Episode 62

History of True Grit: John Wayne vs Jeff Bridges (a Watch with History episode)

🎙

Our first ever "Watch with History" segment compares the 1969 and 2010 versions of the movie "True Grit." While the 2010 version has better cinematography, the hosts prefer the characters and humor in the 1969 version. Both versions follow the story of a young girl seeking revenge for her father's murder in the American Old West. The movie captures the spirit of the frontier and explores themes of determination, loyalty, and redemption.

Video version (lots of great movie scene cut-ins!)

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Transcript
Scott:

welcome to Talk With History.

Scott:

I'm your host Scott here with my wife and historian, Jen.

Scott:

Hello.

Scott:

Today's podcast is the first in a brand new series we are

Scott:

calling Watch with History.

Scott:

The Watch with history series will focus on your favorite historical

Scott:

films where Jen and I will review the Hollywood historic classics

Scott:

we all know and love, while also discussing the history behind these.

Scott:

Films along with some interesting facts.

Scott:

We hope you enjoy watch with history.

Watch intro video:

3, 2, 1.

Watch intro video:

Here we go.

Scott:

Now Jen, the first watch with History episode is leading off with

Scott:

the man himself, one of your favorites.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And Mr.

Scott:

John Wayne and one of one of his more popular movies.

Scott:

Yes, and it is.

Scott:

It is True Grit.

Scott:

So what we are actually doing today, we're covering today, is the 1969.

Scott:

I'm calling it the Old True Grit versus the 2010.

Scott:

New true grit.

Scott:

So there's two, it was made twice.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And we'll get into the details and everything else surrounding it.

Scott:

But let's start off with the 1969 True Grit.

Scott:

Okay.

True Grit:

Says Life Magazine true grit is good enough for me.

True Grit:

It's good enough for you.

True Grit:

And if it isn't good enough for some movie company, then the free enterprise

True Grit:

system is really going to help.

True Grit:

Hold on God.

True Grit:

They tell me you're a man with true grit.

True Grit:

What do you want?

True Grit:

Speak up.

True Grit:

Roy Wrinkle the paper.

True Grit:

It's pretty loose because your makings are too dry.

True Grit:

I'm looking for Tom Cheney.

True Grit:

Who is he?

True Grit:

He's the man that shot and killed my father.

True Grit:

Frank Ross says The New York Times as touching as it is, irreverently amusing.

True Grit:

Marshall Luster.

True Grit:

Cogburn and I are going after the murderer.

True Grit:

Tom Cheney.

True Grit:

How did you light on that greasy vaon?

True Grit:

They say he has grit.

True Grit:

He's a notorious thumper.

True Grit:

He's not a man I would care to share a bed with, nor would I.

True Grit:

And now Paramount Pictures presents the Hal Wallace production True Grit,

True Grit:

starring John Wayne as Rooster Cockburn, the most colorful

True Grit:

character he's ever played.

True Grit:

If I smelled as bad as you, I wouldn't live near people.

True Grit:

Kim Derby as Matt Ross.

True Grit:

Hey here.

True Grit:

Bye.

True Grit:

God.

True Grit:

C reminds me of me, Glenn Campbell, in his first big screen roll A

True Grit:

little earlier I gaz some thought to stealing a kiss from you.

True Grit:

Although you are very young and you're unattractive to boot, but

True Grit:

now I'm of a mind to give you five or six good licks with my belt.

Scott:

True Grit was originally a book that was written by Charles Portis in 1968

Scott:

with the movie adaptation with John Wayne being released just a year later in 1969.

Scott:

The book is known for its humorous and colorful characters, as well

Scott:

as its depiction of the rugged and violent American West.

Scott:

Now, the original True Grit released in 1969 was directed by Henry Hathaway

Scott:

and it Star John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glenn Campbell, who will talk a

Scott:

little bit about and actually features featured a very young Dennis Hopper.

Scott:

The film was based on the novel and tells a story of a young girl, Maddie Ross.

Scott:

Seeking revenge for her father's murder.

Scott:

With the help of the gruff US Marshall Rooster Cogburn along the way, they are

Scott:

joined by a Texas Ranger named LeBeouf.

Scott:

Who's also hunting the same man for a different crime Now, the original True

Scott:

Grit was a box off of success earning just over 31 million domestically

Scott:

in its initial release, which was a significant amount of money back in

Scott:

19 60, 69, adjusted for inflation.

Scott:

That would be the equivalent of about 230 million in 2023.

Scott:

Wow.

Scott:

That's a good.

Scott:

And it actually only cost about 3 million to make back then.

Scott:

Yeah, you can see that so they did pre it did pretty well.

Scott:

Now this classic Western was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best

Scott:

Picture, best Actor for John Wayne.

Scott:

Best supporting Actor for Dennis Hopper.

Scott:

And best music score.

Scott:

John Wayne won the Oscar for best actor for his role as Rooster Cogburn, which

Scott:

was his first and only Academy Award win.

Oscars:

Inside is one of the following names, all of whom have been nominated

Oscars:

for the best performance by an actor.

Oscars:

Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr.

Oscars:

Chips.

Oscars:

Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy, John Hoyt in Midnight Cowboy, Richard

Oscars:

Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days and John Wayne in True Grit.

Oscars:

I'm not gonna tell you the winner is.

Oscars:

John Wayne.

Oscars:

Wow.

Oscars:

I've known that I'd have put that patch on 35 years earlier.

Scott:

So Jen, can you, before you tell us what you think of this movie, cuz

Scott:

we can tell that you already enjoy it just by the glow coming off of you.

Scott:

Can you give us a little bit of the, the historical setting

Scott:

of when this movie was set?

Jenn:

Sure.

Jenn:

When they talk.

Jenn:

About her and her father in the West.

Jenn:

And then when Cogburn meets the buff for the first time, they ask

Jenn:

of what did you do in the war?

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Where were you in the war?

Jenn:

That's a very significant thing at that time in the 1880s to be asking

Jenn:

people, cuz everyone fought in the Civil War, and of course he's from Texas,

Jenn:

so of course he's asking what side he is on Texas as a Confederate state.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

But parts of Texas fought for the North, so he's asking, he wants

Jenn:

to just know where his allegiance lies, and they both talk about.

Jenn:

Who they fought for.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

More than what their leaders.

Jenn:

It comes up a couple times.

Jenn:

Yes.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

So we're in the 20 years after the Civil War when the West is really being settled.

Jenn:

It's

Scott:

The late 1870s, early 1880s.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

1880s, right around that time.

Scott:

And

Jenn:

it's taking place, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Jenn:

Yep.

Jenn:

So this is, Western expansion.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Then Oklahoma, I think

Jenn:

we need, so they're gonna venture into Oklahoma, which is very much

Jenn:

territories, American Indian territory.

Jenn:

And that is why it's so significant that Rooster Cogburn is a Marshall Yeah.

Jenn:

A US Marshall and La Beef is a Ranger.

Jenn:

So the law is very much getting useful at this time, the kind

Jenn:

of writing the law at this time.

Jenn:

How do you govern a lawless wilderness

Scott:

area?

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

In the, it seems like at this time in the more populated areas that kind of.

Scott:

For lack of a better word, that civil contract between the people and the

Scott:

law and the government is solidifying.

Scott:

Yes.

True Grit:

Sworn this morning, you're still sworn take the stand.

