True Grit (1969)

The film begins on that of the homely, often perceived as 'safe', locale of a farm ranch in 1880's Arkansas; the Ross family are bidding farewell to their husband and father of the place in Frank, eventually seeing him roll on out of there with a lodger after the establishment it would be safer to take a train, rather than ride horseback, to where they're going. The lodger, of whom, takes minimal belongings for such a hike and whose reply to such an accusation is dry and understated, as if something were brewing in his mind and he were never going to return to here. 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. The crux of authenticity in Darby's quite stunning performance runs in tandem with that of her character's predicament; within the film, she is somebody whom must confront and often stand up to certain individuals of a hardened and established ilk, before often coming to have to dominate proceedings in their presence. This is something in lieu of Darby's own predicament, that of having to match up to that of a figure of John Wayne's stature in this, a Western, and have to match him within the frame as well as the universe of the film.

In short, Henry Hathaway's bare boned 1969 western is a near faultless masterpiece; an exciting, unpredictable and more than substantial film balancing several acts at once as it breathlessly tells a tale that is difficult to find anything less than thoroughly absorbing. The film is directed with distinct aplomb; make no mistake, his film is unafraid to place children on the front-line and in the firing line of a west we very much sense is "wild". It is a west that sees animals get caught up, and often killed, in the ensuing chaos; a west that sees an array of lowlifes all intermingling with one another and the elements, those of whose actions and motivations we can never take for granted and of which are told amidst a background of brutality lending a great air of ambiguity to proceedings as we wonder if anybody is entirely safe.

The catalyst for proceedings is in the tragedy that is Frank's death; shot and killed by his accomplice lodger whilst trying to help him in the aftermath of a poker game. In reaction to this, Mattie journeys to the town in which he was killed so as to hire a Marshall to find the man and garner some justice; her witnessing of several other criminals guilty for similar crimes publicly hung allowing her exposure to what awaits such justice. That Marshall eventually turns out to be a certain Rooster Cogburn, John Wayne's Civil War veteran, who's living a life of rounding up disparate arrays of crooks and bandits from local territories and holding them in cells overnight so as to take courtroom lectures the following morning over, what we perceive to be from Cogburn's perspective, negligent intricacies over whom shot what first and in what ord

Fmovies: I have grown up watching this movie, and must have seen it 50 times. This is my mother's favorite movie and most members of my family can recite this movie line for line. The quotes from this movie go into every day conversation among my aunts and uncles almost every time I see them. "I've got some more horse trading to do" or "Baby Sister" or "we ain't got no lemonade neither" have been heard a few times Every time I watch this it gets better, I have seen most of John Wayne's movies and this is by far the best. I've never read the book, I usually find books better than the actual movies, I wouldn't want to find out that the movie and book don't follow each other. Please, no one ever remake this movie, I can't imagine a better version!

"True Grit" deals with one of the classic Western themes, indeed one of the classic themes in all literature- revenge. A teenage girl, Mattie Ross, is looking for someone who will help her track down Tom Chaney, the man who murdered her father. The man Mattie chooses is Rooster Cogburn, a US Marshal. Cogburn is elderly, fat, one-eyed and a heavy drinker, but Mattie chooses him because she has heard that he has "true grit". 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. Halliwell's Film Guide rather ungraciously refers to it as a "sentimental Oscar, for daring to look old and fat", but there is more to Wayne's performance than that. The Academy, in fact, had tended to overlook Wayne, just as they overlooked the Western genre which provided him with most of his roles; well over a hundred films had only brought him two previous nominations. Cogburn, however, was one of his best roles. On the surface a hard-bitten, irascible old man, he has hidden depths to his character- not only the courage and determination implied by the phrase "true grit", but also a sense of humour and a capacity for tenderness. Cogburn is a lonely man, divorced from his wife and alienated from his only son, and his only friends are a Chinese storekeeper (a rare acknowledgement from Hollywood that not every inhabitant of the West was either white or an Indian) and his cat. A close relationship, however, grows up between him and the orphaned Mattie, for whom he becomes a substitute father. In turn, she becomes the daughter he never had- or perhaps even a substitute son.

