True Grit (1969)

 

The 1969 version of True Grit is beautifully shot. It features some lovely location shooting in Colorado and California (standing in for Arkansas and Oklahoma), and the cinematography should have received some recognition from the Academy Awards. Instead, it’s primarily known for the Oscar-winning performance of John Wayne as Marshall Rooster Cogburn, who is hired by teenager Mattie Ross to locate the hired hand who shot and killed her father. Ross (played by Kim Darby with great precision of language and body movement) wants to join Cogburn as he looks for Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), and like she does with everyone, she wears the marshal down until he relents. Cogburn has a reputation for being good at his job but not especially concerned with what others think of him or with following the strictures of the law. They are joined by a man named “La Boeuf,” a Texas Ranger who wants to bring Chaney to justice for killing a state senator in Texas. He’s played by Glen Campbell, who also sings the Oscar-nominated title song over the film’s opening credits. Campbell and Darby are both fine actors, but the showy part is certainly Wayne’s, and except for the moments when Darby’s Mattie Ross is brokering a deal with someone, True Grit is really a showcase for Wayne’s performance. He can be gruff and short, touching at times, and quite funny when he plays drunk. It’s a performance unlike most of the roles he played in his very long career, and the award was an acknowledgement not only of this particular role but for his entire body of work and what it represented. In addition to Darby and Campbell, True Grit features some supporting performances by some famous actors. Robert Duvall plays Ned Pepper, the outlaw Rooster has been tracking for a long time and with whom Chaney has joined. Duvall was already making a name for himself in roles like this, starting with his portrayal of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. Dennis Hopper plays another of Ned’s associates, marking quite a contrast from his other famous movie from 1969, Easy Rider. Strother Martin also has a fun couple of scenes as a horse trader who winds up on the losing side of a bargain with Mattie. True Grit is a classic Western in many ways, featuring lots of action, but it has more than its fair share of dialogue during the times that Rooster, Mattie, and La Boeuf are riding horses on their way to find Ned or stopping to rest for the night. Much of the script follows the outlines of the Charles Portis novel upon which it is based, and a 1975 sequel (simply titled Rooster Cogburn and costarring Wayne and Katharine Hepburn) and a 2010 remake featuring Jeff Bridges as Marshall Cogburn don’t quite compare to the original film’s beauty.

Oscar Win: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Wayne)

Other Nomination: Best Original Song (“True Grit”)