Arkansas’s movie is…
True Grit
The great John Wayne won his only Oscar for his performance as US Marshall Rooster Cogburn in 1969’s True Grit, one of the last great Westerns. Set in rough and tumble 1870s Arkansas, it follows a mismatched duo of bounty hunters hired by a tenacious teenager (Kim Darby) to find her father’s killer: Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) and the aging, alcoholic, and one-eyed Cogburn. As the trio leaves the military outpost of Fort Smith to traverse the sprawling landscape of Northern Arkansas, director Henry Hathaway (who directed Wayne in Westerns including Legend of the Lost and The Sons of Katie Elder) makes beautiful use of the film’s scenic landscapes – even though much of the actual filming was done in California and Colorado. (Look for Joel and Ethan Coen’s planned remake of the film to strive for more accuracy, based on Charles Portis’ original novel.)
Ok so I have been out of the loop for a couple of weeks and I need to get back into blog mode. Last week’s movie was TRUE GRIT a classic western starring none other than The Duke; John Wayne.
So the basic plot is this, John Wayne plays Rooster Cogburn, a BA one-eyed fat man who would just as soon sit at home and drink whiskey with his cat than be out rounding up the baddies but then Rooster is recruited by a teenage girl, Mattie Ross, to help bring in her father’s killer to justice.
This is a classic case of the movie is good but I have seen better.
Here’s what I liked about the movie:
1. This movie is based on true events. John Wayne’s character is based on a U.S. Marshall from Arkansas who captured or killed more than 200 cowboy fugitives.
2. During the filming of this movie John Wayne ony had one lung. He was dying of lung cancer and had to have his other lung removed.
3. Most of the movie was filmed in Ridgeway, Colorado. Today the town still uses the movie store fronts and props from the movie True Grit.
Overall, I’d say I liked the movie for what it was a classic John Wayne western but there are better John Wayne movies; here are my recommendations:
The Shootist
John Bernard Books, a gunfighter approaching his 58th birthday, finds that he has rectal cancer and two months to live. He takes a room with Bond Rogers and her son, Gillom, to wait until death comes. Of course, his very presence starts off events in the town. The Marshal comes, prepared to die in a shootout, Gillom tries to idolize him, Bond first is disgusted and then pities him. Then, realizing that he will die in great pain, he comes up with an idea to go out with a bang.
The Quiet Man
Sean Thornton has returned from America to reclaim his homestead and escape his past. Sean’s eye is caught by Mary Kate Danaher, a beautiful but poor maiden, and younger sister of ill-tempered “Red” Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Sean and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will’s pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, form the main plot, with Sean’s past as the dark undercurrent.
