You don't work with scene stealing character actors like Chill Wills, Walter Brennan, and Gabby Hayes for 30 years without learning something. But even with that third, your eyes are focused on the Duke and his reactions and then as the camera slowly pans around to Wayne in full face his reaction shots are hysterical. Wayne's got about a third of his face to the camera. The camera is facing Fiedler as he's talking to Wayne about his visit with Darby who's life Wayne saved. A man who rates high in the legal profession in that area having forced a railroad into bankruptcy. ![]() You can see a perfect example of that in that scene with John Fiedler who plays Darby's lawyer J. In other reviews I've said that John Wayne had one of the great faces for movie closeups. And he's got quite the colorful past as he relates tales of his younger days to Campbell and Darby on the trail. Bring him in dead or alive and make sure you shoot first coming up against them. Tough old Rooster, likes an occasional drink, isn't above a little larceny, but has one stern moral code about real bad guys. It must have been one singular delight for Charles Portis to see the Duke flesh out Rooster Cogburn exactly as he conceived him. Like Margaret Mitchell who wrote Gone With the Wind with Clark Gable in mind for Rhett Butler, Charles Portis wrote the novel True Grit with only John Wayne in mind as Rooster Cogburn. True Grit's plot is the trio's pursuit of Duvall, Corey and the rest of the gang.īut oddly enough True Grit isn't really about plot. Both of them team up with United States Marshal Rooster Cogburn who resides in Fort Smith with Chin Lee and my favorite movie cat, General Sterling Price.Ĭorey is now in the outlaw band headed by Robert Duvall at large in the Indian Nation Territory that became Oklahoma. Turns out he's also killed a State Senator in Texas so Texas Ranger Glen Campbell informs her. Mattie Ross from Darnell and Yell County Arkansas personified by Kim Darby has come to Fort Smith seeking the killer of her father Jeff Corey. 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. And certain films like The Commancheros and McLintock and Big Jake I find to be more entertaining. Among others Fort Apache, The Searchers, Red River, The Horse Soldiers, to name a few. Now personally there are John Wayne performances in terms of acting that I like better than True Grit. Reviewed by bkoganbing 9 / 10 The Honor of a Lifetime 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.Īll in all, a very good film but could have been better in my view. Other than Campbell and Darby, the other acting is fine. Also True Grit is very well directed, and there is a glorious final shoot-out. 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. Handsomely shot with great scenery, True Grit is pleasing to the eye. 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. Glen Campbell is adequate in his role, but I was never engrossed by his character and he never quite make me believe in him. While the film starts and ends very well, the film slackens in the pace in the middle. ![]() 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. Reviewed by TheLittleSongbird 7 / 10 Not perfect, but very good on the whole Is true grit enough to see justice served?-Nick Riganas But, only rabid vengeance keeps determined Mattie going. However, as the unlikely trio embarks on a dangerous journey into the heart of Indian Territory, the odds are against them. And, before long, La Boeuf, a young Texas Ranger thirsty for bounty money, joins in. Now, nothing else matters, and while aching to bring his killer to justice, Mattie enlists the help of the ageing U.S. With revenge etched on her mind after the murder of her father by a once-trusted, cowardly jackal, plucky Mattie Ross rides to Fort Smith.
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