True Grit, 12/8/12, Best Actor, 1969
I wasn't all that thrilled to watch a Western; I thought, I don’t like Westerns, they’re so outdated and predictable, etc. etc. As I was going through the list of Westerns I have watched: The Magnificent Seven, Unforgiven, the remake of True Grit, and a couple more, it occurred to me that in fact, I might actually like Westerns. And, I’m not a huge John Wayne fan either (don’t hate him, just don’t watch his movies very often, intentionally, on purpose), so this was going to be an interesting couple of hours. John Wayne won for Best Actor as Rooster Cogburn, going up against Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (this will appear in a totally separate entry) and the mellifluous Richard Burton in Anne of a Thousand Days. Seriously. AND HE WAS FREAKING FANTASTIC. This may not have been the best movie ever made, but it sure had its moments. I also thought of Wayne as pretty wooden, and he was anything but, with the way he interacted with Kim Darby as Mattie Ross and Glen Campbell as La Boeuf (pronounced La Beef) was fluid and fun and to me, believable (as much as the whole scenario was believable). It was his only Oscar in his long career and I think totally deserved. Mattie Ross’s father is killed by Tom Chaney and Mattie is of course out for revenge and wants Chaney captured and tried and eventually hung. He goes into Indian Territory and one of the best Marshalls to go get him is Rooster Cogburn, who has a little bit of a drinking problem; La Beouf is after Chaney for crimes committed in Texas. All three embark on the quest to get Chaney, although both men are reluctant to bring Mattie along, she is quite insistent and a strong personality even though she is only 14 years old. The movie follows their journey and along the way they meet some characters that Rooster has met before and some good old fashioned shootouts ensue. A few of the best scenes are where Mattie engages the adults in the film in debates about a variety of topics, including horse trading (with Strother Martin [Cool Hand Luke]) and the price of chicken dumplings with the proprietress of the hostel where she is staying. The movie has a G rating, but there are a few violent scenes, so perhaps not for the wee ones. There are some differences between this and the more recent remake by the Coen brothers, but I did like both of them. So, kids, the lesson for today – shut up and watch the movie and then decide if you don’t like it.
