True Grit (Special Collector's Edition)
by Henry Hathaway
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate, John Wayne, Kim Darby, Robert DuvallDirector: Henry Hathaway
Brand: Paramount
Cinematographer: Lucien Ballard
Producer: Joseph H. Hazen
Writer: Charles Portis
Writer: Marguerite Roberts
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Extra tracks, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 128 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-22
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Movie Reviews of True Grit (Special Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: I oughta paddle yer rump!!
Summary: 5 Stars
TRUE GRIT (1969), from the novel by Charles Portis published in 1968, was a paradigm-shift in the way we watch film and the way films are shot. (How I hate the word "paradigm" and the term "shot" in reference to film.) The lush and healthy outdoors locations, Yellowstone National Park among them, and the super-detailed outdoor sets added to the genuine flavor hitherto unrealized in Westerns.
Naturally, the story has that elegant simplicity of the classic: a young teen Arkansas girl from out in the country pursues her father's murderer with the help of a grizzled old marshal. This is Charles Portis we're talking about here, and he is the master of subtle comic writing as well as an ex-Marine from Arkansas. Portis is a writer of orderliness, so aside from the wickedly colorful villain Tom Cheney (ohh, Dick Cheney's grandfather?--here spelled "Chaney", played by bit player Jeff Corey) whom they all are pursuing, there are yin/yang characters.
Into the story steps handsome Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Glenn Campbell, ohhh, Shia's great-grandfather?) who is pursing our ex-vice president's grandpa for the murder of a Texas senator. He throws in with young Mattie (played by the reputedly vicious Kim Darby, an old Disney Studios player). Marshal Ruben "Rooster" Cogburn (John Wayne) is irritated but amused at La Boeuf's presence.
An early and poignant bit part, Moon, is expertly offered by the late and sorely missed Dennis Hopper; Alfred Ryder (as defense attorney Mr. Goudy who has a hilarious courtroom exchange with Rooster), Strother Martin and the incomparable John Fiedler (immortal voice of Piglet) round out the talent on display. I was very taken with Judge Isaac Parker (James Westerfield) and his courtroom; also by his famous black bailiff played by James McEachin. Jay Silverheels and Wilford Brimley make uncredited appearances here too. EVERYBODY was in this!
Portis does not stop there--later in the story comes Lucky Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall), gang leader extraordinaire and Cogburn's old nemesis. The action is unparalleled and does great justice to the novel, with an exception: Mattie is about 14 years old and a 22-year-old Kim Darby was unwisely chosen to play this role. Allegedly, Wayne wanted his then-14-year-old daughter, Ayissa, to have the role. Ayissa was said to have cried for a week when informed that the role had gone to someone else...but Wayne bitched about it for years to come. And it is true that Darby was even-handedly nasty to every single person she encountered. Director Henry Hathaway was less frightened of rattlesnakes, he said, than of Kim Darby's filthy temper.
Hathaway also had a great battle of the wills with Wayne on account of Rooster Cogburn's appearance: Portis modeled Cogburn after President Grover Cleveland, who weighed about 365 LBS. and sported a huge walrus moustache. Cogburn also wore an eyepatch. Wayne was so incensed about the makeup that he refused to wear any at all. It took Hathaway some serious bone-crunching just to get Wayne to agree to the eyepatch. On the bright side, Wayne was told not only to forget about his weight problem but to pack on some extra pounds, so in the end he happily agreed.
The film got Oscars. More importantly, Wayne got his one and only for this role. It is a subtle, hilarious and profound portrayal that some people believe was Wayne lampooning himself. I do not see it that way: John Wayne had a flair for "camera acting" and was well aware of the camera's presence. This, combined with his true talents, make Rooster Cogburn his most unforgettable character of all, and one of the undisputed Western icons. And Wayne was worried all along that audiences wouldn't recognize him!
This film cannot be done any more justice than I did here. It is rich and innovative, inspired by the original novel, and makes all earlier Westerns fall flat. It has inspired and informed every Western that has been made since, and Brendan Gleason's (a/k/a Gleeson) portrayal of Alastair "Mad-eye" Moody in HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE is an obvious homage to Wayne's Cogburn.
Summary of True Grit (Special Collector's Edition)
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/05/2008 Run time: 127 minutes Rating: GSimilar DVD Movies
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