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Rooster Cogburn (1975) More at IMDb Pro »

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27 comments in total

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16 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
See it for the actors, 15 February 2000
Author: gee-15 from United States

This is one of a few movies that I can watch over and over again and still enjoy. That said, it's also my favourite Western. (And I'm not a big fan of the genre.)

The story is simple. Cogburn (Wayne) is tracking down a load of nitro stolen by Hawk (Jordan)and his gang. As the gang of outlaws bid a hasty retreat, they stumble upon Eula (Hepburn), her minister father, and several Indians including a teen-aged boy named Wolf.

The plot is simple and had their characters been played by any other actors besides Wayne and Hepburn, the film would have been mediocre at best. Their performances make the film shine. Every scene they have together crackles with chemistry. When Wayne says to Hepburn, "being with you pleases me", I got the feeling he meant it and that Hepburn received the compliment with genuine pleasure. Well, maybe it's just good acting.

In any event, the film is a nice way to pass some time for those unfamiliar with Wayne or Westerns and a must-see for all Wayne and Hepburn fans.

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Better than True Grit, 18 September 2006

Author: C.K. Dexter Haven from BC

Don't get me wrong, True Grit is a good western and worthy of its classic status, but I've always found John Wayne's first go round as Rooster Cogburn to be uneven, at times colorfully into character but just as often just playing John Wayne. He won his only Oscar for it of course, but he hadn't yet completely found ol' Rooster's voice.

In this sequel co starring Katharine Hepburn, the Duke has every aspect of Rooster down pat. The scenes he and Hepburn share, trading their philosophies and anecdotes while they come to know and admire (and platonically fall in love with) each other is the engine of this film. Forget the plot, it's passable enough but very much secondary, this story gets along strictly on the strength of the two lead characters and it's worth seeing again and again just to watch these two Hollywood legends banter and spar in their one and only movie together.

This was the first John Wayne film I ever saw in a movie theatre (I was 9 years old in 1975) and it made me a lifelong fan. This is easily one of his most entertaining adventures. Hepburn and Wayne together is even more fun than Bogart and Hepburn in The African Queen. A timeless treasure.

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
The Same Sense of Integrity, 5 April 2006

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

A reading of the other reviews of Rooster Cogburn indicate that only fans of the two stars should look at this film. That's not saying a whole lot since this was a vehicle created for the two stars and only the two stars in this film could have brought it off.

It was a happy marriage of convenience with John Wayne's character of Rooster Cogburn from True Grit being so popular that a sequel was inevitable given Wayne's health holding up and Katharine Hepburn looking for something she could co-star with Wayne.

Hepburn was one of John Wayne's biggest boosters of his talent, politics aside. I remember reading that she thought John Wayne projected the same sense of integrity that Spencer Tracy did on the screen. Coming from her, I've got to believe that's the best compliment she could offer.

Wayne as Cogburn is on the trail of a gang that massacred an army patrol and stole a gatling gun and nitroglycerin for use in a planned bank robbery. The gang headed by Richard Jordan with Anthony Zerbe who used to scout for Wayne go to an Indian settlement with a missionary school headed by father and daughter preacher and teacher Jon Lormer and Katharine Hepburn. The gang shoots up the place and kills Lormer.

When Wayne comes he gets a lot more than he bargained for when he finds himself saddled with Hepburn and young Indian boy Richard Romancito. They accompany him on the trail of Jordan and his gang and get enough adventure to last a lifetime.

Everyone compares Hepburn as Eula Goodnight to her portrayal of another missionary, Rose Sayer in The African Queen. Both are on a chase in The African Queen with Bogey after the Germans who destroyed the mission in East Africa and killed her brother and with Wayne after some outlaws. And both films feature a very fine sequence of the two stars riding some rapids. But I think Eula Goodnight is a far more experienced woman of the world than Rose Sayer. Both disapprove of the alcoholic behavior of their male counterparts. Rose however takes some direct action.

As the film was designed around the two stars they settle comfortably in their roles. The chemistry between them is infectious, that they liked each other would be obvious to an alien from another planet.

I really envy young Richard Romancito to be in all those scenes and be able to watch a pair of screen legends.

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Top Drawer All The Way, 12 February 2005

Author: stuartk7070 from United States

Rooster Cogburn is top of the line entertainment of the "old school" of movie making.

Every character, every scene and every piece of dialog is top drawer story telling at it's best. Suffice it to say, Rooster Cogburn / The Shootist are fitting movies to end John Wayne's career...a career that defined the Western male lead.

Wayne's character epitomizes the raw American Individual Spirit that takes on the task because it is noble and right, regardless of the odds.

No other actors other than Wayne and Hepburn could carry this movie...a movie made in the twilight of each of their careers. One can't help but put yourself in the movie each time you watch it and wish Wayne & Hepburn were still there...both of them will be greatly missed!

