"True Grit" is a movie that has continually entertained me since its 1969 release. Marguerite Roberts' screenplay is filled with delightfully delicious dialogue as she drew heavily on Charles Portis' remarkably fine novel. The tone is one of dramatic authenticity with a dark sense of absurdity at situation and character, particularly Mattie's intractable world view. It is the adventure of a lifetime.
I have always been drawn to the the drama, the action and the morality, sometimes ambiguous, in western stories. Western fans play the game of "measuring up". We would stand up to Ryker. We would not refuse Will Kane's request for help. We would know a skunk when we saw one. In "True Grit", it wasn't the tall man in the hat to whom I had to measure myself, it was a girl. It was 14 year old Mattie Ross, played by Kim Darby, seeking vengeance for the killing of her father. It was Mattie Ross standing up to a world of adults who wanted to brush her aside. It was Mattie dealing with her sorrow and pain, yet determined to have her voice heard. It was the world around her that would have to measure up to Mattie.
The viewers go on a journey with the spunky girl as she deals with the frustrations of bureaucracy and the societal expectations of children. Mattie knows she is capable and she knows what she must do. Her journey leads her to Rooster Cogburn, a marshal of skill and dubious reputation. A Texas Ranger played by Glen Campbell becomes part of the team which is an uneasy alliance. Musician Campbell does well enough considering it is a tyro effort, but how I wish an experienced actor had been cast in the role. I always pictured Doug McClure.
"True Grit" is filled with interesting characters and interesting character actors which gives the film its depth. Jeff Corey ("Little Big Man") is the murderer Tom Chaney. Hank Worden ("The Searchers") is a sympathetic undertaker. Edith Atwater ("The Body Snatcher") is a pretentious boarding house landlady. Alfred Ryder ("T-Men") a bombastic defence attorney. Western & noir veteran John Doucette is a business-like sheriff.
Strother Martin ("Cool Hand Luke") is Colonel Stonehill, a horse trader whose scenes with Kim Darby are one of the highlights of the movie. Jeremy Slate ("The Sons of Katie Elder") and Dennis Hopper ("Hoosiers") are two unfortunate criminals who cross paths with Rooster. Robert Duvall ("The Godfather") is the determined outlaw 'Lucky' Ned Pepper.
John Wayne is Rooster Cogburn, the tough Marshal whom Mattie feels will get the job done for her, but is she ready for the realities in store? How will the violence and hardships to come shape her character? Is it Mattie's determination and her vulnerabilities that will shape her destiny and her relationships? The novel presents the events as a memory, the story of an adventure. The movie's viewpoint is from the young girl that is Mattie Ross. We are swept up in her journey of discovery and her adventure with the force of nature that is Rooster Cogburn.
John Wayne carried a legacy of classic western portrayals of close to 40 years when he played the character of Rooster. The marshal was a man who hadn't just seen much, he had done much. However, his world was turning fast. His previous autonomous ways were becoming accountable to courts and now to a youngster, and not just any youngster, a young lady. A young lady with as keen a sense of self as his own. Their clash of wills would lead to understanding, respect and affection that neither would experience again.
Henry Hathaway directed True Grit on location in Colorado instead of the novel's actual setting of Arkansas. The scenery is magnificent and was breathtakingly captured by award winning cinematographer Lucien Ballard, making it another character in the story. Elmer Bernstein's score is one of his "rousing" variety and pushes all the right buttons.
When I think of great female performances of the 1960s it is not the Academy Award winners or the glamour queens of the era that come to mind. It is Kim Darby's valiant, heartbreaking and inspiring Mattie Ross.
I have always been drawn to the the drama, the action and the morality, sometimes ambiguous, in western stories. Western fans play the game of "measuring up". We would stand up to Ryker. We would not refuse Will Kane's request for help. We would know a skunk when we saw one. In "True Grit", it wasn't the tall man in the hat to whom I had to measure myself, it was a girl. It was 14 year old Mattie Ross, played by Kim Darby, seeking vengeance for the killing of her father. It was Mattie Ross standing up to a world of adults who wanted to brush her aside. It was Mattie dealing with her sorrow and pain, yet determined to have her voice heard. It was the world around her that would have to measure up to Mattie.
The viewers go on a journey with the spunky girl as she deals with the frustrations of bureaucracy and the societal expectations of children. Mattie knows she is capable and she knows what she must do. Her journey leads her to Rooster Cogburn, a marshal of skill and dubious reputation. A Texas Ranger played by Glen Campbell becomes part of the team which is an uneasy alliance. Musician Campbell does well enough considering it is a tyro effort, but how I wish an experienced actor had been cast in the role. I always pictured Doug McClure.
"True Grit" is filled with interesting characters and interesting character actors which gives the film its depth. Jeff Corey ("Little Big Man") is the murderer Tom Chaney. Hank Worden ("The Searchers") is a sympathetic undertaker. Edith Atwater ("The Body Snatcher") is a pretentious boarding house landlady. Alfred Ryder ("T-Men") a bombastic defence attorney. Western & noir veteran John Doucette is a business-like sheriff.
Strother Martin ("Cool Hand Luke") is Colonel Stonehill, a horse trader whose scenes with Kim Darby are one of the highlights of the movie. Jeremy Slate ("The Sons of Katie Elder") and Dennis Hopper ("Hoosiers") are two unfortunate criminals who cross paths with Rooster. Robert Duvall ("The Godfather") is the determined outlaw 'Lucky' Ned Pepper.
John Wayne is Rooster Cogburn, the tough Marshal whom Mattie feels will get the job done for her, but is she ready for the realities in store? How will the violence and hardships to come shape her character? Is it Mattie's determination and her vulnerabilities that will shape her destiny and her relationships? The novel presents the events as a memory, the story of an adventure. The movie's viewpoint is from the young girl that is Mattie Ross. We are swept up in her journey of discovery and her adventure with the force of nature that is Rooster Cogburn.
John Wayne carried a legacy of classic western portrayals of close to 40 years when he played the character of Rooster. The marshal was a man who hadn't just seen much, he had done much. However, his world was turning fast. His previous autonomous ways were becoming accountable to courts and now to a youngster, and not just any youngster, a young lady. A young lady with as keen a sense of self as his own. Their clash of wills would lead to understanding, respect and affection that neither would experience again.
Henry Hathaway directed True Grit on location in Colorado instead of the novel's actual setting of Arkansas. The scenery is magnificent and was breathtakingly captured by award winning cinematographer Lucien Ballard, making it another character in the story. Elmer Bernstein's score is one of his "rousing" variety and pushes all the right buttons.
When I think of great female performances of the 1960s it is not the Academy Award winners or the glamour queens of the era that come to mind. It is Kim Darby's valiant, heartbreaking and inspiring Mattie Ross.