Rooster Cogburn (1975)

Director:

Stuart Millar

Writers:

Charles Portis (character "Rooster Cogburn" from the novel "True Grit")
Martha Hyer (written by)

Release Date:

November 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Western

Tagline:

The man of "True Grit" is back and look who's got him!

Plot:

Marshal Rooster Cogburn unwillingly teams up with Eula Goodnight to track down the killers of her father.

Plot Keywords:

Drunkenness | Schoolteacher | Loss Of Father | Bar | Revenge

Cast

John Wayne	...	Rooster Cogburn
Katharine Hepburn	...	Eula
Anthony Zerbe	...	Breed
Richard Jordan	...	Hawk
John McIntire	...	Judge Parker
Paul Koslo	...	Luke
Jack Colvin	...	Red
Jon Lormer	...	Rev. Goodnight
Richard Romancito	...	Wolf
Lane Smith	...	Leroy
Warren Vanders	...	Bagby
Jerry Gatlin	...	Nose
Strother Martin	...	McCoy
Tommy Lee	...	Chen Lee

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bend, Oregon, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Although John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn refer to Strother Martin as "Old Man", he was in fact twelve years younger than them.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Just before Rooster sends Wolf out to keep watch on the big flat rock, he talks about Chen Lee and General Sterling Price. When he says "General Sterling Price" in that scene, his lips don't match the words being said. You can also hear the audio change back and forth.

Quotes:

Rooster Cogburn: [Eula has gone to a creek to wash up] Watch yourself, sister! Everything in these woods'll either bite ya, stab ya or stick ya!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV)

a disappointing sequel

"True Grit" is one of the finest Westerns ever made, and definitely features John Wayne's best performance. In that film, the character was perfectly made to suit him. Unfortunately, the sequel to "True Grit", titled "Rooster Cogburn" is not a film that works out so well. True, John Wayne was still top-notch as his ever-famous character and Katharine Hepburn, one of the best actresses of all time, was great in her role, the film is spoiled by others factors.

The plot of "Rooster Cogburn" is not particularly original, but then again, neither was "True Grit". But you don't need an original plot to have a good movie. You need a movie with a plot that is developed and executed in the right manner. "Rooster Cogburn" plays dull and slowly, with characters that we really couldn't care less about and a climax that we really just want to come so that we can see what happens. And the climax itself is one of the biggest downers I have ever stumbled upon. Some of the minor action sequences of the film were more entertaining than the ending shootouts of "Rooster Cogburn". The villains were very badly developed, you couldn't really remember any differences between them and they really had not point in the film. They were just there to be there.

I watched it for three reasons: John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, True Grit sequel. Two of those aspects were done perfectly. That would be John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn, two of the greatest stars of all time. They did their parts with perfection, as they always did in their long careers. But the third point fails. "Rooster Cogburn" just fails to be a compelling movie. It's overall a major disappointment, especially when compared to the cleverness and entertainment presented before us in "True Grit".