Shot exactly half a century ago, “Rooster Cogburn” for the first time brought together on the screen two of the brightest stars of the Golden Age of American cinema. The names of John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn in movie posters were guaranteed to gather full houses in the 1930s – 1950s. At the end of the sixties, when the era of the New Hollywood began, they once again reminded themselves of their bright roles, deservedly awarded the Oscar. For their on-screen benefit, the plot of the tape that we recall was created.
The name of the film was the name of John Wayne’s character – a brutal sheriff or marshal with a pirate eyepatch. The image of Ruben Cogburn, nicknamed Rooster for the pugnacious character, that is, the Rooster, was created by writer Charles Portis in 1968 in the novel “Iron Grip” and a year later was transferred to the cinema by the famous director Henry Hathaway, who staged many westerns, including John Wayne in the title role. Released in 1969, “True Grit” (in Russian translation, “Real Courage”) brought the main Hollywood movie cowboy John Wayne his only Oscar. The producer of this tape, Hal Wallis (who had such legendary tapes as The Roaring Twenties, Casablanca, etc.) decided to continue the screen life of the hero. The main screenwriter of the new film project was the wife of Wallis actress Martha Hyer (who became Martin Julien in the credits), who decided to combine the adventures of Sheriff Cogburn with a line reminiscent of the plot of the famous “African Queen” (1951), that popular adventure film where Katharine Hepburn shone paired with Humphrey Bogart. The prim missionary Rosa, played in that film by the great actress, could be considered the younger sister of the brave Julia Goodnight from The Cock of Cogburn.
Rooster Cogburn in front of a judge, which will soon strip him of his sheriff's badge
Let’s draw a little plot outline of the western we remember. The time of action can be conditionally dated to the 1870s – the very time when the Civil War that raged recently gave rise to a lot of dashing people who tried to use their weapon skills for illegal purposes. They are opposed by Rooster Cogburn, who prefers not to bring the case to court, but to solve it on the spot with well-aimed shots. For this excessive bloodshed, the local judge deprives the sheriff of his badge.
The essence of Judge Cogburn’s claims is clearly indicated in the following phrase: “Rich people choose places where the law protects, not kills. The West is changing, and you don’t want to understand it.” Returning to the judge the symbol of sheriff’s authority, Wayne’s character remarks: “But outside of this territory they have no idea about these new laws. We know them and they don’t.”
The leader of the Hawk gang
However, soon the danger posed by one violent gang intending to rob a bank forces the judge to return Cogburn to his former powers. And the fearless sheriff, without waiting for the promised help, goes in pursuit of the bandits. And the Hawk gang, by that time, was brutally cracking down on the soldiers guarding the convoy with explosives, which the bandits needed as a universal lock pick for bank safes. An old missionary in a small Indian settlement also becomes a victim of these thugs. His middle-aged daughter, Miss Yula Goodnight, and an Indian youth nicknamed Wolf, against Cogburn’s wishes, decide to accompany him in the full dangers of pursuing bandits. The sister-preacher gives before this a quote not unknown to us with a reference to the original source:
“Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword. As it says in the Gospel of Matthew.”
This is the plot of the story, the further action of which reveals to the viewer the characters of the characters (a sharp-tongued southerner and a mannered Northerner with an abundance of biblical quotations for all occasions). Heroes show in moments of danger those qualities that make them feel sympathy for each other and a sense of elbow.
Stuart Millar, who had been producing for a long time, was invited to the director’s chair, and shortly before that he himself shot the western “When Legends Die” starring Richard Widmark and Frederick Forrest. The place of filming in the fall of 1974 was the picturesque places of Oregon. And, of course, it is worth noting the screen magic that John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn create in the frame. In the characters they created, the former roles of the two great masters of the cinema screen seem to shine through. It is as if the fearless and unsophisticated Wayne cowboys and self-sufficient businesswomen, who were loved by viewers of different generations, are being reincarnated, played by the most Oscar-winning actress of world cinema.
Rooster: "Tell me, who could teach a Boston lady to shoot so accurately?" Miss Yula: "My first date. In shooting and horseback riding"
The cast and supporting cast of “Rooster Cogburn (… and the Lady)” are also remarkable, as the name of this western sounds more complete. What is worth at least a Chinese friend of the main character, causing a constant smile of the audience. His image on the screen was created by a great master of episodic roles Strother Martin, who can be seen in many westerns, including “The man who shot Liberty Valance” by John Ford and “Wild Gang” by Sam Peckinpah. Anthony Zerbe (known to many for his role as Hamann’s advisor in the cult franchise The Matrix) also played a complex character in The Cock Cogburn. The guide Breed created by him seems to honor only money and does not see a problem in helping a gang of criminals. But at the crucial moment, he repays good for good to his former army commander, and now sheriff, Cogburn.
On a raft with explosives taken from bandits
It is worth praising the camerawork of Harry Stradling Jr. (who shot the action movie “Convoy” a little later, popular in the Soviet box office). And Lawrence Rosenthal, known for his soundtracks to such Oscar-winning films as Becket (1964) and The Man from La Mancha (1972), did an excellent job with the musical design of the tape.
It remains only to add that the Cohen brothers in 2010 returned the movie hero of their youth to the screen by shooting the western “Iron Grip”, more precisely following the canvas of the novel of the same name by Charles Portis. The role of the sheriff with the pirate armband in this screen story, which received ten Oscar nominations, was performed by the wonderful Jeff Bridges. But this is a completely different story.
Watch Rooster Cogburn (1975) online:
