When terminal illness prevented Curtiz (director of Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood)
from finishing the film, Wayne took over as director, though his
direction remained uncredited. Curtiz died shortly after the film was
completed.
Plot
In pre-Civil War New Orleans, rogue gambler Paul Regret kills Emil Bouvier, the son of a Louisianajudge, in a duel.
Regret maintains that he only intended to wound Bouvier (who demanded
the duel) in the arm, but Bouvier sidestepped at the last moment. After
learning that Bouvier's father will demand his hanging, Regret flees the
state for the Republic of Texas, but remains wanted for extradition.
After a tryst with a mysterious lady, Pilar Graile, on his way to Texas, Regret is captured by Texas Ranger
Captain Jake Cutter, who refuses his offer of a bribe and thwarts his
attempts to break free. However, after witnessing Cutter's former
homestead burned to the ground by a group of Comanche
Indians, Regret successfully knocks Cutter out and escapes. Cutter
returns to his post in embarrassment, but soon resumes his main task:
pursuing a gang of outlaw “Comancheros,”
who he suspects are illegally supplying guns and whiskey to the
Comanche to make money and keep the frontier in a constant state of
violence.
The Rangers have arrested a recent ex-convict named McBain,
caught with a wagonload of stolen guns likely destined for Comanche
territory. Reasoning that the Comancheros had not actually met McBain
and could not identify him, Cutter goes to the rendezvous point as
“McBain,” where he meets Comanchero smuggler Tully Crow. The two men
form an uneasy partnership. That night, while playing cards, Cutter
unexpectedly runs into Regret, who hides their previous interaction.
However, Crow spots their connection and assumes that they are
attempting to cheat him, forcing Cutter to kill him in self-defense.
With his mission against the Comancheros stalled, Cutter once
again attempts to return Regret to Louisiana. The two of them are
stopped at a ranch owned by a friend when the Comanche unexpectedly
launch a raid on the settlement. During the fighting, Regret jumps on a
horse and flees, but instead of making a clean getaway, he returns with a
company of Texas Rangers, who repulse the attack. Because of Regret's
act of valor, the Rangers and a Texas judge agree to perjure
themselves, stating that Regret could not have been involved in the
Louisiana duel because he was helping them spy on the Comancheros’
supply line. Regret is then sworn in as an official Ranger.
Posing as Comancheros, Cutter and Regret travel into Comanche
territory with the stolen wagon and guns, with Rangers shadowing them at
a distance. Eventually, they are intercepted by Comanches and led to
the hidden self-sufficient Comanchero community at the bottom of a
valley in the desert.
Initially apprehended and imprisoned, the two are later released after
the intercession of Pilar, who is revealed to be the daughter of the
Comancheros’ paraplegic leader, Graile. At Pilar's recommendation,
Graile initially welcomes Cutter and Regret into the camp. Pilar quickly
deduces that Cutter is an undercover Ranger, but initially conceals
this from her father out of her love for Regret.
Pilar makes preparations for Cutter and Regret to escape the
settlement overnight, but Regret refuses, declaring his love for her and
insisting they should run away together. At dinner, Pilar reveals
Cutter's true identity to Graile, and Cutter and Regret abduct Graile
and his henchmen, intending to bring them out of the settlement the
following morning. The plan goes awry when a Comanchero woman, vengeful
against Graile for ordering the death of her son, loudly stabs him to
death, alerting the Comanches and the Comancheros to their escape and
prompting a pursuit. When all seems lost, the Rangers arrive, driving
the Comanche back and destroying the Comanchero camp. Regret and Pilar
leave together for Mexico – outside the bounds of the extradition law –
and Jake rides off into the sunset to rejoin the Ranger company.
Wellman's novel had been bought for the screen by George Stevens, who wanted to direct it after Giant (1956). He then became interested in making The Diary of Anne Frank
and sold the film rights to Fox for $300,000. Clair Huffaker was signed
by the studio to adapt it for producer Charles Brackett, with Gary Cooper to star. Robert Wagner was in line to play Cooper's co-star.[4]
Cooper was dying of cancer and in early 1961 Douglas Heyes was announced as writer and director. John Wayne and Charlton Heston were announced as stars but Heston dropped out and was replaced by Tom Tryon, then Heyes dropped out and was replaced by Michael Curtiz. Fox had the script rewritten by Wayne's regular writer James Edward Grant.[5]
Whitman, who later played a similar lead in the 1964 Rio Conchos, played the character Paul Regret, who was the lead in the novel, and Wayne's part had to be amplified for the film version.[6] Wellman had envisioned Cary Grant as Regret as he wrote the novel. Gary Cooper and James Garner were originally set to be the leads but Cooper's ill health and Garner's blackballing over a dispute with Jack L. Warner ruled them out.[7]
According to Tom Mankiewicz, who worked on the film as an assistant, Curtiz was often ill during production and John Wayne took over the directing.[8] Wayne told Mankiewicz to remove his John F. Kennedy button.[9]
A tie-in with the release was a comic book adaptation from Dell which was published in Four Color #1300 (February 1962)[13][14]
Claude King's version of the theme song was a top 10 country hit, and peaked at #71 on the pop charts in Billboard Magazine.
Reception
Variety magazine wrote, "The Comancheros
is a big, brash, uninhibited action-western of the old school about as
subtle as a right to the jaw... Wayne is obviously comfortable in a role
tailor-made to the specifications of his easygoing, square-shooting,
tight-lipped but watch-out-when-I'm-mad screen personality. Lee Marvin
makes a vivid impression in a brief, but colorful, role as a
half-scalped, vile-tempered Comanchero agent."[15]
Bosley Crowther
called the film "so studiously wild and woolly it turns out to be good
fun"; according to Crowther, "[t]here's not a moment of seriousness in
it, not a detail that isn't performed with a surge of exaggeration, not a
character that is credible."[1]
The film earned theatrical rentals of $3.5 million in the United States and Canada.[3]
The Coens intended their film to be a more faithful adaptation of Portis's novel than the 1969 version starring John Wayne;
in particular, they wanted to tell the story from Mattie's point of
view. The casting call for the role of Mattie received some 15,000
applicants before Steinfeld was selected. Principal photography occurred mainly in the Santa Fe, New Mexico, area in March–April 2010. True Grit was shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins and scored by composer Carter Burwell—both Coen regulars—while the brothers themselves edited the film, under the Roderick Jaynes pseudonym.
True Grit was released in theatres in the United States by Paramount Pictures
on December 22, 2010. The film grossed $252 million worldwide on a
$35–38 million production budget, and was very well received by critics,
with particular praise for its acting, directing, writing, score, and
production values, with some deeming it superior to the earlier
adaptation. Rated one of the best films of 2010, True Grit received several awards and nominations; at the 83rd Academy Awards, it received 10 nominations, including Best Picture, but won none.
Plot
In 1878, 14-year-old Mattie Ross travels to Fort Smith, Arkansas,
after her father is murdered by hired hand Tom Chaney. Sent to collect
her father's body, Mattie learns that Chaney has likely fled with
"Lucky" Ned Pepper and his gang into Indian Territory, where the local sheriff has no authority. She then inquires about hiring a deputy U.S. Marshal.
The sheriff gives three recommendations, and Mattie chooses the
"meanest" one, Rooster Cogburn, who initially rebuffs her offer,
doubting both her grit and her wealth, but she raises the money by aggressive horse trading.
Texas Ranger LaBoeuf arrives in town, pursuing Chaney for the murder of a state senator.
LaBoeuf proposes joining Cogburn, but Mattie refuses his offer. She
wishes Chaney to be hanged in Arkansas for her father's murder, not Texas.
