From NetFlix:
John Wayne landed one of his last great screen roles as crusty lawman Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, who reluctantly helps teenager Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) pursue her father’s killer. True Grit is more a character study than many of Wayne’s formulaic Westerns. The rousing final showdown between Wayne and the villains adds to the Duke’s long list of outstanding movie moments.
After seeing the 2010 version with Jeff Bridges I wanted to compare the two versions. By and large the two stories are the same with some differences:
- Instead of the formal, flowery, exaggerated speech patterns of 2010, the language in 1969 is more down to earth.
- In 1969 Mattie Ross is immediately attracted to La Boeuf played by Glen Cambell. Sad to think that now Glen Cambell suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
- There are boarding house scenes in 1969 missing from 2010
- The endings are very different in 2010 Mattie Ross is a dried up old maid come to claim Rooster’s body. In 1969 the film ends with Rooster and Mattie looking at the family burial site that Mattie has prepared for her family, including herself. She then invites Rooster to be buried there as well, seeing as how he has no one else. Our hero then jumps on his horse “strong enough to jump a four rail fence” and rides off after jumping a four rail fence. This was truly an “aw shucks” moment in history.
Given the energy I will try to get a copy of the book by Charles Portis to at least learn just how the characters did speak. Still, writing is not speaking and I wonder if we can ever know how Americans spoke in our early history.
From Bev Freeman:
Tony – I read about the Portis book when the new True Grit came out and it sounds very very good. He is sort of undiscovered though his True Grit novel was well received. Plus, the language in the 2010 film was apparently true to how the folks spoke – actually flowery and articulate and this is evident in the Portis book. This surprised me. Matt Damon was apparently a very good example of this as was she. I will be interested in what you think of Portis.