True Grit:

Defense will cross examine.

True Grit:

Mr.

True Grit:

Cogburn, you testified for the prosecution this morning.

True Grit:

Now, in order to refresh our memories, Allow me to summarize what you said.

True Grit:

Now, according to your story, CC Wharton grabbed up a shotgun and killed

True Grit:

Marshall Padlet, and then he turned the gun on you, you say, and you shot him.

True Grit:

Then you say the father swung his axe and you shot him too.

True Grit:

The defendant here tried to run, you say, and you also shot him, just winged

True Grit:

him, or he wouldn't be here to pay up the old man and CC hit the ground dead.

True Grit:

How long have you been a Deputy Marshall, Mr.

True Grit:

Cogburn?

True Grit:

Four years.

True Grit:

Come March.

True Grit:

How many men have you shot in that time?

True Grit:

The prosecution objects overruled.

True Grit:

How many men have you shot since you became a marshal?

True Grit:

Mr.

True Grit:

Cogburn?

True Grit:

I never shot nobody.

True Grit:

I didn't have to.

True Grit:

That was not the question.

True Grit:

How many, uh, Shot or killed.

True Grit:

Oh, let's restricted to killed.

True Grit:

So we may have a manageable figure.

True Grit:

Well, 12 to 15.

True Grit:

Stopping men in flight and defending myself.

True Grit:

12 to 15.

True Grit:

So many that you cannot keep a specific count.

Scott:

But there is still these just like wild west areas, outlaws.

Scott:

And that's where Rooster Cogburn and Maddie Ross.

Scott:

She picks him because he, I think she, I'm pretty sure she picks

Scott:

him and I don't think she's not.

Scott:

She doesn't really hide it because he's more likely To shoot the guy.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

To kill the guy that she's after.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And go after the person.

Jenn:

So Maddie, if you realize She's very dictated.

Jenn:

Yeah, she's very much following rule of law lawyer.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

She brings up her in the original, the 1969 version.

Scott:

She brings up the lawyer a lot

True Grit:

I will not be pushed about when I'm in the right.

True Grit:

I'll take it up with my attorney now.

True Grit:

I will take it up with mine, lawyer Dagget and he will make money.

True Grit:

And I will make money and your lawyer will make money and you, Mr.

True Grit:

licensed auctioneer You will foot the bill.

True Grit:

You are damn nuisance Lawyer.

True Grit:

Dagget lawyer Dagget, who is this famous pleader, whose name I was

True Grit:

happily ignorant of 10 minutes ago?

Jenn:

In the West.

Jenn:

Yes.

Jenn:

We're trying to adhere to a territory.

Jenn:

We're trying to adhere to a federal system where the judge has a jury and we bring

Jenn:

people in, but it's still very loose.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

People are getting killed and interfacing.

Jenn:

That's what Rooster Cogburn is known for, is he doesn't really bring people

Jenn:

in as much as he just kills them.

Jenn:

That's, so that's

Scott:

the court case.

Scott:

That's the court case.

Scott:

So that's the court case and one of the things.

Scott:

And we'll just dive into kind of how we felt and what we thought, through

Scott:

the movie for the 1969 version.

Scott:

But John Wayne played much more of a character to me Yes.

Scott:

In this he played to me, and I've been watching a bunch of John Wayne movies

Scott:

recently, so that's a future watch with this history episode coming up.

Scott:

But he played, more, a little bit more comedic role.

True Grit:

You are a lot of trouble.

True Grit:

Wait till I finish this hand.

True Grit:

You can never tell what's in the Chinaman's mind.

True Grit:

That's the way he best yet.

True Grit:

Cards

True Grit:

I go.

True Grit:

Mr.

True Grit:

Rat, I have a writ here, says to stop eating Chan's corn meal fourth with

True Grit:

now it's a rat writ rit for a rat, and this is lawful service of same.

True Grit:

See, doesn't pay any attention to me

True Grit:

outside is place for shooting.

True Grit:

I'm serving some papers.

Scott:

But he played that out.

Scott:

He was a little bit more of an out.

Scott:

Outward expressive character.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

This kind of drunk, gruff.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

Western, like probably an outlaw in some states, and then now he's a US Marshall.

Jenn:

So it's very much like you're very much skirting the letter of the law.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And that's why Rooster Cogburn knows what she's talking about with the

Jenn:

lawyer and stuff, but he's also laughing at her like, I, that's great.

Jenn:

That's not gonna work here.

Jenn:

Did you think that someone's gonna.

Jenn:

Care about your lawyer, but that's not gonna work here.

Jenn:

And you're also dealing with a lot of other stereotypes.

Jenn:

He lives with an Asian man, Yep.

Jenn:

Which, the Asian people had come over to help dig the railroad Yep.

Jenn:

And start the railroad.

Jenn:

So it's very much these stereotypes

Scott:

that he's, and he I loved the cat.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

He called the cat.

Scott:

Like the general the general.

Scott:

So he's sleeping in like the back of this, this China man's shop.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

That's where he lives, that's where he lives, in this.

Scott:

In this town and he plays cards and drinks with the China man.

Scott:

And then he calls the cat the general, and that's just what he does.

Scott:

He goes after bad guys and drinks.

Jenn:

Then one of the first things she does when she gets to Fort

Jenn:

Smith, which is like the city close to her, is as a hanging.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

As a public hanging.

Scott:

So that was interesting to me and.

Scott:

When I watched the 69 version, my first thought was like, oh my gosh,

Scott:

was that what it was really like?

Scott:

Was did, so did people, if you haven't seen the 1969 version in quite some

Scott:

time, They, she comes into town and she's trying to see the coroner and

Scott:

they're like coroner's out at the hanging because he's expecting three more bodies.

Scott:

And these bodies that are about to be hung.

Scott:

And the whole town's out there, the whole town.

Scott:

People had come into town for this hanging people, selling kids.

Scott:

Kids were penis playing kids.

Scott:

People were selling peanuts.

Scott:

They were singing hymns.

Scott:

So is that relatively accurate at the time?

Scott:

That's fairly really accurate.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

That cause that's entertainment That surprised me and I don't know, it's

Scott:

just because I've never really watched movies like this, but that was one of the

Scott:

things I remember jotting that down was like, is that what it was really like?

Scott:

So

Jenn:

I thought that was very, if it was public, and you still are getting public

Jenn:

hangings in the 1880s until prisons.

Jenn:

Are really made.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And when executions will happen inside a prison it will be public until.

Jenn:

That happens.

Jenn:

So you're getting in those, in these territories, in these settled

Jenn:

territories where they're holding court.

Jenn:

And it is one of those things where you're found guilty and

Jenn:

you're walked outside and hanged.

Jenn:

It's not where you have this stay of execution and you're

Jenn:

waiting and it's none of that.

Jenn:

It's just like you're found guilty and now you have to hang.

Jenn:

It's very expedient.

Jenn:

Cause they don't have the time or the resources to hold people.

Scott:

Yeah, there's no giant.

Scott:

Federal prisons and all that stuff.

Scott:

They're like, okay, you're guilty.

Scott:

You're gonna go hang.

Jenn:

Yes.

Jenn:

And so she sees that right away.

Jenn:

She sees Rooster, Cogburn testify.

Jenn:

He's very truthful.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Even in his shortcomings.