Mattie insists on traveling with Cogburn to bear witness to justice,
but he departs without her, accompanying LaBoeuf to apprehend Chaney and
split the reward.
After catching up with the lawmen, Mattie is spanked for her
"insolence" by LaBoeuf, until Cogburn draws his weapon on him. This,
combined with their differing opinions of William Quantrill,
prompts Cogburn to end his arrangement with LaBoeuf, who leaves to
pursue Chaney on his own. At a rural dugout, Cogburn and Mattie find
outlaws Quincy and Moon, who surrender after Cogburn shoots and injures
Moon. Initially, the outlaws deny any knowledge of Ned Pepper or Chaney,
but Cogburn, using Moon's worsening injury as leverage, convinces him
to cooperate. Quincy, enraged, stabs Moon and is killed by Cogburn. A
dying Moon reveals that Pepper's gang will arrive at the dugout that
night for supplies.
Cogburn and Mattie plan an ambush, but LaBoeuf arrives first and
is confronted by the gang. Cogburn shoots two gang members and
accidentally hits LaBoeuf, but Pepper escapes. Due to his substantial
injuries, LaBoeuf rejoins Cogburn and Mattie. The next morning, the
three set off again in pursuit of Chaney and the gang, whom Cogburn
believes may be hiding out in the Winding Stair Mountains.
Cogburn begins to drink heavily, and the animosity between LaBoeuf and
him resumes. After days of searching, the three find no trace of Chaney
or the Pepper gang. Drunk, Cogburn declares that the trail has gone cold
and quits the pursuit. LaBoeuf leaves the posse, declaring that he will
return to Texas. Mattie expresses regret to LaBoeuf that she hired the
wrong man, and they reconcile, with both admitting they misjudged each
other.
While retrieving water from a stream, Mattie happens upon Chaney.
She shoots and wounds him, but her revolver misfires, allowing Chaney
to take her hostage. Ned Pepper convinces Cogburn to leave the area by
threatening to kill Mattie. Pepper then departs with his gang, stating
that someone will return with a fresh horse for Chaney and instructing
him to not harm Mattie while they wait, threatening not to pay him
should he disobey. Chaney, musing that Pepper has abandoned him to be
captured by the law, attempts to kill Mattie. LaBoeuf arrives and knocks
Chaney unconscious, revealing that Cogburn and he reunited shortly
after the initial gunfight. He was to rescue Mattie while Cogburn
intercepts the gang in a four-to-one standoff.
Cogburn and the outlaws charge at each other headlong, with
Cogburn killing two gang members and forcing a third to flee before his
own horse is shot and falls, trapping him. Alone and mortally wounded,
Pepper prepares to execute Cogburn, but LaBoeuf shoots Pepper from 400
yards with his rifle.
Chaney regains consciousness and knocks out LaBoeuf, but Mattie seizes
the rifle and shoots Chaney dead. The recoil knocks her into a snake
den, where she is bitten in the hand by a rattlesnake.
Cogburn ropes in, shoots the snakes and rescues Mattie, thanking
LaBoeuf and promising to send help for him before departing with Mattie
to reach a doctor. After their horse collapses from exhaustion, Cogburn
shoots the horse and carries a delirious Mattie on foot to reach help.
Despite staying with Mattie until she is out of danger, Cogburn is gone
by the time she regains consciousness, and her arm is ultimately
amputated.
Twenty-five years later, Mattie receives a letter from Cogburn inviting her to attend a traveling Wild West show in which he is performing. When she finally arrives at the show's location, she is informed by Cole Younger and Frank James
that Cogburn had died three days earlier. She thanks Younger, who stood
and removed his hat when she approached; she calls Frank James "trash"
since he stayed seated and didn't bother to show her any courtesy.
Mattie, who never married, has Cogburn's body moved to her family
cemetery in Yell County, Arkansas. She does not know what came of LaBoeuf.
