Three Grits: Battle of the Cogburns

​First and foremost, Happy Passover and upcoming Easter. In the Linde household, we have forgone the early morning search for Easter Eggs and will be looking for rolls of toilet paper instead. Before we get started, another heartfelt thank you to the delightful Angela McKennie for her brilliant guest blog last week. Excellent work and before she gets famous, I hope that she visits us again.
 
And now, without further ado, a good ol’ fashioned Cog fight.
 
John Wayne, Warren Oates and Jeff Bridges have all shared the distinct privilege of playing the western scalawag, outlaw and lawman Rooster Cogburn. Today we’ll take a look at the performances of each and what special talents they brought to their depiction of the one-eyed fat man.
 

​True Grit: A Further Adventure (1978). While Oates, a great actor, does his best to live up to the bigger than life character, the decidedly television material doesn’t deserve more than a quick look. Even the title fails to make sense. As one reviewer noted, “Grit is something you either have or do not. It can’t really go on a “further adventure.””
 
The real story here is distinctly different acting approaches of Jeff Bridges and John Wayne. While Wayne brings a bravado bigger than life performance to his Oscar winning performance, Bridges’ portrayal is rooted closer to the source material and has an authenticity that simply can’t be matched. The Rocky Mountains is no Arkansas and as much as I adore all things Elmer Bernstein, the haunting gospel themes of Carter Burwell capture the true darkness and feel of a real American frontier.

​It’s a pity that Hal B Wallis thought a sequel to True Grit was needed. The western remake of The African Queen was not really necessary, and the overall story and direction were nothing more than a spirited swing and a miss. While the chemistry between Hepburn and Wayne was memorable, it is simply not enough to elevate the film to the character’s former glory.
 
A quick note about the supporting characters in both films. First, Glen Campbell, while thoroughly unprepared for such a role, he is not all that bad. What he lacks in talent, he makes up for in rosy-faced sincerity. Kim Darby is wonderful and Jeff Corey, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper are all top-notch. In the Coen’s classic, Hailee Steinfeld is a revelation as Mattie Ross and Matt Damon brings considerably more focus to his interpretation of the character of Texas Ranger LaBouef.

​“It's partly a question of point-of-view. The book is entirely in the voice of the 14-year-old girl. That sort of tips the feeling of it over a certain way. I think [the book is] much funnier than the movie was so I think, unfortunately, they lost a lot of humor in both the situations and in her voice. It also ends differently than the movie did. You see the main character – the little girl – 25 years later when she's an adult. Another way in which it's a little bit different from the movie – and maybe this is just because of the time when each movie was made – is that it's a lot tougher and more violent than the movie reflects. Which is part of what's interesting about it.” – Ethan Coen
 
While Wayne won the Academy Award for his performance, it is important to remember that Jeff Bridges was also nominated for the same role. Coen’s version of the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. 
 
Food for thought and both films are definitely worth visiting while shuttered in place.
 

Well, that about wraps this little blog for this week. Oh, and before I forget, if you are a fan of pop culture and Hollywood icons throughout the decades, check this out:

Pacia Marie Linde

Perhaps I should have mentioned that this most excellent blogger happens to be my daughter. Oh well, maybe I will remember next week.