Jenn:

He's very truthful.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

He's very colorful.

Jenn:

And he entertains her and he listens to her.

Jenn:

And and he also, I think, recognizes.

Jenn:

Who the bad guy is or who he might be

Scott:

running with, who might be running with it's like

Scott:

something Pepper, Ned Pepper.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Ned Pepper.

Jenn:

So he knows, he recognizes the guy.

Scott:

He's oh, he's probably, he probably linked up, or I think she tells him,

Scott:

yeah, that she heard that he linked up with Ned Pepper and he is oh, Ned Pepper.

Scott:

I know that guy.

Scott:

And then he knows

Jenn:

he'll go to Indian territory, which he then he knows as a Marshall.

Jenn:

You're the only one who has jurisdiction Yeah.

Jenn:

Of her Indian territory.

Jenn:

So he's willing to go in there and look for him because she's paying cash.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Too.

Jenn:

Which they don't make that much money.

Jenn:

I think it's $2 a ahead per person.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

And I, and he's paying, I enjoyed dollars.

Scott:

I enjoyed in the original, even though her character, I think we both agree that the

Scott:

twenty ten one, that the girl was a better actor, but the better actor and younger

Scott:

the 69 1, the dialogue I felt was actually good and a little bit more believable.

Scott:

She was very aggressive, very, just like you could tell.

Scott:

It used to be her father running the house.

Scott:

And now it was her.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And you could absolutely see this 14 year old girl running a household.

True Grit:

They are all for sale, except those, uh, four scrubby

True Grit:

ones and, uh, who they belong to.

True Grit:

The heirs of the late Frank Ross.

True Grit:

I'm Maddie Ross and I'd like to sell you back those ponies that my father bought.

True Grit:

I fear that is outta the question.

True Grit:

My father bought those ponies for breeding.

True Grit:

Now I've looked at them and they're all geldings.

True Grit:

You cannot breed geldings.

True Grit:

Oh, that hardly concerns me.

True Grit:

Your father bought four ponies and paid a hundred dollars for

True Grit:

them, and there's an end of it.

True Grit:

I want $300 for Papa Saddle Horse that was stolen from your barn.

True Grit:

You'll have to take that up with the man who stole it.

True Grit:

Tom Cheney stole it while it was in your care.

True Grit:

You are responsible.

True Grit:

I admire your son, but I'm not liable.

True Grit:

I will take it to the law.

True Grit:

Well, you must do us.

True Grit:

You ain't best.

True Grit:

We will see if a widow and three small children can get fair

True Grit:

treatment in the courts of this city.

Scott:

She's dealing with the horse trader.

Scott:

She's very book smart and she's dealing with.

Scott:

Ru Cogburn.

Scott:

She dealt with LA beef.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

At the Yes.

Scott:

At the she's

Jenn:

talking to the lady at the boarding house.

Jenn:

Yep.

Jenn:

And so the boarding house is also very accurate.

Jenn:

What a boarding house would look like.

Jenn:

And shacking up her grandma.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Scott:

Everybody's sitting around the table.

Scott:

Sitting around the

Jenn:

table to eat.

Jenn:

Yep.

Jenn:

And you pay for the meal Yeah.

Jenn:

Of the evening.

Jenn:

So that is all accurate and well done.

Jenn:

I think, and that's what she meets LeBeouf.

Jenn:

Who's Glenn Campbell, who is a singer at the time.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

So I didn't realize that.

Jenn:

Yeah, he's not really an actor.

Jenn:

He's a singer and he's a pretty well-known country singer.

Jenn:

And they had gone after Elvis Presley I think when had read.

Jenn:

But Elvis wanted top boy, El Elvis's Management wanted

Jenn:

top billing over John Wayne.

Jenn:

And they're like, that ain't happening.

Jenn:

So it was John Wayne actually approached Glen Campbell.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And asked him to be ated.

Jenn:

And Glen Campbell was like, yeah.

Jenn:

And I like Kim.

Jenn:

I think he does a fair job.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

I

Scott:

warmed up.

Scott:

I, for him, I feel like I warmed up to him.

Scott:

Eventually.

Scott:

And they played up in the 1969 version.

Scott:

A little bit more of a potential, not really romantic, but like she was

Scott:

like initially interested but then disgusted because he was just this

Scott:

Texas ranger who was talking down to her like she was a little girl.

Scott:

And then later on Yeah, she actually was like trying to care for him.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

And you could tell that she might.

Scott:

May have some feelings, and I think it was more just born out of the hardship

Scott:

that all three of them had gone through

Jenn:

together.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And I actually like his character.

Jenn:

I like, I think Matt Damon plays him better in the 2010 version,

Jenn:

but I like that his character, I.

Jenn:

Dies in the 1969 version.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

A little more realistic because he dies, he saves them.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And then he dies.

Jenn:

And he really he is also, I think, someone who has true grit.

Jenn:

Like he's showing that he doesn't he's all in and then he dies, and you get

Jenn:

the backstory that Rooster Cogburn goes back for his body, puts him in his full.

Jenn:

Ranger uniform takes him back to Texas and Leif's talking up about some girl,

Jenn:

some sweetheart that he has, and Rooster says, no sweetheart ever showed up.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

So there's more of that story that you get , in the 1969 version than in the 2010.

Jenn:

And I liked that too.

Jenn:

They're filmed in different areas as well.

Jenn:

They were the 1969 version is filmed in Colorado.

Jenn:

Okay.

Jenn:

And and then the, this version, the 20 10, 20 10 is New Mexico.

Jenn:

Okay?

Jenn:

So you get.

Jenn:

Different backdrops and scenery.

Jenn:

But I know the, what's interesting about the 1969 version, it is, it

Jenn:

comes out right after the book.

Jenn:

Yep.

Jenn:

And the book's a big deal.

Jenn:

And John Wayne loved the book.

Jenn:

And then the person who wrote the screenplay, he loved the screenplay.

Jenn:

Oh, okay.

Jenn:

And he.

Jenn:

He gunned for the part.

Jenn:

He wanted that part.

Jenn:

Oh, interesting.

Jenn:

And so when he finally did get the part, I think I told you this, he thinks one of

Jenn:

the best scenes ever written was the one where he's up on the mountain with Maddie

Jenn:

and they're talking about his past life.

Jenn:

. True Grit 1969: How'd you lose your eye?

Jenn:

I was in the war, the loan jack, little scrap outside of Kansas City.

Jenn:

What'd you do after the war?

Jenn:

I robbed me a federal paymaster and went to Cairo, Illinois and bought a eating

Jenn:

place there called the Green Frog.

Jenn:

Married a grass widow place, had a billard table.

Jenn:

You never told me you had a wife.

Jenn:

Oh, well I didn't have her long.

Jenn:

My friends was a pack of river rats and.

Jenn:

She didn't crave their so- society, so she up and left men, went back to

Jenn:

her first husband who was clerking in the hardware store in Paducah.

Jenn:

Goodbye Ruben.

Jenn:

She says, A love of decency does not abide in you.

Jenn:

That's a divorced woman talking for you about decency.

Jenn:

Well, I told her, I said, goodbye Nola.

Jenn:

And.

Jenn:

I hope that nail selling bastard makes you happy this time.

Jenn:

Did you have any children?

Jenn:

Hmm?

