Product Details

• Actors: John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate, Robert Duvall
• Directors: Henry Hathaway
• Writers: Charles Portis, Marguerite Roberts
• Producers: Hal B. Wallis, Joseph H. Hazen, Paul Nathan
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• DVD Release Date: March 21, 2000
• Run Time: 128 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (236 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305754934
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,683 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "True Grit" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A wonderful/rueful running gag in El Dorado involves the Edgar Allan Poe line "Ride, boldly ride" being mangled by toupee-wearer Wayne into "Ride, baldy, ride." Two years later, in True Grit, Wayne put the joke in italics by donning an eyepatch and several inches of girth to play cantankerous territorial marshal Rooster Cogburn. Critics belatedly noticed that he could be a marvelously entertaining actor, and Hollywood finally gave him the Oscar they'd failed to nominate him for in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, et al. But make no mistake: True Grit is a splendid movie, with lovingly textured storytelling and sturdy characters, Henry Hathaway's finest high-country action set-pieces, intoxicatingly ornate frontier language, and a couple of formidable bad guys (Jeff Corey's Tom Cheney and Robert Duvall's "Lucky" Ned Pepper). It's a compliment to say that, from a technical standpoint, the movie could have been made any time in Hathaway's 40-year career, yet its feeling for the reality of violence ceded no ground to The Wild Bunch, released around the same time. Still, the film's most sublime passage falls between bursts of gunplay: Rooster sitting on a hilltop at night recounting his life story, as John Wayne metamorphoses ineluctably into W.C. Fields. --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

In 1970, John Wayne won an Academy Award. for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter, sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when an inexperienced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Baby Sister"...and..."The Big Fella"....., January 7, 2004

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: True Grit (DVD)

This review refers to the Paramount(Widescreen Collection) DVD edition of "True Grit"...

A great big nod to Paramount for giving us The Duke's Academy Award winning role as "Rooster Cogburn" on this superb DVD. This fabulous Wayne western from 1969 looks immaculate. Presented in widescreen, the picture is clear and sharp, and all the beautiful scenery in Technicolor is glorious.The sound in DD2.0(MONO) was surpisngly good as well.(Could be great in surround though).If you love this film, John Wayne or a great western, grab this one up!

The story for those that may have missed it, is very adventurous as well as highly amsuing. Rooster Cogburn is a take no prisoners U.S. Marshall. That's not all he is though...he's an old, overweight,brash drunkard. But he's got 'grit'. And that is exactly what young Maddie Ross is looking for when she hires him to go after the man who killed her father.Maddie(Kim Darby), now affectionatly called "Baby Sister" by our guy, is also a take no prisoner's kind of gal..but not exactly in the same way as Cogburn is. Maddie is a proper young lady, who's family "has property", and brandishes her lawyer as her weapon of choice. And what's more..she's going along on the hunt for this bad guy who has joined up with a group of some really bad hombres. Also in on the ride is an inexperienced but gung-ho Texas Ranger(Glen Campbell)who Maddie is immediatly at odds with.The sparks fly as this trio hits the trail.

John Wayne IS Rooster Cogburn.Rooster Cogburn IS John Wayne. The Duke delivers the lines as only he could.There's a great scene, where a drunken Cogburn falls off his horse, flat on his face, but yet doesn't spill a drop of the open whiskey bottle he holds.Later on you'll thrill to seeing him riding in, guns blazing in each hand as he goes after the bad guys.It's pure Wayne! The bad guys by the way are legends in themselves, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper among them. Strother Martin also adds to the fun going toe to toe with Maddie on a horse deal. Elmer Bernstein provides the glorious music, and Campbell sings the title song. Directed by the great Henry Hathaway, it's a film filled with immense talent.

It's fun and adventurous and is rated G, but there are some scenes that may be a bit too violent for younger viewers.
The DVD also includes English Subtitles for hearing impaired viewers. There are no special features, but for me, seeing this film restored so beautifully, having The Duke looking so great on my screen was bonus enough.

Saddle up with "The Big Fella"...and enjoy...Laurie

also recommended for your john wayne collection some oldies but goodies:Shadow of the Eagle, His Private Secretary, and Great American Western V.24, The

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CHARMING OLD CHESTNUT..., December 17, 2005

By 

Sébastien Melmoth (Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: True Grit (DVD)

*
In ways this is an old chestnut; but it has its charms.

It's beautifully cinemagraphed: the colours are rich and vibrant. The natural scenery is wonderful. Plus, the beginning of the film is a splendid evocation of American Victorianism--with the funeral parlor, court house, boarding house, etc.

The representation of post-bellum middle-southern America is excellently drawn. (The locale is supposed to be Arkansas. There is mention of Yankees and Texicans, etc.)

Glenn Campbell was not an actor at all, but he was a good fellow and a nice folk singer of the 1960s, closely identified with Texas. (He sings the title song.)
Great supporting cast with Robert Duval and Jeff Corey. The two scenes with Strother Martin are worth the price of admission alone. Probably this is John Wayne's best rôle.

The sound track score by Elmer Bernstein is very fine; and as mentioned, the scenic cinematography is excellent. The screenplay dialogue is wonderful, featuring real Americana turns of phrase. The widescreen DVD transfer is good.

Finally, there is an ineffably life-affirming ambience to this film which is touching and uplifting. At the end, when Rooster jumps the rail on his new horse, it brings a tear of joy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit 25 Dec. 2010: having now seen the Coen Brothers' new film of True Grit we are happy to report it a very good work indeed, and a fine successor to the 1969 version; hopefully it will bring this story of courage, righteousness and justice to a new generation of viewers.
The new film is dark and elegiac, striking a deep resonant chord of genuine Americana: highly recommended.
True Grit
*

46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I call that Bold Talk for a one-eyed fat man, April 1, 2008

By 

Gunner (Smyrna, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: True Grit (Special Collector's Edition) (DVD)

True Grit DVD

True Grit is probably my favorite John Wayne western, maybe The Shootist is a close second. It stars John Wayne as an old, rough and coarse U. S. Marshall who reluctantly helps a teenager (Kim Darby) who both won academy Awards for their roles in the movie. The Marshall helps track down the killer of Darcy's Father into Indian Territory (modern day Oklahoma). The movie is based on the novel True Grit.

Glen Campbell sings and plays a Texas Ranger who tags along.

Highly recommended for fans of John Wayne, Classic Western movies, and Cowboy movies the way they used to be made.

Gunner April, 2008