actor wanted to feign death, he wouldn't have motioned his right arm so much.
Thank you, kewikle. And I believe that Shane survives his passage up and out of the valley. Riding gut-shot through a dark and solemn graveyard, however, may constitute Stevens's ill omen for his future.
Of course, today, they'd settle the question by bringing us, "Shane II: Ryker's Revenge," or something worse. Thank goodness the film remains locked in its era.
Just watched it on Me-TV, and the "bye, Shane" was definitely there. As for the final shot of Shane riding up the mountainside, his left arm is held a bit stiffly, implying an arm-wound.
shareWhat in hell are you talking about responding to my comment is such a doofus manner? I didn't mention anything about Shane dying? I have no idea- I was commenting on the ending scene where he as an admired hero to a young boy gives some very pertinent advice. Where are you coming from? Pluto?
shareOthers above have made the point that two versions exist.
I'll just add that the "Goodbye Shane" line is essential to the core of the film, in the society, and the future of Western society that Joey represents, understands the need to part with Shane, and what HE represents. The change from "come back" to "goodbye" is crucial, and must be returned to the film.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
Thank you! I posted earlier that Shane's short conversation with Rhyker was also pertinent. I haven't seen anything about Rhyker being a tragic anti hero. His offer to the homesteader was quite compelling and fair. I see Shane AND Rhyker as tragic humans. Rhyker could not relinquish his open range cattle breeding format because in his mind he had paid a high price to make it happen. Was it right to push the aboriginals off the range so he could safely raise cattle? Of course not. But even sadder here we are in 2016 with cattle being raised for beef. We should not be raising cattle period. That sad beast should be in the La Brea Tar Pit as extinct. Way too high a carbon footprint to be tolerable today.
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Just watched this last night on TCM. At least in TCM's version, "Goodbye, Shane" is there in the very last scene -- but it is very, very faint. With the Subtitles turned on, here are the boy's last words, as Shane leaves:
(calls out): Shane!
(shouts, louder): Shane!
(shouts): Come back, Shane!
Then, in a WS, as Shane rides towards the camera (his head down), with mountains in the background, you hear boy say "Goodbye, Shane." These last words are very faint, and are not subtitled, so they are easy to miss.
Just seen a digitally remastered version in my neighborhood theater.
It was just like rios_119 said.
Plus, here in Japan "Goodbye, Shane" line was also subtitled.
Many have posted about that last compelling utterance by Joey. We're all perhaps Shane and Joey combined- adult and youth. Youth and an aging hired gun had the same rueful but necessary epiphany.
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