Cast
Hailee Steinfeld was cast as Mattie Ross from among 15,000 applicants.
J. K. Simmons as J. Noble Daggett, Mattie's lawyer (voice only; uncredited)
Production
Development
The project was confirmed in March 2009.[6] Ahead of shooting, Ethan Coen said that the film would be a more faithful adaptation of the novel than the 1969 version.
It's partly a question of point-of-view. The book is
entirely in the voice of the 14-year-old girl. That sort of tips the
feeling of it over a certain way. I think [the book is] much funnier
than the movie was so I think, unfortunately, they lost a lot of humor
in both the situations and in her voice. It also ends differently than
the movie did. You see the main character – the little girl – 25 years
later when she's an adult. Another way in which it's a little bit
different from the movie – and maybe this is just because of the time
the movie was made – is that it's a lot tougher and more violent than
the movie reflects. Which is part of what's interesting about it.[7]
Mattie Ross "is a pill," said Ethan Coen in a December 2010
interview, "but there is something deeply admirable about her in the
book that we were drawn to," including the Presbyterian-Protestant ethic
so strongly imbued in a 14-year-old girl. Joel Coen said that the
brothers did not want to "mess around with what we thought was a very
compelling story and character." The film's producer, Scott Rudin,
said that the Coens had taken a "formal, reverent approach" to the
Western genre, with its emphasis on adventure and quest. "The patois of
the characters, the love of language that permeates the whole film,
makes it very much of a piece with their other films, but it is the
least ironic in many regards."[8]
Nevertheless, the film adaptation differs from the original novel
in subtle ways. This is particularly evident in the negotiation scene
between Mattie and her father's undertaker. In the film, Mattie bargains
over her father's casket and proceeds to spend the night among the
corpses to avoid paying for the boardinghouse. This scene is, in fact,
nonexistent in the novel, where Mattie is depicted as refusing to
bargain over her father's body and never entertaining the thought of
sleeping among the corpses.[9]
Casting
Open casting sessions were held in Texas
in November 2009 for the role of Mattie Ross. The following month,
Paramount Pictures announced a casting search for a 12- to 16-year-old
girl, describing the character as a "simple, tough-as-nails young woman"
whose "unusually steely nerves and straightforward manner are often
surprising."[10]
Steinfeld, then 13, was selected for the role from a pool of 15,000
applicants. "It was, as you can probably imagine, the source of a lot of
anxiety", Ethan Coen told The New York Times. "We were aware if the kid doesn't work, there's no movie."[8]Natalia Dyer and Madelyn Cline auditioned for Mattie, Dyer was reportedly "one of the top candidates for the role."[11][12]
For the final segment of the film, a one-armed body double was needed for Elizabeth Marvel,
who played the adult Mattie. After a nationwide call, the Coen brothers
cast Ruth Morris – a 29-year-old social worker and student who was born
without a left forearm.[13][14]
Filming
The film was shot in the Santa Fe area from March 22 to April 27, 2010, as well as in Texas (Bartlett, Granger, and Austin).[15][16] The first trailer was released in September; a second one premiered with The Social Network.
True Grit was released in North America on December 22, 2010.
It was a commercial success, grossing $171,243,005 in North America
alone, $81,033,922 in other territories, and $252,276,927 worldwide,
with a budget of $35–38 million. Its box-office ranking for all-time
United States was number 296; worldwide it was number 611.[2][5]
In the holiday weekend following its December 22 North American debut, True Grit took in $25.6 million at the box office, twice its prerelease projections.[4]
By its second weekend ending January 2, the film had earned $87.1
million domestically, becoming the Coen brothers' highest-grossing film,
surpassing No Country for Old Men, which earned $74.3 million. True Grit
was the only mainstream movie of the 2010 holiday season to exceed the
revenue expectations of its producers. Based on that performance, The Los Angeles Times
predicted that the film would likely become the second-highest grossing
Western of all time when inflation is discounted, exceeded only by Dances with Wolves.[22]
The Coen brothers, as well as Paramount executive Rob Moore, attributed True Grit's
success partly to its "soft" PG-13 rating, atypical for a Coen brothers
film, which helped broaden audience appeal. Paramount anticipated that
the film would be popular with the adults who often constitute the Coen
brothers' core audience, as well as fans of the Western genre, but True Grit
also drew extended families - parents, grandparents, and teenagers.
