*beep* Ending - Harry and Tonto (1974) Discussion

[–] 666Night999 19 years ago

It's about the journey. It isn't supposed to reinvent anything. His cat dies, he carries on. It's not a film noir detective story. It's a drama.

"Nice beaver!"
"Thanks, I just had it stuffed."--The Naked Gun

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[–] basketcasebelial 19 years ago

"It's not a film noir detective story." That is the funniest thing I ever read.

You can take my body and dry it in the sun. Seeing the vultures circle up ahead. -Phil

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[–] 666Night999 19 years ago

If you want Art Carney noir, try THE LATE SHOW.

"Nice beaver!"
"Thanks, I just had it stuffed."--The Naked Gun

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[–] basketcasebelial 19 years ago

I'll Check it out.

You can take my body and dry it in the sun. Seeing the vultures circle up ahead. -Phil

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[–] WarpedRecord 18 years ago

I'll contribute to this conversation about six months after the fact:

I also found the ending pretty abrupt. I assume the little girl on the beach was meant to signify a younger generation of free spirits like Harry, but I also found it pretty puzzling. It was an unsatisfying ending to an otherwise terrific film.

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[–] Eric-1226 18 years ago

I thought the ending was indeed rather ambiguous, or mysterious, or whatever you want to call it. But I will say one thing, I think it makes the viewer not only ponder "What next?" for Harry, but it makes the viewer stop and take a good look at his/her OWN life, and wonder "How will I end up? I know I'm not gonna' live forever, so, How will the last page of my final chapter in life be written?"

This movie really gets you thinking about your own mortality, your own legacy. So in that respect I think the ending was suitably thoughtful and provocative.

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[–] dubexplorations 18 years ago

doesn't anyone remember when harry said, "all my friends are old and dead".. and then was asked, "why don't you younger friends"..
my two cents: that cat named 'Stupid', should have been part of the ending with harry renaming him 'Tonto Two'.. fade to black at sundown, beach.. the end

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] archie157 18 years ago

The ending worked well for the movie. I mean, how could it have ended better? Tell us what happens next? Thats the whole point. Harry doesnt know what will happen next, and neither do we.

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[–] corn_flakes 17 years ago

I think she was just calling that cat stupid because he was the only one not coming to get the food

"Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought"

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[–] ProfessorFate 17 years ago

Harry's learned to move on even after everything that's happened during his trip.

I agree, one of the movie's messages seems to be about moving on with your life. Harry has suffered a loss, and when he sees a cat that looks like Tonto he chases after him, sort of symbolic of the way we all try to hold on to our past. Then as you say he realizes it's not Tonto and he moves on to the next adventure in his life. I think it's a perfect ending to a great movie.

"Push the button, Max!"

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[–] pinbackwiggly 15 years ago

If I am going to sleep at night, I have to pretend that after talking to the little girl, Harry retrieved Stupid The Cat, renamed him Tonto and kept him as a pet for many years. :)

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[–] sampafelipe 15 years ago

good observation; tho i agree the ending was abrupt, leaving it open worked best for me too. nice film!

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[–] Xcalat3 17 years ago

stupid ending

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

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[–] Balberith 16 years ago

I think the ending was very suitable. The movie is somewhat sad indeed. The way the elderly get treated in society is often unfair to say the least.

At least you know that what ever time Harry has left he'll probably make the most of it.

"A real man would rather bow down to a strong woman than dominate a weak one"

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[–] jhvaughan2 13 years ago

Really? Why? Because something did not blow up?

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[–] thetheeyecreature 16 years ago

Great ending. You don't see many ambiguous endings anymore; people are used to being fed everything with a spoon.

"The truth 24 times a second."

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[–] SonicMozart 15 years ago

I found the scene with Tonto dying very anti-climatic. He didn't seem that upset. I know it's a cheap resource but the movie could have used a tear-jerker scene.

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[–] Owlwise 15 years ago

On the contrary, I'm so glad they resisted any urge for a tearjerker scene. That would just have cheapened the film. The understatement throughout the film makes it all the more powerful & authentic. It just feels more honest this way.

As a previous poster said, they didn't need to spoon-feed the audience back then. They trusted the audience to have intelligence & emotional depth, to be able to read the intensity of the characters' feelings without overplaying them.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Dave-137 13 years ago

I was disappointed in the very last part of the movie -- it gave me the feeling the writers/directors/production team didn't know how to end it. Harry didn't show much remorse for Tonto's passing ... and that hardly seems the same as just "moving on." The scene on the beach is particularly puzzling ... Harry chases after the young cat and then just loses interest and wanders over to the girl ... it seems like Harry maybe has had a stroke, but I doubt that was intended. It really makes it seem even worse to find out that the girl was played by the director's daughter. Sure seems like she was stuck in at the end with nothing in particular in mind other than to get her in the film. (Tonto was Harry's faithful companion ... it would have been more believable to have seen more emotion, even if the next scene showed a new beginning.)

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[–] Dave-137 13 years ago

I was disappointed in the very last part of the movie -- it gave me the feeling the writers/directors/production team didn't know how to end it. Harry didn't show much remorse for Tonto's passing ... and that hardly seems the same as just "moving on." The scene on the beach is particularly puzzling ... Harry chases after the young cat and then just loses interest and wanders over to the girl ... it seems like Harry maybe has had a stroke, but I doubt that was intended. It really makes it seem even worse to find out that the girl was played by the director's daughter. Sure seems like she was stuck in at the end with nothing in particular in mind other than to get her in the film. (Tonto was Harry's faithful companion ... it would have been more believable to have seen more emotion, even if the next scene showed a new beginning.)

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[–] jawebster2000 13 years ago

We all know Harry is a good guy but why wasn't someone looking out for the little girl? It was getting dark and she was on the beach all by herself and some old stranger walks up to her? I don't understand the ending at all unless he is tired of having his "old" friends (including his cat) dying on him and he figures a "young" friend won't?.

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[–] PsychoDingo 10 years ago

It's a narrative form called "slice of life" in which things are not wrapped up neatly, because the point is to show a certain timespan within someone's life and then leave it at that. Since there is usually no point at which everything is all figured out and neatly wrapped up in a person's life, the "slice of life" form doesn't end with all questions answered and all ideas expressed.

I got girls up here do more tricks than a god damn monkey on a hundred yards of grape vine.

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