True Grit

Plot synopsis:
Mattie Ross's father was murdered by Tom Chaney when she was 14 years old. While collecting her father's body in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Mattie asks the local sheriff about the search for Chaney. He tells her that Chaney has fled with "Lucky" Ned Pepper and his gang into Indian Territory, where the sheriff has no authority, so she inquires about hiring a Deputy U.S. Marshal. The sheriff gives three recommendations, and Mattie chooses Rooster Cogburn. Cogburn initially rebuffs her offer, not believing she has the money to hire him, but she raises the money by aggressively horse-trading with Colonel Stonehill.
Texas Ranger LaBoeuf arrives in town, pursuing Chaney for the murder of a Texas State Senator. LaBoeuf proposes joining Cogburn, but Mattie refuses his offer. She wishes Chaney to be hanged in Arkansas for her father's murder, not in Texas for killing the senator. Mattie also insists on traveling with Cogburn but he leaves without her, having gone with LaBoeuf to apprehend Chaney and split the reward.
After being refused passage on the ferry that conveyed Cogburn and LaBoeuf, Mattie crosses the river on horseback. LaBoeuf expresses his displeasure by birching Mattie with a stick, but Cogburn eventually allows Mattie to accompany them. After a dispute over their respective service with the Confederate States of America, Cogburn ends their arrangement and LaBoeuf leaves to pursue Chaney on his own. Cogburn and Mattie meet a trail doctor who directs them to an empty dugout for shelter. They find two outlaws, Quincy and Moon, and interrogate them. Quincy insists they have no information about the Pepper gang, but eventually Moon divulges what he knows; Quincy fatally stabs Moon, and Cogburn shoots Quincy dead. Before dying, Moon says Pepper and his gang will be returning for fresh horses that night.
LaBoeuf arrives at the dugout and is confronted by the Pepper gang. Cogburn, hiding on the hillside with Mattie, shoots two gang members and accidentally hits LaBoeuf, but Pepper escapes. However, Cogburn and LaBoeuf argue the next day, and the latter departs again. While retrieving water from a stream, Mattie encounters Chaney. She shoots him, but he survives and drags her back to Pepper, who forces Cogburn to leave by threatening to kill her. Pepper leaves Mattie alone with Chaney, ordering him not to harm her or he will not get paid after his remount arrives.
Chaney tries to knife Mattie, but LaBoeuf appears and knocks Chaney out. They watch from a distance as Cogburn fights the remaining members of Pepper's gang, killing two and wounding Ned before his horse is shot and falls, trapping his leg, whereupon LaBoeuf snipes Pepper. Chaney regains consciousness and knocks out LaBoeuf, but Mattie seizes LaBoeuf's rifle and shoots Chaney in the chest. The recoil knocks her into a deep pit, where she is bitten by a rattlesnake. Cogburn cuts into her hand to suck out as much of the venom as he can, then rides day and night to reach a doctor, carrying her on foot after her horse collapses from exhaustion.
Mattie's left forearm is amputated due to gangrene from the snakebite. Cogburn stays until she is out of danger, but leaves before she regains consciousness. She never sees Cogburn or LaBoeuf again, despite writing a letter inviting Cogburn to collect the money she owed him. Twenty-five years later, she receives a note from Cogburn inviting her to a travelling Wild West show where he now performs. She arrives, only to learn that he died three days earlier. She has his body moved to her family cemetery. Standing over Cogburn's grave, she reflects on her decision to move his remains, and about never having married.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
"Come see a fat old man sometime!"John Wayne's parting comment in this film is directed as much at us the viewers as it is at the young woman his Rooster Cogburn character is addressing.
In a way, Wayne throughout the film plays off the image he cemented in dozens of great and near-great westerns, with a nod that by 1969, he along with the western genre had fallen behind the times, that his shoot-first approach to law and order had worn thin with the critical establishment just as it does in Judge Parker's courtroom.In that way, playing a character of such dogged homicidal cussedness as the hard-drinking, one-eyed ex-Quantrill Raider Rooster Cogburn and giving him a teenaged girl seeking justice to play off so as to showcase his essential decency seems a clever means to win Wayne an Oscar, which he finally did here, a sentimental triumph over some more heralded performances.
As the heroine, Matty Ross, Kim Darby provides Wayne with a fantastic foil, doughty to the point of rudeness, forever finding fault in others but earning your good will through her simple faith in justice and loyalty to the memory of her slain father, for whom she wants Rooster's help avenging.