Geographically, the film played strongest in Los Angeles and New York
City, but its top-20 markets also included Oklahoma City; Plano, Texas;
and Olathe, Kansas.[22][23]
Critical reception
True Grit received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes
95% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 280 reviews,
with an average rating of 8.10/10 and with its consensus stating:
"Girded by strong performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and
newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and lifted by some of the Coens' most finely
tuned, unaffected work, True Grit is a worthy companion to the Charles Portis book."[24]Metacritic
gave the film an average score of 80 out of 100 based on 41 reviews
from mainstream critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[26]
Roger Ebert
awarded 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, "What strikes me is that I'm
describing the story and the film as if it were simply, if admirably, a
good Western. That's a surprise to me, because this is a film by the
Coen Brothers, and this is the first straight genre exercise in their
career. It's a loving one. Their craftsmanship is a wonder," and also
remarking, "(t)he cinematography by Roger Deakins reminds us of the glory that was, and can still be, the Western."[27]Total Film
gave the film a five-star review: "This isn't so much a remake as a
masterly re-creation. Not only does it have the drop on the 1969
version, it's the first great movie of 2011."[28]
Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan
gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "The Coens, not known for
softening anything, have restored the original's bleak, elegiac
conclusion and as writer-directors have come up with a version that
shares events with the first film, but is much closer in tone to the
book ... Clearly recognizing a kindred spirit in Portis, sharing his
love for eccentric characters and odd language, they worked hard, and
successfully, at serving the buoyant novel, as well as being true to
their own black comic brio."[29]
In his review for the Minneapolis Star Tribune,
Colin Covert wrote: "the Coens dial down the eccentricity and deliver
their first classically made, audience-pleasing genre picture. The
results are masterful."[30]Richard Corliss of Time
named Steinfeld's performance as one of the best of 2010, saying "She
delivers the orotund dialogue as if it were the easiest vernacular,
stares down bad guys, wins hearts. That's a true gift."[31]
Rex Reed of the New York Observer
criticized the film's pacing, referring to plot points as "mere
distractions ... to divert attention from the fact that nothing is going
on elsewhere." Reed considers Damon "hopelessly miscast" and finds
Bridges' performance mumbly, lumbering, and self-indulgent.[32]Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a B+: "Truer than the John Wayne showpiece and less gritty than the book, this True Grit is just tasty enough to leave movie lovers hungry for a missing spice."[33]
True Grit was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 7, 2011.[2][40]
In 2023, the film became the final movie sent by Netflix through mail, ultimately ending the company's 25-year-old service of mailing DVDs and Blu-Rays.[41]
The story follows Marshal Cogburn and Texas Ranger
La Boeuf (Campbell) as they are hired by a young girl, Mattie Ross
(Darby), to apprehend the outlaw who killed her father. Historians
believe Cogburn was based on Deputy U.S. Marshal Henry "Heck" Thomas, who brought in some of the toughest outlaws. The cast also features Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Corey and Strother Martin.
In 1880, teenager Mattie Ross travels to Fort Smith, Arkansas, following the murder of her father there by his hired hand, Tom Chaney. Seeking justice, Mattie hires Rooster Cogburn—an aging, alcoholic, one-eyed U.S. Marshal—to help track him down, as Chaney has fled into Indian Territory and joined the gang of outlaw "Lucky" Ned Pepper, who previously escaped Cogburn's custody. Also in town is young Texas Ranger
La Boeuf, who is pursuing Chaney for the murder of a Texas senator. He
offers Cogburn a share of the reward money to bring Chaney back to
Texas, despite Mattie's insistence that he be hanged in Fort Smith.