Mattie is a complex character. There is much about her that is androgynous- her tomboy looks, her short hair, even her name, which can be short for Matthew as well as Matilda or Martha. She is brave and determined (there is a suggestion that the phrase "true grit" applies to her as well), but can also be a pain in the neck, especially to Cogburn. She is at times wise in the ways of the world and at others strangely innocent. She is part avenging angel, part bookish intellectual (shown by her rather formal language) and part vulnerable child. It is a role that called for an outstanding performance and got one from Kim Darby who was able to bring out all the various facets of Mattie's character. (This is the only film of hers that I have seen, but it seems strange on the strength of this that her subsequent cinema career has been so patchy). Unfortunately, Glenn Campbell, a singer with little previous acting experience, made a weak La Boeuf. It is probably as well that John Wayne did not get his way when he wanted Karen Carpenter, a singer with absolutely no previous acting experience, to play the role of Mattie instead of Darby. 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 t

True Grit fmovies. I do not think this is John Wayne's best movie or role, but I did like this movie, though I do not think it is perfect. While the film starts and ends very well, the film slackens in the pace in the middle. My other flaws are to do with casting. Glen Campbell is adequate in his role, but I was never engrossed by his character and he never quite make me believe in him. 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. Handsomely shot with great scenery, True Grit is pleasing to the eye. Elmer Bernstein's score is rousing and very fitting, while the story is interesting, most of the characters are credible and the script flows well. Also True Grit is very well directed, and there is a glorious final shoot-out. Other than Campbell and Darby, the other acting is fine. 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. 7/10 Bethany Cox

There isn't a false note in this film. Charles Portis' book of the same name is practically adapted verbatim to the screen; this is the purest book to movie transfer I've yet seen, and this assures its success.

John Wayne worked for 50 years to get to this role, and no one else could have played it. He becomes Rooster Cogburn; it revitalized his career and made everyone finally take notice of his skills as an actor. I love Wayne in anything, but this movie has a special place in my heart.

Kim Darby is also a surprise. She's more than capable of handling Wayne in each and every scene. They made a very good team. Glen Campbell is not as good as these two, but then he really isn't an actor. He does have his moments, though, and acquits himself with aplomb as the Texas Ranger. Strother Martin is a real hoot as Stonehill, the horse trader; he's always a great asset to any film, and this must have been his 10th appearance in a Wayne movie. Robert Duvall is very good and very harried as Lucky Ned Pepper. He's not a wanton killer; he doesn't kill, or even hurt, Kim Darby. He's just a thief who wants to be left alone, and you can see by his worried expression that he knows Rooster won't ever let him go. Dennis Hopper and Jeremy Slate have a small, very fine scene in the middle of the movie, where they are partners in crime who don't see things in the same way.

A previous review talks about the low amount of votes on this film by people in the US. I would chalk that up to the age group that saw this film and loved it. Most of those people are not into computers yet, and probably don't know about the IMDB. Believe me, it's considered a classic, and rightfully so.

This is a fine family film that everyone should see. Rent it, buy it, or borrow it, but do watch it. It will make anyone a John Wayne fan. And be sure to read the book; I couldn't put it down.

First on UK BBC1 on Christmas Day 1974 and shown again many times since has meant I never bothered taping this classic - now I've seen it umpteen times it still leaves me smiling. The relentlessly eccentric badinage between the 3 main characters and others should be enough to make anyone smile, even with a little violence and a few serious points raised along the way.

A tough man on a tough hunt for a gang of toughs - it's John Wayne's film all the way, with this he passed into his last phase in the saddle with a continuous wink at the cowboy parody he had become and which no-one else will ever match. By now after 40 years he was an American legend, your giant avuncular instant-lawman starring in his next horse opera - True Grit would really be nothing special without him, with the fat old man it's a nice Western comedy. We in the audience knew he had Grit before he came on, Kim Darby was just too slow on the uptake. I never understood why the script was so uncharitable to the Texican horse-killing son of a bitch Campbell, he's belittled right up to the scenes in Mattie's family graveyard.

Overall a shot in the arm (or leg!) if seen every few years - even in 1969 entertaining action films could still be made!