To commemorate John Wayne's 100th birthday, Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief will be reviewing several of the key DVD titles recently released as part of the many tributes to the Duke. Here, editor in chief Lee Pfeiffer, author of The John Wayne Scrapbook looks at Wayne's Oscar-winner.
I know there isn't another film critic or scholar in the world who will share my view on this, but True Grit is my favorite western- ever. While virtually everyone agrees the movie is worthy of high praise and it garnered John Wayne some of the best reviews of his career, not to mention his only Oscar, the film is generally left out of any discussion regarding the great westerns. I'm not going to try to make a case to bring everyone over to my point of view because I freely concede that True Grit isn't the best western of all time, just my favorite western of all time. My opinion is probably colored by sentiment. It's not unusual for people to allow pleasant memories of where and when they saw a particular film to color their critical assessment of it. In my case, I saw the movie on opening day, July 4, 1969 at the magnificent Radio City Music Hall. At age 13, I was accompanied by my mom and dad- both dyed-in-the-wool Duke Wayne fans. We expected just another enjoyable, but routine Wayne horse opera. However, we knew from minute one this film was different. It seemed to be made outside of the universe of stock company actors and technicians who dominated most of Wayne's films. The tipping point was the classic sequence in which Wayne faces down Robert Duvall and three of his men across an open-meadow and responds to Duvall's taunt that he's a one-eyed fat man by shouting "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"
Any classic movie lover knows what happens next. Wayne grasps the reins of his horse between his teeth, and clutching a rifle in one hand and pistol in the other, charges into the gang like a knight in a jousting tournament. The scene elicited cheers for Duke Wayne throughout Radio City Music Hall - a seemingy inconceivable feat given New York City was not Wayne friendly country especially at the height of the Vietnam War. This sequence caused New York Daily News film critic Wanda Hale to proclaim it was John Wayne's finest screen moment. I believed that was the case then and nothing has changed that opinion over the years.
True Grit was based on a best-selling novel by Charles Portis, who- like Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee- proved to be a one hit wonder. The book dealt with the adventures of Matty Ross, a spunky teenage girl who hires a slovenly, drunken U.S. marshall named Rooster Cogburn to help track down her father's killer who is hiding in the wilds of the "the Indian nation." They are accompanied by a handsome young Texas ranger who is also after the same man. The book was praised for its unique use of language, which accenuated the rather quirky expressions of the Old West. The bidding for the screen rights to the book became hot and heavy and Duke was afraid he would lose the role to Lee Marvin, who was also hell-bent on playing Cogburn. Fortunately, producer Hal Wallis, an old crony of Wayne's, offered him the role.
The film is a sheer delight from start to finish. It takes a leisurely amount of time to establish the characters before anyone even saddles up to hit the trail. However, this exposition is among the most enjoyable parts of the movie as Matty, wonderfully played by Kim Darby, trades barbs with Rooster. The dialogue is priceless as is the presence of some great character actors like Strother Martin, Jeff Corey, Jeremy Slate, Ron Soble and young Dennis Hopper (the film was released at virtually the same time as Easy Rider). For stunt casting, then- red-hot singer Glen Campbell was signed to play the Texas ranger. He acquits himself quite well considering it was his first screen role and even warbles the Oscar-nominated title song. The film also benefits from the steady hand of old warhorse western director Henry Hathaway who had collaborated with Wayne on films such as North to Alaska and The Sons of Katie Elder. Intriguingly, the marvelous screenplay is by Marguerite Roberts, who was blacklisted in the McCarthy era. She was convinced that her script would be rejected by Wayne because of his right wing political views, but Duke was enchanted by her work and insisted she be hired. Other elements of the film that are outstanding are the eye-popping Colorado locations and the superb musical score by Elmer Bernstein, one of the maestro's very best.
Grit fans have long pondered why Paramount had never released a special edition DVD. As Wayne's Oscar-winner, this would have been the most obvious title in their catalog of Duke's films to exploit. Until now, however, there was only a bare-bones edition. Finally, the studio has rectified that transgression with a long-overdue collector's edition. Like most Paramount special editions, it's a bit on the skimpy side, but it's still far superior to the previous release. The extras consist of a commentary track shared by western historians Jeb Rosebrook, Bob Boze Bell , and J. Stuart Rosenbrook. They do a fine job of putting the film in perspective and sharing insights about the Old West. However, one would have thought that the producers of this edition would have pulled out all the stops to get Kim Darby, Glen Campbell and Jeremy Slate (who passed away shortly after being interviewed) on the commentary track to talk specfically about the making of the movie. Instead, they are relegated to brief sound bites in the featurette Working With the Duke. Because of the brevity of the piece, their comments are predictable and unenlightening. It was rumored that Darby did not get on very well with Wayne during filming, yet this is never explored in the featurette. Similarly, there is no in-depth discussion of the making of the film itself or any attempt to go beyond people's pleasant memories of Duke himself.
More successful are the featurettes True Writing which briefly explores Marguerite Roberts' life and her political conflicts within the film industry. The Law and the Lawless is a fun, informative documentary about outlaws and lawmen of the real west, but one would have hoped that this resource would have been utilized to cover Elmer Bernstein or Henry Hathaway's career. As it is, the segment has nothing to do with the film itself. The best featurette is Aspen Gold: Locations of True Grit, a wonderful and charming look at how the small Colorado town where the film was shot is still preserving and promoting the key locations. For any fan of the movie, it's tempting to saddle up immediately to visit these scenic locales. The DVD edition also includes the original theatrical trailer.
In summary, the definitive DVD edition of True Grit is yet to be done, but this one is a major step above all previous editions.
The True Grit Collector's Edition is available as both a single title or as part of the John Wayne Century Collection from Paramount. In our humble opinion, the latter offers the best value because it also includes Donovan's Reef, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Hatari!, In Harm's Way, Big Jake, The Sons of Katie Elder, Rio Lobo, El Dorado, The Shootist and special collector's editions of McLintock!, The High and the Mighty, Hondo and Island in the Sky. As we've said, "When it Waynes, it pours!"
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