True Grit (1969)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1969
	Director: Henry Hattaway (How the West was won)
	Actors: John Wayne (Rio Bravo, The Searchers), Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now, Open Range, Deep Impact)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Western
	Conditions of visioning: 19.07.2012, Blu-ray, Home Cinema
Synopsis: A man is killed by his coward employee, and his daughter would do anything to find the murderer, starting by hiring the toughest Marshall around.
Review: This is the original movie from which the Coen brothers made a succesful remake with Jeff Bridges in the leading role in 2010. I bought the Blu-ray thinking it was just another marketing trick, playing on the fact that some people will get confused and buy this one instead of the 2010 one, like they did for Inglorious Bastards. I don't think this particular John Wayne movie was well known in Europe (for information the french title is 100 dollars pour un shérif), at least until the remake. But I was surprised: the movie is as well written, played or shot as the remake. So few details have changed, the remake looks more like an hommage, slight actualisation of the dialogues maybe, and the opportunity to use a recent great actor (Jeff Bridges). The Blu-ray transfer is very good and lets you enjoy the beautiful lanscapes as well as the details on the faces of the characters. I watched the extras on the Blu-ray, and I learned that many people, like me, find John Wayne to be not such a good actor. The interviewed specialist tends to agree, except in the case of  some of John Wayne best movies: The Searchers (that movie is nice for other reasons, but I didn't find him to play so well), She wore a yellow ribbon (on my DVD shelf, still to be watched) and True Grit. I completely agree that his actor performance in this movie is fabulous, and he fully deserved the Oscar he won for it, the only in his career.
Rating: 8 /10