I'll shake their hand or buy 'em a Daniel Webster cee-gar," Rooster tells his braggart riding companion, a young Texas Ranger played by country singer and ex-Beach Boy Glen Campbell.Campbell may be a novice and a third wheel in the interplay between Wayne and Darby, but he acquits himself well and delivers a worthy performance in a cast stacked with talented actors like Robert Duvall, Jeremy Slate, and Strother Martin, not to mention Dennis Hopper, hiding the long hair he made famous in "Easy Rider" that same year.
Some of these actors portray bad guys, but Roberts' script and director Henry Hathaway's languid pacing allow them to present some humanizing qualities that go a long way toward making "True Grit" more than your typical shoot-em-up oater.Even Jeff Corey, who plays a no-account named Chaney who shot Matty's father, has a funny scene when he tells Matty how to cock her pistol, then whines after she shoots him with it: "Everything happens to me!"About the only fault I can find with the film is Elmer Bernstein's bombastic score, which employs overly ornate orchestration like kettledrums when Matty has her showdown with Chaney and is tuneless apart from the title song, which is Campbell's best moment here.
Hathaway's direction is somewhat pedestrian but serves the script, and showcases some incredible autumnal vistas of tall birch and pine where Rooster and Matty search for Chaney, photographed by Lucien Ballard in a style akin to (but more dreamy than) his work on the same year's "The Wild Bunch."1969 was the last great year for westerns, with this, "The Wild Bunch," "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid," "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Once Upon A Time In the West," and its interesting how Ballard, Corey, and Strother Martin turned up in more than one of them.
And certain films like The Commancheros and McLintock and Big Jake I find to be more entertaining.What True Grit does is succeed on both levels, being both great entertainment and giving John Wayne the acting role of a lifetime in the person of Rooster Cogburn.
There was no such thing as mass-communication, a good percentage of the population didn't read, and newspapers, the only "organized" form of news at the time, were hard pressed to report on anything more than a day's ride from town.This basic, shared innocence is achingly portrayed by Robert Duvall in two short sentences near the end of the movie when he's caught Mattie and he's attempting to threaten her.
The two of them set out into the Indian Territory in search of Chaney, accompanied by La Boeuf (shouldn't that be Le Boeuf?), a Texas ranger who wants to arrest him in connection with another murder.This is perhaps best remembered today as the film for which John Wayne won his only Oscar.
Great actors do not always make great casting directors."True Grit" does not perhaps have the depth of meaning of some of the truly great Westerns, such as "High Noon", "Unforgiven" or Wayne's last film, "The Shootist", but it is a very good one.
It is a fast-moving and exciting adventure, notable for some beautiful photography of mountainous landscapes (although it is ostensibly set in relatively flat Oklahoma, it was actually filmed in Colorado and California), for one of the great iconic moments of the Western (the scene where Cogburn gallops alone into battle, guns blazing, against four opponents) and for two excellent performances in the two main roles.
Away from the more congregated goodbyes sits a young girl inside of an establishment, she shares an exchange with her father which is granted a more personalised and lower-key sense, during which she is established to be quite the one for having her own voice; rather sharp on the accounting side of things and takes a stance on an issue to do with the purchasing of ponies before stating such a standpoint in a concise manner.The young girl is a certain Mattie, played extraordinarily by Kim Darby; a character whose role it is to waltz into the male dominated patriarchy of the western genre and upset the balance as this young; seemingly frail, but ultimately female, presence putting her foot down.
Worst though was Kim Darby, I am not going to go through a debate about whether she was too old for the role(I'll drop a hint, I think she was), but for me she is one of the blandest and most annoying leading ladies in a John Wayne movie.However, the film does look great.
While I would have not personally given the Oscar to this particular performance(I thought he was better in The Searchers, Red River and The Quiet Man) John Wayne is excellent here, and while he doesn't appear until quite later on Robert Duvall also makes a positive impression.All in all, a very good film but could have been better in my view.
Stunning Western based on Charles Portis's novel and adapted by Marguerite Roberts about a hard-nosed , tough U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger who help an obstinate 14-years-old young woman track down her father's murderer in Indian territory ; being object a recent remake by Coen Brothers , Joel and Ethan with Jeff Bridges .
Renting a room at a Fort Smith boarding house, she meets a Texas Ranger , LaBouef ( Glen Campbell , posterior character performed by Matt Damon) and they along with Cogburn go to track down Cheney , Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) and hoodlums .Gentle entertainment about a tough-minded , hard-bitten bounty hunter and a fearless bargainer , stubborn adolescent in the Old West starred by the master of the western , an over-the-hill John Wayne , he is magnificent expert in the art of conjuring stylish , here stars this atypical but amusing western with a lot of jokes , distinguished moments , comical attitudes but also violence and action .