Cogburn and La Boeuf set off, taking a ferry crossing with their
horses and leaving Mattie behind. Undeterred, she crosses the deep river
on her horse, earning Cogburn's reluctant admiration. After a failed
attempt to lose her, the pair begrudgingly agree to let her join them.
Days later, the group comes across a remote cabin occupied by
horse thieves Emmett Quincy and Moon. After shooting Moon in the leg,
Cogburn interrogates them. Desperate for a doctor, Moon begins to talk,
prompting Quincy to fatally stab him; Cogburn then shoots Quincy dead.
Before dying, Moon reveals that Pepper and his gang are expected at the
cabin that night for fresh horses. Cogburn and La Boeuf set up an ambush
nearby. When Pepper arrives, he fires a warning shot, and La
Boeuf—mistakenly thinking Cogburn has opened fire—kills Pepper's horse. A
firefight ensues, in which two gang members are killed, but Pepper and
the rest escape. The group brings the bodies to McAlester's store, where Cogburn tries unsuccessfully to persuade Mattie to stay behind.
One morning, while fetching water, Mattie encounters Chaney. She shoots him with her father's Colt Dragoon Revolver,
wounding him and driving off his horse, but the shot draws the
attention of Pepper and his gang. They take her hostage. To spare her
life, Pepper orders Cogburn and La Boeuf to ride away. The gang moves
on, leaving Chaney to guard her until they can replace his horse. La
Boeuf, who has doubled back, warns Chaney to stand down while he and
Mattie watch from afar as Cogburn engages the gang. Cogburn charges,
killing two men and fatally wounding Pepper, while the last member
flees. Pepper shoots Cogburn's horse, which collapses and pins him. As
Pepper prepares to kill Cogburn, La Boeuf shoots him dead, but is
knocked unconscious by Chaney, who attacks from behind with a rock.
Mattie fires at Chaney, but the Dragoon's recoil knocks her
backward into a snake pit, where she breaks her arm and is bitten by a
venomous rattlesnake. Cogburn arrives, kills Chaney, and descends into
the pit to rescue her. La Boeuf helps pull them out before succumbing to
his injuries. With no time to spare, Cogburn is forced to leave La
Boeuf's body behind as he desperately rushes Mattie to a doctor.
Back in Fort Smith, Mattie's attorney, J. Noble Daggett, pays
Cogburn his fee, and a bonus for saving her life, but warns that Mattie
is gravely ill. Cogburn offers to wager the money on her full recovery,
but Daggett declines. Later, Cogburn recovers La Boeuf's body and takes
it to Texas for burial.
Some time afterward, he escorts the recovering Mattie back to her family ranch in Yell County, Arkansas.
She tells him that, when the time comes, she wants him to be buried in
the Ross family plot beside her, rather than in an unkempt, forgotten
grave. Cogburn accepts, then rides off—leaping a fence to disprove her
teasing remark that he is too old to jump a horse.
Hank Worden as R. Ryan, the undertaker at Fort Smith
Jay Ripley as Harold Parmalee
Kenneth Becker as Farrell Parmalee
Production
Casting
Mia Farrow was originally cast as Mattie and was keen on the role. However, prior to filming, she made the film Secret Ceremony in England with Robert Mitchum, who advised her not to work with director Henry Hathaway because he was "cantankerous". Farrow asked producer Hal B. Wallis to replace Hathaway with Roman Polanski, who had directed Farrow in Rosemary's Baby, but Wallis refused. Farrow quit the film, which was then offered to Michele Carey, Sondra Locke and Tuesday Weld, but all three were under contract for another film. John Wayne met Karen Carpenter
at a talent show he was hosting and recommended her for the part,
though the producers decided against it because she had no acting
experience. Wayne had also lobbied for his daughter Aissa to win the
part. Olivia Hussey
was also offered the role by Wallis, but the offer was rescinded after
she said she "couldn't see herself with Wayne" and said that he "can't
act."[4][5] After also considering Sally Field, the role went to 21-year-old dancer-turned-actress Kim Darby.[6]
Elvis Presley
was the original choice for LaBoeuf, but the producers turned him down
when his agent demanded top billing over both Wayne and Darby. Glen Campbell was then cast instead. In multiple interviews, Campbell claimed that Wayne, along with his daughter,[7] approached him backstage at his show, and asked him if he would like to be in a movie.
