Is it his best? No, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have won. Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and The Searchers should all have seen him get at least a nomination. That they didn’t and that the only western one of the genre's greatest directors was nominated for was Stagecoach (1939) shows it wasn’t just Wayne that was overlooked but the western genre as a whole. Cimarron (1931) was the only western to win best picture until Dances with Wolves (1990).
Marshall Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn, the tough, crotchety, drunken, one-eyed lawman, was a perfect fit for Duke, well apart from the one-eyed part. It gave him the chance to use his gift for comedy while also allowing him to be the macho western hero he’d become famous for. There was a touch of self-mocking humour in his performance that showed he was one Hollywood actor who wasn’t trying to hide his advancing years.
In Kim Darby’s Mattie Ross he has one of his most unusual co-stars, a feisty young girl who could give Maureen O’Hara a run for her money when it comes to strong-willed characters. Wayne didn’t get on with her on set, finding her behaviour unprofessional, but onscreen they are a perfect match.
As an actor Glen Campbell makes a great singer and as Texas Ranger La Boeuf he’s the film's weakest link. Not just up against Wayne and Darby but also a veteran scene stealer like Strother Martin and up-and-comers Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper, the country and western star is out of his depth. He’s kept afloat by Wayne who is so good he draws your attention away from Campbell in their scenes together.
The film looks magnificent thanks to cinematographer Lucien Ballard. Ballard was director of photography on many of Sam Peckinpah’s films, including The Wild Bunch (1969). Made the same year as True Grit, The Wild Bunch was a film Wayne disliked intensely, feeling it destroyed the myth of the western, so it’s somewhat ironic that he finally won his Oscar the same year that the genre underwent its biggest change since Stagecoach.
Henry Hathaway was an expert action director, regardless of genre. He excelled himself with True Grit, creating one of the most memorable shootouts in western movie history as Wayne, out-gunned, takes his reins in his teeth and with pistol in one hand and rifle in the other charges “Lucky” Ned Pepper's gang. It’s an iconic image and one of the most enduring ones of Wayne; ask a Wayne fan to pick a scene from one of his films and this would doubtless rank near the top of the list.
Article comments
1 - dino martin peters
Hey pallie, love your Dinodescription in "Sons of Katie Elder." Truly our Dino "breezes through on star charisma and charm alone." Never was, never will be anyone as cool as the King of Cool. Oh, to return to the days when Dino walked the earth!!