Jenn:

There was a boy, Nola taking him with her.

Jenn:

He never liked me anyway.

Jenn:

A clumsier child you'll never see than Horace.

Jenn:

I bet he broke 40 cup.

Jenn:

Never did get you for stealing that money.

Jenn:

I didn't consider it.

Jenn:

Stealing didn't belong to you.

Jenn:

I needed a road stake.

Jenn:

It was like that little high interest bank in New Mexico needed

Jenn:

a road stake, and there it was.

Jenn:

I never robbed no citizen taking a man's watch.

Jenn:

It's all stealing.

Jenn:

That's the position them new Mexicans took.

Jenn:

I had to flee for my life.

Jenn:

Suppose a young colt then, no horse could run him into the ground.

Jenn:

When that posse thinned out, uh, I turned old bo around and

Jenn:

taken them reins in my teeth.

Jenn:

I charged them boys firing two Navy six s.

Jenn:

They must have all been married men that loved their families cause

Jenn:

they scattered and run for a home.

Jenn:

With his ex-wife and his son, horse, and he's talks about his shortcomings.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Basically.

Jenn:

And he thinks that's a great.

Jenn:

One of the best scenes ever written.

Jenn:

And so you see John Wayne really, making a character here and you

Jenn:

see the real humanization of him.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

And that's one of the things, again, having watched a fair amount of

Scott:

John Wayne movies recently, this was the first time that I saw,

Scott:

More backstory for his character.

Scott:

He's not just John Wayne, with a different name, who can knock out a

Scott:

guy in one punch and he's like the bigger, he's taller and bigger than

Scott:

everybody and tougher than everybody.

Scott:

Like he's talking about his deficiencies.

Scott:

His, like you said, his shortcomings.

Scott:

And that's what really.

Scott:

Builds a true character in a movie like this.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And I think that's, that has to be one of the reasons that, aside from

Scott:

everything else the great lines and all some of the classic one liners

Scott:

that come out of it That's one of the things I think that really put, probably

Scott:

put him over the top for the Oscar.

Jenn:

And of course he has the best scene and he's gonna have the best

Jenn:

scene in this 1969 version and the 2010 version where it hits him against four.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And that is by far Rooster Cogburn's best scene because it shows you how

Jenn:

brave this man is and just, is it stupid?

Jenn:

Is it brave or it's his job, but he doesn't back

Scott:

down.

Scott:

Farrell, you and your brother stand clear.

Scott:

I got no interest in you today.

Scott:

Stand clear and you won't get hurt.

Scott:

What's your intention?

Scott:

Do you think?

Scott:

One on four is a dog Fall.

Scott:

I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged in Fort

Scott:

Smith at Judge Parker's convenience.

Scott:

Which will it be?

Scott:

I call that bull talk for a one eyed fat man.

Scott:

Fill your hand.

Scott:

You son of a bitch.

Scott:

They're too far.

Scott:

They're moving too fast.

Scott:

No grit Rooster Cogburn, not much.

, Scott:

and the interesting part is he talks about how he had done this before

, Scott:

with one on seven or something like that.

, Scott:

Yeah.

, Scott:

And he was just like, oh yeah, those men, this must have loved their wives because

, Scott:

they turn around and ran, and if you charge hard enough and they'll run away.

, Scott:

And so then all of a sudden at the, towards the end of the movie when, Katie

, Scott:

Ross's has been rescued and now it's him versus Ned Pepper and the other

, Scott:

in his gang, the other gang members.

, Scott:

Ned Pepper's sitting there oh, he's sitting there all cocky thinking, Mr.

, Scott:

Cogman's gonna turn around and run.

, Scott:

And he's what are you doing over there?

, Scott:

He's I am to kill you in about a minute.

, Scott:

And then you see Ned Pepper, just do this double take wait, what did he just say?

, Scott:

Yeah.

, Scott:

And then he just you realize he settles in to start getting ready for

, Scott:

a fight and he actually insults him.

, Scott:

He's look that's pretty big talk from a fat man with one eye.

, Scott:

Yeah.

, Scott:

And then he I've actually clipped this before he says, I

, Scott:

think he says, fill your hands.

, Scott:

You son of a bitch.

, Scott:

Yeah.

, Scott:

And

Jenn:

then he, so it's get your guns ready.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

He's like brave.

Jenn:

And I like, even before that, he tells the other people, I have no beef with you.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

So if you wanna leave, you should leave now.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

He was just going for Ned Pepper.

Jenn:

I'm just going for Ned Pepper.

Jenn:

So if you wanna stay, it's up to you, but I'm telling you, you can leave.

Jenn:

Yep.

Jenn:

And so I like that he's, it's very, brave.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

A stupid brave.

Jenn:

I don't know.

Jenn:

But so now they all stay, so it's four against one.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And

Scott:

then he throws those reigns in his mouth.

Scott:

He just gets going and he going, he charges them.

Scott:

And it was, and they're watching it from up

Jenn:

high.

Jenn:

So the buff and Maddie are watching, is it Maddie?

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Yeah, they're watching from up high and LA Buff is, has the

Jenn:

rifle, but he's not a great shot and they've already distinguished.

Jenn:

He's not a great shot.

Jenn:

He likes to shoot horses

Scott:

out for people.

Scott:

Yeah, he just says that like his carbine, can shoot someone from 300 yards.

Jenn:

John Wayne takes out everybody but Ned Pepper.

Jenn:

He wings him.

Jenn:

He wings him.

Jenn:

And he's basically, he knows he's a goner, but Rooster Cogburn, his horses

Jenn:

have been shut out from underneath him.

Jenn:

And the, he's landed on his leg and he can't, so he's not

Jenn:

shot, but he's incapacitated.

Jenn:

He can't reach his weapon.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

So Ned Pepper thinks it's gonna be an easy kill, and that's when

Jenn:

the buff is able to shoot him.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Off the horse.

Jenn:

Just as he's getting ready to shoot

Scott:

John Wayne.

Jenn:

Just says he's gonna make to shoot John Wayne.

Jenn:

And then the bad guy with the mark on his face hits him on the head with a

Scott:

rock.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Hits him on the head.

Scott:

And and that's when

Jenn:

Maddy falls

Scott:

into the snake pit.

Scott:

And the interesting thing is that in each of the movies and

Scott:

in 1969 you get Dennis Hopper.

Scott:

So he was actually nominated for the best supporting actor.

Scott:

That's

Jenn:

interesting.

Jenn:

Cuz Duval plays Ned Pepper.

Scott:

But Dennis Hopper's character dies earlier in the movie.

Scott:

Dies early.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

In the dugout.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

He has a

Jenn:

decent sized role.

Jenn:

He does.

Jenn:

And very dramatic.

Jenn:

Gets his fingers cut off.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

They show a lot more in the 2010 version.

Scott:

But the, so that, that was very interesting.

Scott:

And even seeing Robert Duvall, I was just pleasantly surprised because

Scott:

I wasn't expecting to see either of those, those well-known actors.

Scott:

And that was in their early days for them.

Scott:

This was towards the later end of John Wayne's career.

Scott:

But I really enjoyed.

Scott:

True grit.

Scott:

I enjoyed John Wayne's character

Jenn:

a lot.

Jenn:

I do too.

Scott:

And one of the things that I actually wrote down and I was saving this

Scott:

for the another watch with history we have planned, but I actually wrote down,

Scott:

because you assume Maddie says, When she first hires Rooster Cogburn, she says,

True Grit:

They tell me you're a man with true grit.

Scott:

And I actually wrote down about halfway, two-thirds

Scott:

of the way through the movie.

Scott:

I was like, maybe, I think she's actually the one with true grit.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

And that's what they're showing you.

Scott:

Nobody ever actually says that.

Scott:

Sure.

Scott:

But that's what they're showing you.

Scott:

Here's this 14 year old girl.

Scott:

You wanna talk about someone that's got true grit.

Scott:

She like jumps her horse in the water and swims it across the river.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

To Chase Rooster Cogburn and lab beef and all this stuff.

Scott:

She shoots Cheney.

Scott:

She shoots Cheney.

Scott:

And she keeps fighting back.

Scott:

And she's bitten by the snake.

Scott:

Bitten by the snake and, hangs in there.

Scott:

It was, Pretty, it was pretty

Jenn:

incredible.

Jenn:

It was pretty incredible.

Jenn:

And what you get, and I hope these are spoilers, if no

Jenn:

wouldn't have seen the movie.

Jenn:

So if you haven't seen it and you don't wanna hear these spoilers, turn this

Jenn:

off, but even at the end, both movies make a point that she's respectful.

Jenn:

He's made such an impact in her life that she wants him buried in her family

Jenn:

plot, in her family plot in both movies.

Jenn:

Do that.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And I think that's significant to show that she thinks almost

Jenn:

like the shared hardship.

Jenn:

Like now he's family and she thinks of him as family.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And in the end of the 1969 version John Wayne actually

Jenn:

makes that jump on that horse.

Jenn:

Trust you to buy another tall horse.

Jenn:

Yeah, he's not as game as Bob, but Stonehill says he

Jenn:

can jump a four rail fence.

Jenn:

You're too old.

Jenn:

Too fat to be jumping horses.

Jenn:

Well come see a fat old man sometime.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah, you told me that.

Scott:

I, that's pretty impressive.

Scott:

Cause I think he was like 60 and

Jenn:

he had already had the lung surgery, so he usually had a stunt double.

Jenn:

But this was his horse and this horse was young and it was a jumper

Jenn:

and they weren't sure if John Wayne was gonna do it in the last scene.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And he actually did it.

Jenn:

And he's wait to say, come see an old Fatman sometimes.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Could Fatman jump over a fence sometimes And then he just goes and does it.

Scott:

Does it?

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

It was, it's such a great scene.

Scott:

It was.

Scott:

It was pretty cool.

Scott:

We'll move on to the 2010 version here in just a second.

Scott:

But there's an interesting fact that I dug up.

Scott:

So there was actually a true grit television show made in the late 1970s.

Scott:

A show was called True Grit, A Further Adventure, and it

Scott:

aired for one season in 1978.

Scott:

The show starred Warren Oats as Rooster Cogburn and followed the

Scott:

character as he continued to work as a US Marshall and take on various

Scott:

cases across the American West.

Scott:

Now the show is not a success but it was based on the same characters and

Scott:

storylines from the novel and despite the popularity, it only did about 11 episodes.

Scott:

But a fun fact about Warren Oats, if you don't know that name, He so he played

Scott:

Rooster in this, in the TV show, but he went to later on to play the role

Scott:

of Sergeant Holka, the drill instructor in the 1981 Bill Murray Comedy Stripes.

Scott:

So it's the same actor.

Scott:

So just a fun little, like he was definitely working actor.

Scott:

He did a lot of stuff.

Scott:

Sure.

Scott:

But I looked him up and then looked up kind of some of the more popular

Scott:

movies he was in, and that's one that a lot of people in, including those

Scott:

who've seen or probably watching this.

Scott:

They've probably seen Bill Murray in

Jenn:

Stripes They Pro.

Jenn:

Oh, absolutely.

Jenn:

So I just think it's so cool.

Jenn:

I, we'll, we have a, we will talk about what I think is John Wayne's

Jenn:

best performance another time, but I do like this performance.

Jenn:

I do think this is a performance as well.

Jenn:

Like it does warm my heart that he did win an Oscar and he won it for this

Scott:

role.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

No, it was very good.

Scott:

I enjoyed the 1969 very version, very much.

Scott:

Now, the 2010 gr True Grit.

True Grit:

Mr.

True Grit:

Cogburn, in your four years as US Marshall, how many men

True Grit:

have you shot, shot or killed?

True Grit:

Let us restrict it to killed so that we may have a manageable figure.

True Grit:

Mr.

True Grit:

Cockburn, what do you want, bro?

True Grit:

I'm looking for the man who told my father man's name is, Tom Cheney

True Grit:

and I need somebody to go after him.

True Grit:

What's your name?

True Grit:

My name is Maddie Ross.

True Grit:

Are you some kind of law?

True Grit:

I'm a Texas Ranger.

True Grit:

I know Channey.

True Grit:

It is at least a two man job taking him alive.

True Grit:

Why car break?

True Grit:

Can we depart this afternoon?

True Grit:

We.

True Grit:

I'm going with you.

True Grit:

Congratulations.

True Grit:

You're graduating from Marauder to Wetters.

True Grit:

We're being followed.

True Grit:

Marshall,

True Grit:

you missed your shot.

True Grit:

Cockburn.

True Grit:

Best let this go.

True Grit:

I thought you were gonna say the sun was in your eyes.

True Grit:

That is to say.

True Grit:

Your eye.

True Grit:

You got a lot of experience with mounting hunters.

True Grit:

Steve, that is a silly question.

True Grit:

I am 14.

True Grit:

You can run home for a long time.

True Grit:

Time for you to go home.

True Grit:

I don't like you.

True Grit:

I will not go back.

True Grit:

Not without Cheney.

True Grit:

Dead or alive.

True Grit:

Leave.

True Grit:

You gotta cut you.

True Grit:

Downey's Here.

True Grit:

Help me Marshall.

True Grit:

Now what?

True Grit:

Cogburn them boys.

True Grit:

You don't think about the wrath that's about to set down on it.

True Grit:

And this gang a rough, not your father.

True Grit:

I will kill this girl.

True Grit:

The biggest mistake you ever made.

True Grit:

Help me.

True Grit:

I couldn't do nothing for you son.

Scott:

I.

Scott:

Is directed by the Cohen Brothers.

Scott:

It stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Haley Steinfeld and Josh Brolin.

Scott:

And Josh Brolin.

Scott:

He comes in a little bit later the movies a remake of the 1969 film

Scott:

of the same name, and we even get a lot of the same iconic lines between

Scott:

the characters as Matt Ross Rooster Cogburn, and the Texas Ranger.

Scott:

The beef travel through the Indian territory.

Scott:

They encounter similar obstacles and dangerous terrain, and

Scott:

the film culminates in the.

Scott:

Same classic showdown between Rooster Cogburn and the criminals he's pursuing.

Scott:

And Jeff Bridges even gives us the line that John Wayne made famous.

Scott:

Fill your hands, you son of a bitch.

Scott:

And charges straight towards the four outlaws with reins in his

Scott:

mouth and two guns firing away.

Scott:

Now this movie is a Tale of vengeance.

Scott:

Justice and the roughness of the American West and features,

Scott:

strong performances from its cast and beautiful cinematography.