John Wayne's involvement
Wayne began lobbying for the part of Rooster Cogburn after reading the novel by Charles Portis. He called Marguerite Roberts'
script "the best script he had ever read", and was instrumental in
getting her script approved and credited to her name after Roberts had
been blacklisted for alleged leftist affiliations years before. This
came in spite of Wayne's own conservative ideals.[8] He particularly liked the scene with Darby where Rooster tells Mattie about his life in Illinois
(where he has a restaurant, his wife Nola leaves him because of his
degenerate friends, and has a clumsy son named Horace), calling it
"about the best scene I ever did".[9]Garry Wills notes in his book, John Wayne's America: The Politics of Celebrity, that Wayne's performance as Rooster Cogburn bears close resemblance to the way Wallace Beery
portrayed similar characters in the 1930s and 1940s, an inspired if
surprising choice on Wayne's part. Wills comments that it is difficult
for one actor to imitate another for the entire length of a movie and
that the Beery mannerisms temporarily recede during the aforementioned
scene in which Cogburn discusses his wife and child.[10]
After reading True Grit by Charles Portis, Wayne was
enthusiastic about playing the part of Rooster Cogburn, but as
production got closer, Wayne got jumpy — he did not have a handle on how
to play Rooster Cogburn. He was, of course, nervous because the part
was out of his comfort zone and had not been specifically tailored to
his screen character by one of his in-house screenwriters. Henry
Hathaway, who directed the film, calmed Wayne's doubts, most notably
concerning the eye patch which was made of gauze, allowing Wayne to see.[11]
John Wayne thought the picture had been edited too tightly by Hathaway.
Nevertheless, in May 1969, a few weeks before the picture was released,
Wayne wrote to Marguerite Roberts thanking her for her "magnificent"
screenplay, especially for the beautiful ending in the cemetery that she
had devised in Portis's style.[12]
Wayne and Kim Darby worked very well together, but Henry Hathaway
disliked her, stating: "My problem with her was simple, she's not
particularly attractive, so her book of tricks consisted mostly [of]
being a little cute. All through the film, I had to stop her from acting
funny, doing bits of business and so forth."[13]
Filming
Hathaway says he decided to make the film like "a fairytale... a fantasy that I couched in as realistic terms as possible."[14]
Filming took place mainly in Ouray County, Colorado, in the vicinity of Ridgway (now the home of the True Grit Cafe), around the town of Montrose (in Montrose County), and the town of Ouray.[15][8][16]
(The script maintains the novel's references to place names in Arkansas
and Oklahoma, in dramatic contrast to the Colorado topography.) The
courtroom scenes were filmed at Ouray County Courthouse in Ouray.[17][18]
Ouray County Courthouse, constructed in 1888
The scenes that take place at the "dugout" and along the creek where
Quincy and Moon are killed, as well as the scene where Rooster carries
Mattie on her horse Little Blackie after the snakebite, were filmed at
Hot Creek on the east side of the Sierra Nevada near the town of Mammoth Lakes, California. Mount Morrison and Laurel Mountain form the backdrop above the creek. This location was also used in North to Alaska.[8] Filming was done from September to December 1968.[19]
Veteran John Wayne stunt-double Tom Gosnell does the stunt in the
meadow, where "Bo" goes down, on his longtime horse Twinkle Toes.[20]
In the last scene, Mattie gives Rooster her father's gun. She comments
that he has gotten a tall horse, as she expected he would. He notes that
his new horse can jump a four-rail fence. Then she admonishes him,
"You're too old and fat to be jumping horses." Rooster responds with a
smile, saying, "Well, come see a fat old man sometime," and jumps his
new horse over a four-rail fence. Although many of Wayne's stunts over
