Kim Darby plays Mattie Ross, a young woman whose father is killed while in Fort Smith purchasing horses for his ranch.
So she heads to Fort Smith to retrieve his body. But, more importantly, she wants to see the man who killed him — a hired hand named Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey) — brought to justice.
Rumor has it that Chaney had fled to Indian territory. And since the local sheriff has no jurisdiction there, Mattie looks for a federal marshal willing to take on the job. She wants a man with grit, she says.
She’s pointed in the direction of Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne), an aging, overweight marshal with 23 notches on his gun and a bottle of whiskey always at the ready.
Upon learning that Mattie’s willing to put up a reward for the capture of Chaney — whiskey money, per se — he agrees to take the job.
And when he learns that a Texas ranger named La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) is searching for Chaney as well for the murder of a senator in Texas, he invites him along on the trip.
After all, it turns out the reward being offered by the folks in Texas is bigger yet.
And so the two men ride off into Indian territory, searching for Chaney and Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall), a wanted man Chaney has been seen with.
Mattie tags along, much to the lawmen’s initial dismay.
John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969
Kim Darby as Mattie Ross in True Grit (1969)
Review:
This wasn’t Wayne’s best film or his best performance, but it’s the role that won him his only Oscar.
That said, it’s an enjoyable film. The action scenes come off as more realistic than in most of his Westerns.
And it yielded that iconic scene: The one in which Wayne takes the reins of his horse between his teeth and charges four outlaws, rifle in one hand, six-gun in the other.
In truth, it’s the role of fiesty young Mattie that sits the film apart. And her growing fondness for the cantankerous lawman and vice versa.
This also wound up being Wayne’s last major box office hit. And at the Academy Awards, Wayne joked that he would have donned an eye patch much earlier if he knew doing so would yield an Oscar.
The film spawned a made for TV sequel — “True Grit: A Further Adventure” (1979) with Warren Oates in the Rooster role. And it was remade in 2010 with Jeff Bridges starring as Rooster and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie.
Glen Campbell as Texas Ranger La Boeuf in True Grit (1969)
Robert Duvall as outlaw Ned Pepper in True Grit (1969)
Directed by:
Henry Hathaway
Cast:
John Wayne … Rooster Cogburn
Glen Campbell … La Boeuf
Kim Darby … Mattie Ross
Jeremy Slate … Emmett Quincy
Robert Duvall … Ned Pepper
Dennis Hopper … Moon
Alfred Ryder … Goudy
Strother Martin … Col. G. Stonehill
Jeff Corey … Tom Chaney
Ron Soble … Capt. Boots Finch
John Fielder … Lawyer Daggett
James Westerfield … Judge Parker
John Doucette … Sheriff
Donald Woods … Barlow
Edith Atwater … Mrs. Floyd
John Pickard … Frank Ross
Elizabeth Harrower … Mrs. Ross
Carlos Rivas … Dirty Bob
Runtime: 128 min.
Song: “True Grit”
by Glen Campbell
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Jeff Corey as Tom Chaney in True Grit (1969)
Jeremy Slate as Emmett Quincy and Dennis Hopper as Moon, small-time outlaws, in True Grit (1969)
Memorable lines:
Mattie Ross to the sheriff of Fort Smith: “I won’t rest until Tom Chaney is barking in hell.”
Rooster Cogburn: “You can’t serve papers on a rat, baby sister. You’ve got to kill him or let him be.”
La Boeuf: “I only take one step at a time. That’s why I was given two feet.”
Strother Martin as Col. G. Stonehill negotiates with Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) in True Grit (1969)
John Fielder as Lawyer Daggett settles accounts with Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) in True Grit (1969)
Mattie Ross: “Mr. La Boeuf, I have no regard for you. But I’m sure you have enough for yourself.”
Col. G. Stonehill to Mattie Ross: “You are a damn nuisance.”
Col. G. Stonehill: “Cogburn? How did you light upon that greasy vagabound.”
Mattie Ross: “They say he has grit. I wanted a man with grit.”
John Doucette as the sheriff at Fort Smith in True Grit (1969)
Kim Darby as Mattie Ross with John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969)
Rooster Cogburn, watching Mattie cross a river on horseback: “By darn, she reminds me of me.”
Moon: “My leg hurts.”
Rooster Cogburn: “I bet it do. Just sit there still, so it don’t bleed so much.”
Rooster Cogburn: “Well, La Boeuf, you’re quite a horse shooter.”
La Boeuf: “I was trying for Ned Pepper.”
Cogburn: “Next time, try for the horse, and maybe you’ll hit Pepper.”
Kim Darby as Mattie Ross retrieves her father’s gold watch in True Grit (1969)
John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969)
Rooster Cogburn to La Boeuf: “Young fella, if you’re lookin’ for trouble, I’m accommodate you. Otherwise, leave it alone.”
Rooster Cogburn: “I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned. Or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker’s convenience. Which will it be?”
Ned Peppers: “I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”
Cogburn: “Fill your hands, you son-of-a-bitch.”
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