John Wayne finally won a Best Actor Oscar for playing Rooster Cogburn, an old and tired U.S. Marshal.
He is hired by a fourteen year old girl, Mattie(Kim Darby) to track down Tom Chaney, her father's killer who is on the run with Ned Pepper(Robert Duvall) another notorious outlaw who has had previous run ins with the lawman.
The fact that she insists on coming along to help him is perhaps the weakest aspect of the story  but the end result is so enjoyable that we can forgive this.Robert Duvall, as Lucky Ned Pepper, makes a great job of playing the leader of the outlaw band Rooster, Ross and Ranger have to confront.The action culminates in a scene that no other western has matched before or since..
"True Grit" provided John Wayne with a long overdue Oscar for his performance as the crusty old whiskey swilling Marshal Rooster Cogburn.
La Boeuf joins Rooster and Mattie and the unlikely trio begins their dangerous journey seeking out Tom Chaney in the Indian Territory."True Grit" is a great western by Henry Hathaway with magnificent performances of Kim Darby, who deserved at least the nomination to the Oscar, and John Wayne, who won the Oscar of Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Kim Darby as Mattie Ross was particularly good, but the fact that the dialog in Charles Portis' novel was retained  it is like nothing that I have heard in any other western  and that is was so well delivered by the cast made this movie a real standout.Glen Campbell really surprised me as the Texas Ranger.
John Wayne,it can be said,played the same type of character many times over.In fact,we were basically seeing John Wayne on screen every time, he was just given a different name for character's sake,but we never minded really,did we?With True Grit,we see a different John Wayne,one with more spirit than we had ever seen before or after.He was Rooster Cogburn,the liquor swilling bounty hunter,with the eye patch.With all of his bad points,we couldn't help but like him.Surpassing John Wayne was no doubt a difficult task,but in my opinion,young Kim Darby pulled it off with flying colors.I'm not sure whether she was even nominated for an Oscar here,but she sure was worthy of consideration.The story is a solid one,Henry Hathaway's direction superb,and the cinematography is among the best I've ever seen in a western.The supporting cast,which includes Hollywood heavyweights such as Strother Martin,Dennis Hopper, and Robert Duvall,does their job superbly.The only possible exception is Glen Campbell,who never quite seemed comfortable in front of the camera.This is probably why we have seen him in very little else since.
It's a good thing he had his music career to fall back on.Despite this, you have an overall great film in True Grit.So watch it,and "Come see a fat old man sometime!"..
A young woman (Kim Darby) hires a one-eyed drunken marshal named Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) to track down her father's killer.
******** True Grit (6/11/69) Henry Hathaway ~ John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall.
Well, I've known characters in my life like the Duke in True Grit, as well as the Glen Campbell and Kim Darby types.
I have seen this movie more times than I can tell ya.Being a big fan of the Duke,I consider this one of his top performances.I remember going with my family to see this movie at the drive -in, in Lexington,N.C.I'm really not sure what year it was but,considering it was made in '69,and I was born in '59 I could not have been any bigger than a "CORN NUBBIN'".No matter what I may be watching on T.V. if I'm flipping the remote and come across TRUE GRIT the remote gets laid down!One thing though,I read on the profile of this film that Karen Carpenter was considered by the Duke to play the part of Mattie,makes me wonder how that would have turned out.I am not a real big fan of Kim Darby,but I'm sure she was a better actress than Karen Carpenter.As Carpenter was a better singer.Of course with Carpenter in the film then maybe there would have been a duet with Glen Cambell,ha ha..
Duvall is superb in this low key performance where you won't see any "moustache twirling".The always very reliable director of photography Lucien Ballard makes the film look just gorgeous, and Elmer Bernstein composed a wonderful score.There's an absolutely delightful line-up of talent in supporting and character roles: Jeremy Slate, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin (his scenes with Darby are very amusing), Ron Soble, John Fiedler, James Westerfield, John Doucette, Myron Healey, James McEachin, Jay Silverheels, and Hank Worden.Ultimately, this is charming and poignant and Wayne makes the most out of the material, with Cogburn emerging as one of the most colourful parts of his career.Nine out of 10..
It has a marvelous script by Marguerite Roberts working from great source material, (the novel by Charles Portis), a great score by Elmer Bernstein at his most expansive, wonderful location photography by Lucien Ballard and a superb performance by Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, the girl out to avenge her father's murder.Best of all it had John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, the one-eyed Marshall Mattie hires to track down her father's killers.
Set on avenging her father's murder, a teenager hires a US marshal reputed to be a man of "true grit" in this Henry Hathaway western, best remembered nowadays as the film that won John Wayne an Oscar.
"True Grit" is primarily remembered today as the movie for which John Wayne finally won an Oscar, thirty years after his star-making performance in John Ford's "Stagecoach".
However, I think that the actors generally do a good job of making the material sound natural, unlike in the more recent version.Ultimately, the legacy of "True Grit" goes beyond John Wayne's Oscar win.
True Grit is a good movie with a very well developed storyline with a good cast and terrific character development.I read the book which is why I wanted to watch this movie,and as I was reading the book all I could picture while reading Rooster Cogburn's dialogue was John Wayne,it really was perfect casting and it's without a doubt one of his finest performances,an Academy Award dosen't lie.Other than John Wayne however,the cast is my biggest issue with the film,none of the other actors come across as even slightly inspired,I really didn't think the actor that played LaBeouf suited the character one bit,but the worst casting decision was without a doubt Kim Darby,she put no life in to Mattie Ross,she just said her lines,mostly in a very irritating manner,also Mattie comes across as a strong independent character in the book,and she did absolutely nothing to convey that personality in this film,he was like a robot and is the Mai reason why I give this movie a seven and not an eight.I would recommend the remake over this without a doubt,I don't think Jeff Bridges is as good as John Wayne was as Cogburn but still does a great job and every other actor is a huge improvement over the actors in this movie (Hailee Steinfeld,Matt Damon,Josh Brolin,etc.).Despite a mostly very mediocre cast,True Grit is still a very enjoyable movie with a solid performance from Wayne and a well written turn from a book to a film.
Not quite so good, performance wise, was Glen Campbell as La Boeuf (he latterly decided to stick to singing good move).It's probably the best film I've seen starring John Wayne, but I'm sure I'll be corrected on that point by someone.
Seeking out Rooster Cogburn based on his gritty reputation, and aided by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, they head off to find the killer.It's not bold or foolish to say that John Wayne has not only been in better films, he's also given better performances than his Oscar winning turn here in True Grit.
Eye patch over one eye, Rooster Cogburn is a rapscallion that is impossible to dislike, and that comes down to Wayne and his mannered performance.True Grit is boosted by the sparky performance of Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, with the chemistry between herself and Wayne warm and honest, and this gives the film its emotional core, with both characters needing each other without even knowing it.
A young Kim Darby enlists the help of one-eyed drunk U.S. marshal (John Wayne in his Oscar-winning role) and a Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) to help her track down her father's killer in this uneven and sometimes dry-as-dirt western.
The resurrection of western genre has tumbled through a long and bumpy way, sometimes it seems to be a pipe dream because we all admit time is a ruthless bitch, but in the hands of Coen brothers, the clicking steps are by far the firmest one to satisfy our nostalgia for that era (who could forget NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN?).It's hard to believe that TRUE GRIT actually is my first John Wayne's film if my memory doesn't fail me (which partially testifies that Western film usually is not my cup of tea), also I discovered it got Wayne an Oscar winning for Best Actor, which honestly speaking, is far from academy's normal criterion, the performance is particularly unexceptional, to me it's rather a tribute to his entire career, which is a stock and unfair trickery using by the academy (Paul Newman for example), Jeff Bridge's interpretation also doesn't take my breath away as well, mainly because his weird accent does bug me a lot.
True Grit is about a fourteen year old girl named Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) who employs the hardboiled and drunken Marshall Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne in his only Oscar winning performance, to hunt down the killer of her father, Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey).
True Grit also has some terrible things, the acting of Kim Darby and Glen Campbell are horrible, some of the worst ever in movies, TG would have been a lot better with different actors playing the parts.
Released in 1969 and directed by Henry Hathaway, "True Grit" is a Western starring John Wayne as an overweight, one-eyed, alcoholic Marshal who signs on to help a stubborn, mature-beyond-her-years 14 year-old girl (Kim Darby) track down her father's murderer (Jeff Corey) in Indian Territory.
It owes to Wayne, but not just Wayne.Story-wise, "True Grit", if anything, is a movie about determination, I can't find another word to characterize the young strong headed Mattie Ross (Kim Darby), the fourteen-year old girl who wants to avenge her father by capturing and giving to the Law his murderer Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey).
John Wayne won a best actor Academy award for his amusing performance as veteran, no-nonsense(but often drunken) U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn, who is enlisted by determined tomboy Mattie Ross(played by Kim Darby) to locate the scoundrel(played by Jeff Corey) who murdered her father.
This first filmed version of True Grit can still entertain thanks to John Wayne's Oscar-winning performance.