the years were done by Chuck Hayward and Chuck Roberson, it is Wayne on Twinkle Toes going over the fence.[20]
This stunt had been left to the last shot as Wayne wanted to do it
himself and following his lung surgery in 1965, neither Hathaway nor
Wayne was sure he could make the jump. Darby's stunts were done by Polly
Burson.[21]
The horse shown during the final scene of True Grit
(before he jumps the fence on Twinkle Toes) was Dollor, a two-year-old
(in 1969) chestnut Quarter Horse gelding. Dollor ('Ol Dollor) was
Wayne's favorite horse for 10 years. Wayne fell in love with the horse,
which carried him through several more Westerns, including his final
movie, The Shootist. Wayne had Dollor written into the script of The Shootist
because of his love for the horse; it was a condition for him working
on the project. Wayne would not let anyone else ride the horse, the lone
exception being Robert Wagner, who rode the horse in a segment of the Hart to Hart television show, after Wayne's death.[22]
By
the time the picture got back to the studio interiors, Kim Darby told
Hal Wallis she would never work for Hathaway again. John Wayne was
another matter. "He was wonderful to work with, he really was", said
Darby. "When you work with someone who's a big star as he is ... there's
an unspoken thing that they sort of set the environment for the working
conditions on the set and the feeling on the set. And he creates an
environment that is very safe to work in. He's very supportive of the
people around him and the people he works with, very supportive. He's
really a reflection, an honest reflection, of what he really is. I mean
that's what you see on the screen. He's simple and direct, and I love
that in his work."[23]
Surrounded by an angry director, a nervous actress, and the
inexperienced Glen Campbell, Wayne took the reins between his teeth the
same way Rooster Cogburn does in the climax of the film. "He was there
on the set before anyone else and knew every line perfectly", said Kim
Darby.[13] Both Wayne and Hathaway had difficulties with Robert Duvall, with the director having constant shouting matches with his supporting actor, and Duvall and Wayne nearly coming to blows.
Hathaway says Campbell "was so damn lazy" and had troubles with Darby ("I had to stop her from acting funny".)[14]
MPAA rating
The film was initially given an M rating[a] when it was submitted to the Motion Picture Association of America's rating board. The filmmakers subsequently edited "four-letter words" out of some scenes to accommodate a G rating.[25]
Reception
Box office
The film premiered in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 12, 1969, and opened at the Chinese theatre in Los Angeles on June 13, 1969[1] where it grossed $38,000 in its first week.[26] After 11 weeks, it reached number one at the US box office and returned to the top three weeks later.[27][28]
The film earned an estimated $11.5 million in rentals at the
United States and Canada box office during its first year of release.[29]
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 56 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's consensus reads: "True Grit
rides along on the strength of a lived-in late-period John Wayne
performance, adding its own entertaining spin to the oft-adapted source
material."[30]John Simon wrote, "Worthy of succinct notice is True Grit', an amusing, unassuming western, antiheroic with a vengeance."[31]
A film sequel, Rooster Cogburn, was made in 1975, with Wayne reprising his role and Katharine Hepburn as an elderly spinster, Eula Goodnight, who teams with him. The plot has been described as a rehash of the original True Grit with elements of the Bogart–Hepburn film The African Queen.[41] A further made-for-television sequel titled True Grit: A Further Adventure appeared in 1978, starring Warren Oates as Rooster Cogburn and Lisa Pelikan as Mattie Ross.
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