Scott:

I did notice that very clearly in the 2010 version, the cinematography.

Scott:

I just loved some of those scenes.

Scott:

I think you could just literally turn into a picture.

Scott:

It was gorgeous.

Scott:

The.

Scott:

2010 release of True Grit was a surprise Cohen Brothers commercial

Scott:

success, and it grossed over 252 million at the box office.

Scott:

It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards.

Scott:

Wow.

Scott:

Including Best Picture, best Director for the Cohen Brothers

Scott:

Best adapted screenplay.

Scott:

Best actor for Jeff Bridges best supporting actress for Haley Steinfeld.

Scott:

The film also received nominations for best cinematography, sound

Scott:

editing, sound mixing, best costume design and best art direction.

Scott:

Wow.

Scott:

So it, they knocked out of the park on this one.

Scott:

And here's an interesting movie Critics fact for you.

Scott:

Jeff Bridges was nominated for playing Rooster Cogburn and the role that

Scott:

John Wayne won his Oscar for, and it's very rare for two actors to win

Scott:

an Oscar for the exact same role.

Scott:

Sure.

Scott:

It's, I can't name any off the top of my head.

Scott:

You might be able to, but Joaquin Phoenix, we'd have to, we'd have to look that up.

Scott:

And

Jenn:

Heath Ledger a Joker.

Scott:

But one year earlier, so this is the 2010 version,

Scott:

one year earlier in 2009.

Scott:

Bridges had actually just won for his first Oscar for the film Crazy Heart.

Scott:

Which was seen at the time as like a career kind of achievement award for him.

Scott:

Yet many critics felt that Bridge's role as Cogburn was

Scott:

actually the better performance.

Scott:

And if not for his , Oscar win a year earlier for Crazy Heart.

Scott:

, most critics believe he would've won it for True Grit as Rooster Cogburn.

Scott:

So I just thought that was very interesting.

Scott:

Interesting.

Scott:

Because, Jeff Bridges is phenomenal.

Scott:

He does play

Jenn:

it very well.

Jenn:

He does.

Jenn:

He plays a different booster.

Jenn:

Cogburn, like you said, not quite as humorous.

Jenn:

Yep.

Jenn:

He takes a little bit of the humor away, but he does play the same gritty ness

Jenn:

and I think what, and this was nominated for so many Oscars, I think westerns.

Jenn:

Really set themselves up to be shot beautifully cinematically.

Jenn:

Oh, a hundred percent.

Jenn:

Because you're on the raw western landscape and it's beautiful.

Jenn:

That is what draws people to the west.

Jenn:

That's what draws these cowboys and these rangers to live off the

Jenn:

land is that beauty of the land.

Jenn:

And so wait, if you can shoot that and shoot that.

Jenn:

It really is beautiful.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

There

Scott:

was just some amazing cinematic shots.

Scott:

One of the things that I actually noticed as I was watching the

Scott:

movie, I watched it today.

Scott:

But one of the things that I noticed while I was watching the movie and I, when I was

Scott:

doing some research online, they called it out as well, is a lot of Some of the

Scott:

characters are mirror opposites, so he actually wears the patch on the other eye.

Scott:

Ah, it's interesting.

Scott:

And so actually Cheney's character, right?

Scott:

So that was Brolin.

Scott:

He's his pet his scar is on the other cheek.

Scott:

His like Is his powder burn.

Scott:

Gunpowder burn.

Scott:

The gunpowder burn is actually on the other cheek.

Scott:

It's interesting.

Scott:

And so I think the Cohen brothers, what I read was they tried to stay

Scott:

a little bit more true to the book.

Jenn:

Sure.

Jenn:

Because she loses her arm in this one.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

She doesn't lose her arm in 1960 nine's version in this

Jenn:

version, she loses her arm.

Jenn:

And in both versions he stays with her until she's well, but she

Jenn:

sees him again right away in the 1969 version in the 2010 version.

Jenn:

She never sees him again.

Jenn:

She gets a letter from him.

Jenn:

She goes to visit and he's already

Scott:

passed.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

And also the thing that was different, and I assume this must be more accurate to the

Scott:

book, was they actually split up from Lae.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

He survives.

Scott:

They get into an argument actually pretty early on.

Scott:

Oh yes.

Scott:

Before they get out to the, get into the initial shootout with some of

Scott:

Ned Pepper's, gang, they split up and, so it's just him and Maddie.

Scott:

It's just Rooster and Matt for a little while until they get to that one place

Scott:

where the two outlaws kind of get killed.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

The deck out and peppers came, comes in later.

Scott:

They meet up with the beef and then they split up again.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And he hears the gunshots, so that must be more accurate to the book.

Scott:

Whereas in the 1969 version, they basically stay together the entire time.

Scott:

Yeah, they do.

Scott:

So I thought that was interesting.

Scott:

And I, Matt Damon I liked Matt Damon as an as acting role.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

I think he did a great job.

True Grit:

He dallied in Monroe, Louisiana, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas

True Grit:

before turning up at your father's place.

True Grit:

Well, why did you not catch him in Pine Bluff, Arkansas or Monroe, Louisiana.

True Grit:

He's a crafty one.

True Grit:

I thought him slow witted myself.

True Grit:

That was his act.

True Grit:

That was a good one.

True Grit:

Are you some kind of law?

True Grit:

That's right.

True Grit:

I'm a Texas Ranger.

True Grit:

That may make you a big noise in that state.

True Grit:

In Arkansas, you should mind that your Texas trappings entitled Do

True Grit:

not Make you an object of Fun.

True Grit:

Why have you been?

True Grit:

I effectually pursuing Chaney.

True Grit:

He's shot and killed a state senator named Bibbs in Waco, Texas.

True Grit:

Bibbs family put out a reward.

True Grit:

Well, how came Channey to shoot a state senator?

True Grit:

My understanding is there was an argument about a dog, you know, anything

True Grit:

about the whereabouts of Cheney.

True Grit:

Oh, he's in the territory and I hold that little hope for you winning your bounty.

True Grit:

Why is that?

True Grit:

My man will beat you to it.

True Grit:

I've hired a Deputy Marshall, the toughest one they have.

True Grit:

Annie's familiar with the lucky net pepper gang.

True Grit:

They say Cheney's tied up with.

True Grit:

Well, I will throw in with you and your Marshall.

True Grit:

No, Marshall Cogburn and I are fine.

True Grit:

It'll be to our mutual advantage.

True Grit:

Your Marshall, I presume, knows the territory.

True Grit:

I know Cheney.

True Grit:

It is at least a two.

True Grit:

Man.

True Grit:

I've taken him alive.

True Grit:

When Chaney is taken, he's coming back to Fort Smith to hang.

True Grit:

I'm not having him go to Texas to hang for shooting some Senator.

True Grit:

It is not important where he hangs, is it?

True Grit:

It is to me.

True Grit:

Is it to you?

True Grit:

It means a great deal of money to me.

True Grit:

It's been many months work.

True Grit:

Oh, I'm sorry that you were paid.

True Grit:

Peace broken, not on wages and that you have been alluded

True Grit:

The winter long by half witch.

True Grit:

You give out very little sugar with your pronouncements.

True Grit:

While I sat there watching you, I gave some thought to stealing a kiss.