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7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A great movie starring two legends and two great character actors, 16 February 1999

Author: Kim-68

This movie is a lot of fun to watch. John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn are terrific together. You can see the chemistry between them. Richard Jordan does a terrific job as the villain, he is mean, nasty and downright awful! I definitely wouldn't want to get him mad. The scene between him and Katharine Hepburn at Fort Ruby was awesome, you could see the sparks flying. Then there was the scene where the wheel broke off the wagon and Hawk gets furious with his men, Jordan did a great job with that part, talk about angry, if looks could kill, his would, it gave me shivers. Anthony Zerbe also does a great job as Breed. The two of them, Jordan and Zerbe are great together. Like one scene in the saloon when Hawk learns about the wagon being taken by Rooster, he starts to go out when Breed tells him, that he will never take Rooster and that he had worked with him for three years, you can see the daggers between the two. They are definitely two of the best character actors ever. They don't make movies like this anymore, where it was up to the actors to make a film a success and not rely on special affects. And these four actors did this brilliantly. I wish John Wayne and Richard Jordan were still around today.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A disappointing effort.., 3 June 2007

Author: dbowman-9 from Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I really wanted to enjoy this film! Recalling the final scene of "True Grit" when John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn and horse jumped the fence without assistance from special effects or stuntmen, a reprise of the Oscar - winning role was keenly anticipated. Complemented by Katherine Hepburn, long - term partner of another movie favourite, Spencer Tracy, this should have been a wonderful film. Unfortunately, I don't believe it was! Continuity and / or reference to "True Grit" was almost non - existent. Too much of the script occurred in near dark scenes. Richard Jordan who I thought was terrific in the later production of "Gettysburg", seems to be one - dimensional. As for "the Duke" and Miss Hepburn, they may have enjoyed working together, but I thought there was some important ingredient missing in their acting. I thought someone planned a sequel, six years after the original,to capitalise on potential box office returns. Sadly, the Western had declined in audience interest by 1974 and I believe this film didn't gain much kudos except for its curiosity value. For me, the John Wayne and Lauren Bacall pairing in "The Shootist" was much more magical and interesting, a film which sadly too few watched.

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Legends on display, 10 March 2000
Author: Boyo-2

Hepburn & the Duke made a fairly decent movie and that's enough reason to see it at least once. The fact that Hepburn has a Father in the movie is suspect, at best, especially since he's not played by Moses himself. But that's besides the point here - they have terrific chemistry and their star power alone could put most of the actors on the screen today to shame. It would have been really memorable if the movie were worthy of them, though.

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7 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A western romp with some excellent acting by both the stars and the supporting cast., 23 July 2001
Author: tneufeld from Tokyo

This movie is more than just a lot of fun to watch. John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn are wonderful, but only because they are together. The chemistry between them is electrifying.

Richard Jordan plays his villan role to a "T". He is mean and nasty, and he keeps his character believeable to the end. There is a scene between him and Katharine Hepburn at Fort Ruby that is absolutely brilliant, you could feel the lightning flashing between their characters.

Think about the scene where the wheel broke off the wagon: Hawk gets furious with his men and Jordan's character did a great job with his part: he seem really angry, as if looks could kill. His expressions, well, it gave me the willies.

Don't you agree that Anthony Zerbe created a believeable "Breed". The two of them, Jordan and Zerbe are so believeable together. Remember the scene in the saloon when Hawk learns about the wagon being taken by Rooster? He starts to go out and Breed tells him, that he worked with Rooster for three years...and that he knows that Breed will never take Rooster? There is some great chemistry in that scene! They have tried to make movies like this before, but it hasn't happened yet: movies that made the actors create a film a success that was not relying on special affects alone, but just the characters and the story.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
a disappointing sequel, 10 June 2007

Author: jmgalvan-1 from United States

"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".

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Enough with the African Queen comparisons!, 19 February 2007

Author: rrrnay from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Good grief, enough already! 1. Rose Sayer and Eula Goodnight are alike in one respect, they were missionaries. Beyond that, the characters were completely different Rose was prim, proper and quite out of place in Africa. Eula fit in...rode astraddle, shot a gun (and bagged their dinner, wilderness stew anyone?) In short, Eula could take fine care of herself thank you very much! Rose only learned that she wasn't a wall flower by going on the African Queen with Charlie. 2. Charlie originally only had allegiance to himself but learned about loyalty to someone else by being with Rose. Despite his protests about "letting a man be" Rooster was loyal to the law (or at least as close as he could come to it) 3. Rose and Charlie both went through significant changes to be together...Rooster and Eula learned to accept each other 'as is.' 4.Fighting outlaws and going downriver to escape them is not the same as fighting rapids to get down river to torpedo a boat, jeez, the river in The African Queen was a character in it's own right, while in Rooster Cogburn it's just a setting.

It's late and I don't have time for more...but a pox on whoever started this idea and a double pox on those who mindlessly repeat it!

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