January 13, 2011: True Grit (1969)
Prior to seeing the new Coen brothers interpretation of True Grit, I wanted to watch this 1969 John Wayne version of the story. It was originally adapted from a novel, but I’m not yet at the point where I am prepared to devote the time to reading all novels before watching the adaptations. The original True Grit film is a strange mix of the old-school Hollywood western and the emerging sensibilities, and it didn’t really gel for me on this initial viewing.
The story is of a young woman in the 1880s whose father is killed. The murderer is known, and she goes to town intending to track him down. She ends up convincing rough-and-tumble federal marshal Rooster Cogburn to go with her into native territory and find this killer and bring him to justice. It’s a pretty standard story, western-wise, with the usual cast of supporting characters.
The big story here is that this is the film which won John Wayne his Best Actor Oscar. Wayne was a veteran of western films going back several decades, though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a single one of them, and instead I know him best through the exaggerated impressions of him that I see comedians do from time to time. This has to be one of the all-time most obviously political wins in Oscar history, with the Duke being very well known as the most wooden actor around but getting to that certain age where the academy needs to give its acknowledgement of a significant career. John Wayne in True Grit speaks in his usual drawl, walks half-sideways just like when Robin Williams imitates him, and does the most ridiculous exaggerated double-takes. Now, maybe this is brilliant acting since the character is drunk all the time and may just be dazed and confused, but is it really a better performance than the breakout turns by Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy in the same year, both also nominated? There’s no doubt that John Wayne is a physically imposing man and looks the part of the tough-as-nails and morally flexible federal marshal, but it isn’t nuanced acting letting me know that Rooster Cogburn is surprisingly warm-hearted despite his reputation, and that he has his playful moments as well as his scandalous ones.
Where True Grit has more significance for me, as most movies do, is how it fits into film history. The late 1960s were a time of great change for the Hollywood western, from the simple old stories of the hero cowboy saving someone or something from bad people, to the aging cowboy questioning the meaning and purpose of his life and the way he has lived it. A popular “modern” example of the earlier type is The Magnificent Seven (1960), and there are countless hundreds or even thousands of less ambitious and lower-budget titles which filled the matinee shows from the 1930s through the 1950s. Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969), on the other hand, deal with more complex stories which acknowledge the chaos and desperation which must have been much more common in those times, and the feelings and thoughts of the cowboys are the focus, rather than the plot. True Grit falls somewhere in between, with a classic storyline and treatment, but with hints at the inner depths of the enigmatic Rooster Cogburn. Director Henry Hathaway, while most definitely a stranger to me, is certainly no stranger to those westerns of decades gone by, but then neither are Leone (of the Clint Eastwood “man with no name” trilogy) or Peckinpah (the more traditional Ride the High Country from 1962, as well as TV westerns). I suspect that Hathaway was just a bit too tied to the old ways as he tried to update his style. Another fascinating parallel is this crossroads in the career trajectory of Dennis Hopper. He appears in True Grit as a young thug who is milked for information by Cogburn – a kid who is hurt and scared. Hopper came at that point from a background of acting work in TV westerns. However, in the same year as True Grit, he directed and was even nominated for an Oscar for writing a little movie called Easy Rider, which came to define a whole change in direction in American filmmaking, effectively cementing the demise of the classic, almost innocent tone of films up to that point, of which the simplistic westerns were a major category. Hopper’s impact on cinema history is often vastly underestimated, and True Grit is effectively one side of the looking glass which in 1969 happened to reflect both sides of him, and of Hollywood, really, for the last time.
True Grit gives us great cinematography by Lucien Ballard and great music by Elmer Bernstein, but a story and performances which really remind me too much of stagey old Hollywood westerns. This is not ultimately a great film as far as I can see.
Historically significant but conflicted classic film.
P.S. I saw the 2010 remake of True Grit after drafting this review but prior to posting it, and I think it helped me to put this film into better perspective. To remain true to my initial impression I’ve left the draft largely untouched, and will explore the comparison in my review of the remake.
P.P.S. Circumstances caused me to watch this 1969 original version of True Grit a second time prior to posting this review, and it went up substantially in my estimation upon a second viewing. Again, the comparison will be explored more in my review of the remake.
Post a Comment