True Grit:

Though you are very young and sick and unattractive to boot, but now

True Grit:

I have a mind to give you five or six good licks with my belt.

True Grit:

Hmm.

True Grit:

Well, one would be as unpleasant as the other.

True Grit:

If you wet your comb might tame that cowlick.

Jenn:

It's difference between an actor and a singer.

Jenn:

Glenn Campbell was a singer.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

He's trying to act and he does a fair job.

Jenn:

But Mac Damon is an actor.

Jenn:

He's

Scott:

better.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Matt Damon did a great job.

Scott:

And especially with, if you've ever seen these movies, if you haven't That

Scott:

Maddie, what she does esp, especially with Libi, is she's very quick witted.

Scott:

And so he keeps saying, it's oh, I was thinking about sneaking a kiss from

Scott:

you, but maybe instead I'll you bend you over my knee and give you a switch.

Scott:

And she's I think both would be just as miserable.

Scott:

And he just He's shocked.

Scott:

He's surprised.

Scott:

He's like, how does this 14 year old girl she just keeps giving it to him.

Scott:

She's very, and so eventually he just gets frustrated and he's

Scott:

okay, I'm not dealing with this.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

But so Matt Damon did a fantastic job as Lae.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And

Jenn:

I think the 2010 version, like I said, there is some parts of it

Jenn:

that I think are more realistic.

Jenn:

There is a part in the dugout when the.

Jenn:

The brother is dying.

Jenn:

And Jeff Bridges stands over him and

True Grit:

Help me.

True Grit:

I couldn't do nothing for you son.

Jenn:

he's help me.

Jenn:

And he's I can do nothing for you.

Jenn:

John Wayne delivers that line you're standing on my foot.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

I can do nothing for you.

Jenn:

Where Jeff Bridges gives you more of a sense of you're dying.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

It's nothing I can do where I didn't really.

Jenn:

Get quite that same sentence from when John Wayne delivered the line.

Jenn:

So there is so much difference with inflection Sure.

Jenn:

And how people are setting up the scene, which I found very interesting.

Jenn:

And it's neat to see two really good actors play a very colorful

Jenn:

character like this in different ways.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

And I think that, I felt like Jeff Bridges actually played a little

Scott:

bit more of that person that was.

Scott:

Closer to the edge of what's legal and not

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And he gets very drunk.

Jenn:

You don't see so much of that from John Wayne, except John Wayne gets drunk and

Jenn:

falls off the horse and says, we're gonna

Scott:

kill here.

Scott:

I actually wrote down John Wayne drank from very, he was drinking the whole time.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

Whereas Jeff Bridges was about halfway through the movie before his

Scott:

character actually started drinking.

Scott:

And they also goes on a huge bender in the 2010 version they introduced, this must

Scott:

have been in the book like some random.

Scott:

Doctor, like this wilderness Dr.

Scott:

Guy who's wearing like a big bur bare fur in the bare head.

True Grit:

You are not LeBeouf.

True Grit:

My name is Forrester.

True Grit:

Now, practice dentistry in the nation.

True Grit:

Also veterinary arts and medicine on those humans that will sit still for it.

True Grit:

They have your work cut out for you There.

True Grit:

Traded for him with an Indian who said he came by him.

True Grit:

Honestly, I gave up two dental mirrors and a bottle of expectorant.

True Grit:

Do either of you need.

True Grit:

Medical with attention.

True Grit:

No.

Scott:

Very strange, very random interaction, but that, that

Scott:

had to have been in the book.

Scott:

Sure.

Scott:

So that just really stuck out cause it was, they didn't have

Scott:

that in the first version at all.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jenn:

I do love the dialogue and I even love, I really

Jenn:

appreciate Maddie's dialogue.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Like you said, she is very of the time.

Jenn:

She's using jargon of the time.

Jenn:

She's really legal eased and she's cri witted.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And she's just very, she has a response for everything, and I

Jenn:

think that's another thing where Ned Pepper finds her a formidable.

Jenn:

A foe, I guess in a way when he meets her because Yeah she

Scott:

Earns respect pretty quickly.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

She

Jenn:

answers his question.

Jenn:

She's very

Scott:

forthcoming because cuz Ned Pepper doesn't really care about Cheney.

Scott:

Cheney just joined in with him.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

He's oh yeah, he shot that guy.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

He probably deserved it, right?

Scott:

He killed your dad.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

It's okay, yeah.

Scott:

I can tell you're holding your own, right?

Scott:

Don't hurt her.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And she's my, my pistol misfired.

Jenn:

And he goes, yeah, they'll do that.

Jenn:

So he's very he's honest with her too.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

So I found it very interesting.

Jenn:

They still have the same guy who makes the animal sounds Yes.

Jenn:

Just showing you like, there's still crazy

Scott:

people.

Scott:

There's crazy.

Scott:

He's he sounds like a Turkey.

Scott:

Too thin rooster, too thin.

Scott:

You're your five minutes is running.

Scott:

No more talk.

Scott:

Get on up that hill.

Scott:

And then he's That was in the first movie too.

Scott:

Yeah, that was in the first movie too.

Scott:

And I think he died in, I think that character died in each of 'em.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

So

Jenn:

they, yeah.

Jenn:

They die in that fill your hands.

Jenn:

You son him a bitch.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

There's are other lines.

Jenn:

John Wayne makes this, the statement looking back is a bad habit.

True Grit:

They don't call him lucky Ned Pepper for nothing.

True Grit:

That man gave his life for him.

True Grit:

He didn't even look back.

True Grit:

Yeah, looking back is a bad habit.

Jenn:

So he doesn't say that

Scott:

In the second one.

Scott:

Does is second one.

Scott:

I didn't catch it.

Scott:

I was li I was listening for it, but that was, that's a pretty famous line.

Scott:

I think you have a shirt with that on it.

Scott:

Looking back as a bad habit I don't think Jeff Bridges had that line in there.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

But

Jenn:

so it's neat.

Jenn:

The snake bite.

Jenn:

Happens in both.

Jenn:

He rides the horse to its death in both.

Jenn:

He carries her to safety to the back of the house.

Jenn:

In both a little different when,

Scott:

And then, like you said earlier, the beef lives in the second one.

Scott:

In the 2010 version.

Scott:

So again, I assume that must be more like the book.

Scott:

Yes.

Jenn:

Although she says she hasn't seen him, she said he'd be well.

Jenn:

Into his 70 eighties.

Jenn:

By now, I would like to have a talk with him.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

So the end of the 2010 version, I actually appreciated seeing,

Scott:

she said it's 25 years later.

Scott:

I had the body removed to our plot and I have visited it over the years.

Scott:

No doubt.

Scott:

People talk about that.

Scott:

They say.

Scott:

Well, she hardly knew the man.

Scott:

Isn't she a cranky old maid?

Scott:

It is true.

Scott:

I have not married.

Scott:

I never had time to fool with it.

Scott:

I heard nothing more of the Texas officer LeBeouf.

Scott:

If he is yet alive, I would be pleased to hear from him.

Scott:

I judge he would be in his seventies now and nearer.

Scott:

80 than 70.

Scott:

I expect some of the starch has gone out of that cowlick.

Scott:

Time just gets away from us.

. Scott:

But I appreciated seeing her and her tracking down,

. Scott:

trying to track down Rooster

Jenn:

Cogburn.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

He sends her he's basically running with the Cole Younger,

Jenn:

kinda like a Buffalo Bill show.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

They're doing a Wild West show and the Cole Younger gang from Jesse James,

Jenn:

Frank James and the Cole Younger.

Jenn:

They're doing a show and they're very old men.

Jenn:

And Rooster Cogburn must have been part of their show.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

To some degree telling his.

Jenn:

Stories and he sends her a letter to come visit them in

Jenn:

Memphis, which is also very cool.

Jenn:

Cause we used to live in Memphis.

Jenn:

And when she gets there and she talks to, I think Mr.

Jenn:

Younger, he informs her that booster has died three

Scott:

the weeks earlier.

Scott:

No, it was like three days.

Jenn:

Oh, three days.

Jenn:

I know.

Jenn:

She must have been three days.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And they buried him in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Jenn:

And she has them dug up and brought back to her family, to

Scott:

her family plot.

Scott:

But for some reason I appreciated that ending a little bit.

Scott:

More.

Scott:

It was two very different endings.

Scott:

Two very different endings.

Scott:

The first one, the ending was Rooster Cogburn, jumping his horse over a fence,

Scott:

and you get that sense of oh, there he is off back, off into the wild west.

Scott:

And then the next one, You actually appreciate the closure?

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

A little bit.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

Because, that he's gonna die in some random weird, alone.

Scott:

Alone.

Scott:

Like his character knows that.

Scott:

He knows that.

Scott:

That's him talking about his ex-wife and his.

Scott:

Son who was clumsy, kept, could never stay on a horse, and broke about 40 cups.

Scott:

Broke 40 cups.

Scott:

So there were differences between the 1969 and the 2010 version that I appreciated

Scott:

some things that I missed Yeah.

Scott:

In the 2010 that I enjoyed in the 1969.

Scott:

Like I said, I think overall to bring this.

Scott:

All back together.

Scott:

I enjoyed the character of John Wayne's Rooster Cog and a little

Scott:

bit more cause I liked the humor.

Scott:

It was, there was a little bit more humor in there and I just,

Scott:

me personally, I appreciated that.

Scott:

Yeah.

Scott:

The cinematography into the 2010 version was gorgeous.

Scott:

It's not even a comparison to me.

Scott:

No.

Scott:

But Matt Damon's character I think was a little better in the second Maddie

Scott:

Ross, her, the actress the young lady.

Scott:

She was amazing.

Scott:

She's amazing.

Jenn:

And she's young.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Where Kim Derby is not 14 years old.

Jenn:

In the 1969 version.

Jenn:

Okay.

Jenn:

So which one did you like better?

Scott:

Oh goodness.

Scott:

I would go with the 1969 version really?

Scott:

With the John Wayne version.

Scott:

I would go with that one just because I enjoyed that version of Rooster

Scott:

Cogburn and a little bit more.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

And John Wayne is just so iconic.

Scott:

In that role, with the lines that he gives.

Scott:

And I think the, to me, hid the lines when he gives those famous one-liners,

Scott:

they have a little bit more oomph to him.

Scott:

A little bit.

Scott:

More, a little more of a ring.

Scott:

If I was gonna go just from cinema, cinematography,

Scott:

videography, the 2010 version.

Scott:

Hands down.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

But I think I enjoyed the 1969 version a little bit more.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

I think same thing.

Jenn:

I enjoy the characters in the 1969 version a little bit more.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

As far as cinematography wardrobe, I do like 2010.

Jenn:

I like Ben Foster, I think a little bit more as Ned Pepper.

Jenn:

Oh yeah.

Jenn:

Than Robert Duvall.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

As well.

Jenn:

I'm a big Ben Foster fan.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And I do like how rugged he looked.

Jenn:

Ugh.

Jenn:

As compared to, they, which they, when you saw his teeth and everything, which

Jenn:

they do a really good job, I think, in later westerns to show how hard

Jenn:

these men look living off the land.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Like

Scott:

they do.

Scott:

Even Josh Brolin, who plays Cheney, his character, it's not a,

Scott:

he's a pivotal character, but he doesn't have a lot of screen time.

Scott:

Yes.

Scott:

But he plays this downbeat.

Scott:

Josh Brolin's a huge actor.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

He's downbeat.

Jenn:

He also seems very simple-minded as well.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And the world is against him.

Jenn:

Everyone's against him.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And so it shows you again, like these maybe cognitive limitations.

Jenn:

Yeah.

Jenn:

That may people into the outlaws that they became.

Scott:

But yeah, I think overall I enjoyed the 1969 version a little bit more.

Scott:

If you haven't seen these movies I highly recommend both of them.

Scott:

Yeah, they're both very enjoyable.

Scott:

I do too.

Scott:

The John Wayne won.

Scott:

If you're a John Wayne fan, I'm guessing you probably clicked on this

Scott:

thumbnail to watch this video because you're a John Wayne or True Grit fan.

Scott:

So I'd be curious to hear what your guys' favorite version is, whether the

Scott:

1969 version of 2010, and maybe your thoughts on your favorite characters

Scott:

and why you like one over the other.

Scott:

Drop it in the comments below.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jenn:

Are your favorite lines from the movie?

Jenn:

Absolutely.

Scott:

I'd like to hear that too.

Scott:

Yeah, that'd be fun.

Scott:

So thank you for listening to our first ever watch with history segment.

Scott:

As we've discussed, true grit had a significant impact on our popular culture,

Scott:

particularly in the Western genre.

Scott:

It, even just the term true grit has a little bit more meaning just because

Scott:

of this film and it's been added.

Scott:

It's been adapted into multiple films, a television show, and I think I

Scott:

read somewhere, even a stage play.

Scott:

At its core, true Grit is a story about the pursuit of justice and revenge

Scott:

in a lawless and dangerous world.

Scott:

It explores the themes of determination, perseverance, and loyalty, as

Scott:

well as the human desire for redemption and a sense of purpose.

Scott:

As viewers, we get a peak into the historical context of the American

Scott:

Old West depicting a time of conflict and upheaval in the country's history.

Scott:

Through its portrayal of rugged landscapes, violent encounters in

Scott:

the pursuit of justice, true grit captures the spirit of the American

Scott:

frontier and its enduring mythology.

Scott:

So whether you're a fan of Westerns, John Wayne, or simply appreciate a

Scott:

great story, true Grit is a film that continues to captivate audiences and

Scott:

leave a lasting impact on us today.

Scott:

If you enjoyed this watch with history segment, please reach out

Scott:

to us through the link in our show notes and we as we love hearing from

Scott:

you, and we would be curious to hear what movie you want us to talk about

Scott:

for our next watch with history.

Scott:

We'll see you next time.

Scott:

Thank you.

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Talk With History
A Historian and Navy Veteran talk about traveling to historic locations

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About your hosts

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Scott B

Host of the Talk With History podcast, Producer over at Walk with History on YouTube, Editor of HistoryNewsletter.com
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Jennifer B

Former Naval Aviator turned Historian and a loyal Penn Stater. (WE ARE!) I earned my Masters in American History and graduate certificate in Museum Studies, from the University of Memphis.

The Talk with History podcast gives Scott and me a chance to go deeper into the details of our Walk with History YouTube videos and gives you a behind-the-scenes look at our history-inspired adventures.

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