True Grit (1969)

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  • The Special Collector's Edition of "True Grit" was just released this week. I got a copy last night & immediately checked out the Special Features section. There were a few good features, but overall...I was kinda disappointed. After watching the features, I started watching the film with the commentary by Jeb Rosebrook, Bob Boze Bell, & J. Stuart Rosebrook. I only watched it up to the Wharton trial courtroom scene, but it didn't seem like the commentators truly knew much about the movie itself. They seemed more interested in the discussing social issues in the 1960's than they did relating information & incidents regarding the movie. Several times, when they would mention some story or incident relating to the filming itself, they seemed unsure of their facts & would have to discuss it amongst themselves.....and I believe they were wrong on some of their points. Like I said, I only watched it up to the courtroom scene & I'm going to finish it later, but ya'll double check me on this & see what ya'll think.



    This is disappointing. The commentaries portion of the DVDs is what I like, nothing worse than listening to people who know nothing about what they speak.

  • I too bought the special collectors edition and was slightly disappointed. I haven't listened to the commentary track yet, but the other special features were perhaps sub par. I say this only because the documentaries total forty minutes or less and to re-buy a movie that I already own for that seems a little lame. What I really wish is that they had done a huge trumped up version like Rio Bravo and the Searchers.

    [SIZE=3]That'll Be The Day[/SIZE]

  • In the book, Mattie lived to be an old spinster. She tried to keep up with Rooster's exploits through the years and when she finally heard he would be near as part of Wild West Show with Cole Younger and Frank James, she went to see him. She was told he died a few towns back, so she had him interred and brought back to her farm and burried in the plot with her family.:cry2:

    I liked the movie ending better :teeth_smile:

    Mark


    Mark, thanks for sharing about the different books on which Duke's movies are based. It's a fascinating perspective.


    I don't know if I like the book or movie ending better, except that of course in the movie Duke doesn't die, but the book ending isn't so bad, in that he apparently died of old age, and not from being shot in the back or some other horrendous end. That kind of death I could have handled, if they had chosen to end the movie that way.


    Mrs. C :angel1:

  • Does anybody know how old Rooster was supposed to be? John Wayne was 61 when the film was made, so I'm guessing about 55?

  • I just wanted to let you know that we received an email from Jeepster Gal, letting us know she has added to this video. It is over 11 minutes long, and it is great! So grab a cup of coffee and sit back and relax!


    [extendedmedia]

    [/extendedmedia]


    I thought it might be appropriate to have this YouTube link directly in the True Grit thread.


    Chester :newyear:

  • Does anybody know how old Rooster was supposed to be? John Wayne was 61 when the film was made, so I'm guessing about 55?


    Rooster is supposed to be a down and out and verging on being considered too old to still be a marshal so I would suggest Dukes age of 61 would be the correct age of the character.


    :agent:

    Regards
    Robbie

  • Rooster is supposed to be a down and out and verging on being considered too old to still be a marshal so I would suggest Dukes age of 61 would be the correct age of the character.:agent:


    Easy there old buddy, Old Chester just had his 60 th birthday this month, please go light on that "down and out " talk. :stunned:


    Chester :newyear:

  • Easy there old buddy, Old Chester just had his 60 th birthday this month, please go light on that "down and out " talk. :stunned:


    Chester :newyear:


    Sincerest apologies Chester as my previous comment was a little clumsy. The statement I was trying to convey was that since Rooster is a hard drinker, an outsider, someone who frequenlty enforces law and order on his terms etc compounded with his age of '61', society as a whole considers him to be a down and out. Of course as the movie progresses we realise that he is anything but down and out.


    :agent:

    Regards
    Robbie

  • I have a question about this movie. Near the beginning when those guys are about to be hanged, isn't one of them Jay Silverheels (Tonto)? If it is, I guess he must have shot The Lone Ranger in the back.:wink_smile:

    Stay thirsty my friends.

  • Sincerest apologies Chester as my previous comment was a little clumsy. The statement I was trying to convey was that since Rooster is a hard drinker, an outsider, someone who frequenlty enforces law and order on his terms etc compounded with his age of '61', society as a whole considers him to be a down and out. Of course as the movie progresses we realise that he is anything but down and out.


    Hey, Robbie, I was just giving you a hard time! I know you didn't mean anything by your comments - at least you meant no offense :wink_smile: - and honestly, no offense was taken.


    I understand the original, and largely correct, essence of what you were saying about the character, and how well Duke's age corresponded with the character he was playing.


    I have a question about this movie. Near the beginning when those guys are about to be hanged, isn't one of them Jay Silverheels (Tonto)?


    gt, as to your question, according to IMDb, Jay Silverheels was indeed one of the condemned men at the beginning of the film, though it was an uncredited role.

  • The Coen Brothers are apparently planning a remake of True Grit basing the story on the book with more emphasis on Mattie Ross compared to Rooster Cogburn.

    It is a western but I cant say I am to enthused about the project.


    Mike

  • It's a way off, but the Coen brothers, who made the Oscar-winning picture No Country For Old Men, are planning another version of True Grit.




    This was the movie that won John Wayne an Oscar for playing crusty old Marshal Rooster Cogburn.


    But the Coen brothers intend to go back to Charles Portis's 1968 novel, which has a spinster recalling that, when she was 14, she set off from her family's 480-acre Arkansas farm to avenge her father's murder.
    Scroll down for more...
    Dynamic duo: Ethan and Joel Coen


    "The book recounts the girl's story," Joel told me. "In the John Wayne film, she was played older. We want her to be her real age - it's her story!"



    In fact, I've just read Portis's book and it's a tale of rough frontier justice and a girl's coming of age. Cogburn's in his 40s - much younger than Wayne was when he played him.


    The Coens will join forces again with No Country For Old Men's Oscar winning producer Scott Rudin on True Grit, but it's not going to happen for at least two or three years.


    The Coens have Burn After Reading with George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Academy-Award-winning Tilda Swinton coming out this autumn, and they go into production later in the year on another Rudin production, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, based on Michael Chabon's book.
    Meanwhile, No Country's Oscars triumph gave the film a big boost at the box office in Britain: figures this week have been up 92 per cent. As of Wednesday, the film had taken £5,958,000.

  • Even if they do focus on Mattie, which I'm fine with, they won't be able to find a person to play Rooster who will be able to fill the character out. Whoever does it won't get out from under the Duke's shadow.

    Tbone



    "I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please."

  • Even if they do focus on Mattie, which I'm fine with, they won't be able to find a person to play Rooster who will be able to fill the character out. Whoever does it won't get out from under the Duke's shadow.


    that's why they are going to focus on the girls part. I'm sure that Rooster's part will be as small as possible.

  • IMO, it almost borders on sacrilegious to film a remake of the movie for which the most popular star ever won the Oscar for best actor.

    However, since it's to be a new Western, my favorite genre, who's complaining. :wink:

    As an aside, those Coen brothers sure are some scuzzy-looking dudes.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • I don't think this is a very good idea and even if the movie concentrates more on Mattie it will struggle to make an impact due to its predecessor.


    One thing this thread has done is wet my appetite for the book, if I come across it I think I will read it as it sounds rather good.


    :agent:

    Regards
    Robbie

  • This is an interesting thread. I have to say that when this movie comes out they will play down the 1969 original and definitely will not say anything about John Wayne and his Oscar winning performance. They might even rename the movie to be sure to not tie the two movies together. Don't they know that even the mention of John Wayne would probably bring many people to the movies of this genre? Very interesting post.

    Cheers :cool:



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote