Rooster Cogburn (1975)

Not the best John Wayne movie, but a damn good one. He and Hepburn make it move along, and you can see the genuine chemistry between their characters. As the movie progresses, you can feel him come to understand and respect her, and you can feel her becoming more fond of him, regardless of his faults. He finally admitting that being with her "pleases" him, and her final speech to him says it all. An enjoyable film all around.

Fmovies: I liked this movie quite a bit. However, only a few minutes into the film, I felt like I was experiencing deja-vu. And then I realized it!! This was an obvious remake of African QUEEN. And, they didn't even try to disguise it very well, as Kate Hepburn pretty much plays the same part she did in the original AND John Wayne is playing a part in a movie that should have been re-titled "TRUE GRIT PART II". So, despite its lack of originality, how did I score the film so highly? Well, the acting and dialog is so good that I really didn't mind watching this re-hash. Plus, for those of you who have never seen African QUEEN or TRUE GRIT, you can probably enjoy this movie even more.

Hepburn & the Duke made a fairly decent movie and that's enough reason to see it at least once. The fact that Hepburn has a Father in the movie is suspect, at best, especially since he's not played by Moses himself. But that's besides the point here - they have terrific chemistry and their star power alone could put most of the actors on the screen today to shame. It would have been really memorable if the movie were worthy of them, though.

Rooster Cogburn fmovies. This movie is more than just a lot of fun to watch. John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn are wonderful, but only because they are together. The chemistry between them is electrifying.

Richard Jordan plays his villan role to a "T". He is mean and nasty, and he keeps his character believeable to the end. There is a scene between him and Katharine Hepburn at Fort Ruby that is absolutely brilliant, you could feel the lightning flashing between their characters.

Think about the scene where the wheel broke off the wagon: Hawk gets furious with his men and Jordan's character did a great job with his part: he seem really angry, as if looks could kill. His expressions, well, it gave me the willies.

Don't you agree that Anthony Zerbe created a believeable "Breed". The two of them, Jordan and Zerbe are so believeable together. Remember the scene in the saloon when Hawk learns about the wagon being taken by Rooster? He starts to go out and Breed tells him, that he worked with Rooster for three years...and that he knows that Breed will never take Rooster? There is some great chemistry in that scene! They have tried to make movies like this before, but it hasn't happened yet: movies that made the actors create a film a success that was not relying on special affects alone, but just the characters and the story.

Someone in Hollywood had the bright idea of taking the leading character from "True Grit" and putting him in a story redolent of "The African Queen", casting a much older Katharine Hepburn, then experiencing a revival in her career, in the same part she played opposite Bogie. And it worked. If anything Wayne, with an unerring ear for the comic potential of his character, is even better than he was in "True Grit". It's a genuinely funny performance. Hepburn's character is too much an amalgam of Rose Sayer and Mattie Ross; she could be "True Grit's" Mattie 50 years on. But the chemistry between her and Wayne is palpable; they spark off each other.

The plot isn't up to much. It's been cobbled together from scraps of better movies and there is a terrible bit of over-acting from Richard Jordan as the chief villain, but it looks great, (the scenery is terrific), and is very enjoyable.

In my humble opinion, this is the best of the best John Wayne film. Although not a cowboy movie lover, I am an avid John Wayne fan, and I consider this his very best work.

The relationship between Rooster and Miss Eula has such chemistry you just can't take your eyes off the screen. Kate Hepburn looking into the eyes of John Wayne is absolutely magical and this is the way I will always remember them both.